Coal!

It's a good day when you hear the sound of the coal truck backing up into your driveway.

Bob from American dropped off a ton of Nut and a ton of Pea. Then in a few weeks he'll be bringing the other half of my order which is two more tons of Nut.

Now I need to get to work on my chimney.

I had 1/2 ton of Nut and approximately eight bags of pea left over from last season.

Nice! Make sure you don't leave it out in the rain it could dissolve

What's up with your chimney? I just had to fix the landlord's chimney, just a mortar patch where the parge coat was blowing off the old cinder blocks. Nice of her to even pay for the damn paint which she didn't. I actually am embarassed that I didn't see the thing coming apart, I'm up on that roof all the time clearing the gutters. Think I got it all sealed up now anyway.

It's always nice to see a load of coal. I don't see Santa. What brand is that?

It's Kimmel's.

The SS liner I have in it is starting to pin hole so I'm pulling it out. I need to make a throat plate and I'm going to add 4' to the top of it.

Fresh coal! Its hard to believe winter is coming....

Say it ain't so.......

SteveZee wrote:Say it ain't so.......

I wish it weren't true. But it's coming. And soon.

IOF, is your chimney a St-St one? And how old is-it? And yes, Fall will arrive in just a few months

Look here:
It's happened!!! And only two seasons in...

nortcan wrote:IOF, is your chimney a St-St one? And how old is-it? And yes, Fall will arrive in just a few months

Yes, it's stone. Wood 'n Coal posted the link to the thread where I discovered the liner is starting to pin hole. I don't know how old. I'd imagine as old as the house. The room the fireplace is in was built in 1948. It was originally a one room summer cabin. Over the years a porch was added, then a bedroom, then another bedroom, then another porch.

What are you going to do with the chimney IOF? You did mention the extra length so I'll suppose another liner? Shame that you can't just use it as is stone.

My kitchen flue is just brick with no liner and has always been since the prehistoric wood days. Don't have to clean it any more which is nice!

Anyways, your situation is the least desirable as chimney's go. Those outside the house chimneys are usually hard to warm and obviously not ideally located for distribution of heat. You know all this I'm sure I'm just blabing here but was just wondering how you were going for the extra height? Trying for more draft?

SteveZee wrote:My kitchen flue is just brick with no liner and has always been since the prehistoric wood days. Don't have to clean it any more which is nice!

Hey Steve, if you haven't already I would give that chimney a good brushing. Burning coal really dries out the old creosote and it can flake off in sheets and/or chunks. I had my chimney swept this summer and I couldn't believe how much junk came out after 3 years of burning coal. It also drafts better.

IOF, it is good that you are getting your coal delivered now...no need to wait until the fall rush.

SteveZee wrote:What are you going to do with the chimney IOF? You did mention the extra length so I'll suppose another liner? Shame that you can't just use it as is stone.

My kitchen flue is just brick with no liner and has always been since the prehistoric wood days. Don't have to clean it any more which is nice!

Anyways, your situation is the least desirable as chimney's go. Those outside the house chimneys are usually hard to warm and obviously not ideally located for distribution of heat. You know all this I'm sure I'm just blabing here but was just wondering how you were going for the extra height? Trying for more draft?

No more liner. I bought the liner for my wood stove that I ran for 4 seasons. I figured I'd run it till coal ate it then pull it. My chimney is only 18' tall so I'm gonna add some chimney block to the top and a few terra cotta liner pieces. There's a slate cap on the top of the chimney so I'm just going to stack the new chimney on top of it. It might look goofy being stone, then a slate top then the chimney block but as long as it works I really don't care how it looks. Function over form I say. Besides, the way this house has been added on to over the years it's already a frankenstein house. And nothing is level or plumb or square. I think the hardest thing I'm going to have to do is make a new throat plate. I've tried several times and since my chimney was laid by hand...well...as with everything in this house nothing is square on the chimney either.

And yes, it's a pita to get warm, that's why I have a stove that pumps out 130k btu and a draft inducer for the times when it won't draw. Hopefully now that I'll be using the chimney without the liner it'll draw a bit better, provided I can get a plate made for the throat.

Rob R. wrote:

SteveZee wrote:My kitchen flue is just brick with no liner and has always been since the prehistoric wood days. Don't have to clean it any more which is nice!

Hey Steve, if you haven't already I would give that chimney a good brushing. Burning coal really dries out the old creosote and it can flake off in sheets and/or chunks. I had my chimney swept this summer and I couldn't believe how much junk came out after 3 years of burning coal. It also drafts better.

IOF, it is good that you are getting your coal delivered now...no need to wait until the fall rush.

Thanks Rob, Yep your right about that. I did actually give it a good brushing after the first season of burning coal and there was loads of creosote! I used to use chunks of stove coal just before I'd clean around the oven of the Glenwood cookstove when I was burning wood in it. It would really loosen up the creo from the bottom of the oven. As much as I'd scrape out of there every month and a half, I thought that there couldn't be much making it to the chimney but I'll bet I got 3-4 pounds out of there!

Rob R. wrote:
IOF, it is good that you are getting your coal delivered now...no need to wait until the fall rush.

Last season I had my coal in either May or June. I'm a bit late this season. I think the next two loads are going to come after I fire up for the season. Which is fine. I've got enough pea to get through November and maybe December if it's not too cold. Then I've gotta worry about burning Nut the rest of the season.

I'll try and wait till November 1st before I fire up like I did last season, although I did fire up due to the freak blizzard of Halloween.