Error in the flue to the wood stove

[surstromming]

Hi, we are considering buying a house where there is a wood stove in the kitchen and an open fireplace in the adjacent living room. We have had an inspection of the house, and the seller did not have the latest chimney sweeping report available for the inspector, but the seller said it was completely okay to burn and that the sweeping was approved. We have now received the chimney sweeping report from the seller, and it states that there is a "partition wall error - flue channel not tight against ventilation channel."

The report states that the deviation must be corrected as soon as possible, but there is no mention of an obligation to fix the error.

Has anyone at byggahus.se encountered a similar issue with a fireplace/wood stove? Is it an expensive error to fix?

 

[ricebridge]

You may receive an injunction if there is a fire risk, but it means you're not allowed to use the fireplace until it is addressed. Many people have simply chosen to ignore both fixing and using the fireplace, and instead have placed flowers in it, which is completely legal.

Smoke leaking from the fireplace into the ventilation is, of course, never good. But the whole point of ventilation channels in the same chimney as the smoke channel is for the smoke to heat the chimney and thus carry the air in the ventilation channel upwards, away from the house. It is not a fresh air channel but an exhaust air channel.

Despite this, there is naturally a risk that smoke will seep in here and there, and it's certainly never good. Especially if you burn very poorly or get the idea to use coal, so that carbon monoxide, the silent death, is produced. (However, there are CO alarms available for purchase, and it doesn't hurt to have one in any case). But it's no worse than that.

If you need to fix a broken chimney, you should expect to spend at least 20,000 SEK if you hire someone. This is usually done, as it is a job that must be inspected, but there are examples here on the forum of people who have tried to, for instance, do slip casting themselves.

 

[cpalm]

The protocol states that the discrepancy must be addressed immediately, but there is no mention of an order to rectify the error.

Has anyone on byggahus.se had a similar issue with a fireplace/wood stove? Is it an expensive error to fix?

"The order" is likely that there is a fire ban until the error is fixed.

It's a common issue, we've had a few such problems in our BRF, which have been resolved with slip casting, meaning the channel is sealed with mortar using a pillow dragged through the channel. But there are other possible alternatives depending on the circumstances, such as running a hose through the channel. In the worst case, you might have to open up the chimney. The cost is likely to be a few tens of thousands, depending on the conditions.

But if the seller has now certified that everything was OK, I would ask them to pay for the repairs.

 

[Claes Sörmland]

Hi, we are considering buying a house where there is a wood-burning stove in the kitchen as well as a fireplace in the adjacent living room. We have had an inspection of the house, and the seller did not have the latest chimney sweep report available for the inspector, but the seller said it was completely okay to burn and that the sweeping was approved. We have now received the chimney sweep report from the seller, and it states that there is a "partition wall fault - smoke channel not sealed against ventilation channel."

The report states that the deviation must be rectified as soon as possible, but there is no mention of an injunction to address the fault.

Has anyone on byggahus.se had a similar fault in a fireplace/wood stove? Is it an expensive fault to fix?

It's probably the mortar between the bricks in the partition wall that has deteriorated and fallen away. There is always leakage in a masonry chimney, but when it becomes really bad, it must be addressed. I agree. slide casting or liner. Liner is safer for the future but decreases the canal area, which might cause issues with the draft. Moreover, the effect of the liner is that the chimney becomes cooler, which is negative if you're burning for warmth.

But it's not a chimney sweep report you've come across, but rather a report from the fire safety inspection? (The sweeping is the cleaning, not the inspection of how safe the local fireplace is.) In the fire safety inspection report, the inspector states any shortcomings in the installation's safety and what tests have been conducted to determine this. The wording "rectified as soon as possible" is not a decision on a burning prohibition and you therefore cannot appeal the decision. It is information to the property owner. An injunction applies to more serious safety problems and then a time frame is provided before the burning prohibition (if it is not immediate). This is a government decision and not just information so the property owner can appeal it.