Install Your own Woodstove

Image Gallery Illustrations By Kay Holmes Stafford

IN THE MIND'S EYE, THE LICK OF FLAMES from a cleanly cleaved round of pine evokes more than mere temperature. With it come images of romance, economy, family, independence, a simpler life-or at least roasting marshmallows. In many ways, burning wood is the symbol for the many things that we value in a country lifestyle. But like all of the joys that we partake in by getting involved in our sustenance, wood heat carries its duties and responsibilities.

Woodstove installation is not a trivial task. Without a collection of self-sacrificing friends and/or a stove lift, hefting a 500-pluspound chunk of metal and masonry is likely to earn you a season ticket to the chiropractor. Without the necessary sheet metalworking tools, you're more likely to end up with bandaged fingers than a custom stovepipe. Without the proper precautions, you and your family's lives are at risk from fire.

You could expect to pay at least $50 plus materials to have a professional chimney sweep or woodstove shop do your woodstove installation for you, and, considering the expertise and labor involved, that might be a bargain. Of course, you may want to do the job yourself. Perhaps you enjoy the challenge and self-satisfaction that come from doing your own installation. Maybe your local woodstove dealer fell victim to these fleeting moments of petroleum glut. Or, possibly you're just moving a stove from one room to another.

Whether you plan to observe or participate, there's a lot to know. Because no two woodstove installations are likely to be the same, no one can provide a blueprint to guide you.

The rare installation can be as simple as setting the stove down and adding a section of prefabricated stovepipe. More often, though, there will have to be thermal barriers to protect walls and floor, custom lengths of stovepipe, a factory-built chimney or maybe even a hole punched in a masonry chimney for a stovepipe connection. Beyond those topics lie the complicated matters of zero-clearance fireplaces and building or rebuilding masonry chimneys. We'll take you to the boundary of that last netherworld but no farther. Even that's a fair journey for six pages, so let's be on our way.

Inquiring Paper Pushers Want to Know

When adding a woodstove to your home or office, there are three officials who may want to know about it and get involved. Your building official may require a permit for the installation of a stove, particularly if you'll be putting in a factory-built chimney that passes through a wall or floor. Different locales have different building codes, so you'll need to know what your official does and doesn't allow. Don't repeat the mistake of one Californian we know of who installed a chimney through the second story floor and the roof of his new home-only to have the inspector require that it pass through a wall and go up the outside of the house. As a general rule, any installation particulars supplied with the stove and approved by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) take precedence over building codes; in the absence of UL guidelines, follow National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommendations and the prevailing code.