Little Bit of This And That

Got a lot done today but it was unfocused. One thing I did was I finished the chimney liner. The last 6 inches sucked. They made this thing like it could withstand a nuclear blast except for the last 6 inches. This stuff is absurdly expensive. Double walled stainless steel with a layer of insulation between.

The part at the bottom is a “T” so it can make a 90 degree turn and come out the wall. The “T” is about a foot long with a 6 inch horizontal part that you connect the stove pipe to. It costs $190.00! The 6 inch part is one layer of stainless steel and is held on with 2 sheet metal screws. Very flimsy. They used the shortest screws possible. They are hanging on by 2 threads and one screw is stripped.

The idea is that you take off the six inch part while you are feeding it down the chimney and then re-attach it once it is all in place. Easier said than done. First off I had to go to the hardware store for new screws. They used a 2 inch screw, that was barley long enough, and I replaced them with a 2.5 inch screws. Cost me .70¢ for 2 screws. It would have been easier if they had used 2.5 inch screws to start with and charged me the extra dime, but no they needed to save the dime.

The next problem was the “T” was in the chimney which was set back a foot and a half in the brick. I know had to re-attach the flimsy 6 inch stainless steel part and a foot of stove pipe to get it to exit the wall. This all had to be done through an opening that was about 7 inches in diameter. If I were a spider monkey this would have been a 10 minute job. It took me about 3 hours and a few more trips to the hardware store.

The important thing is it’s done. I know have a stainless steel chimney liner that can survive WWIII. Unless I’ve missed something plastering comes next.