Hello Everybody, New Here and Hoping to Be Burning Soon!

Btw, our chimney is about 28' tall

A clay liner is just clay tile pipe sections that are inside the chimney the same way the steel liner is. They help a wood fire by adding a layer of insulation to keep the flue warmer and less likely to have the creosote condense out on the chimney walls. And, they are smoother inside ,so it's easier to clean with brushes.

But, like the steel liner, they're not needed for coal.

His report says the brick and mortar is good, then I'd say your good to go with coal.

Paul

MrsSouthy wrote:Btw, our chimney is about 28' tall

That should be good as long as there isn't a lot of house, or trees, as tall near by.

Paul

How do your current gas logs vent if flu is rusted shut? So far so good , I suggest waiting a lil while on purchase of manometer ( or at least using it for now) you have enough to learn about without worrying about limiting draft at the barometer, I personally did not install a baro until my second season! Learn how to burn coal first! Than learn how to burn coal as efficiently as your appliance will allow! The only things you need to burn coal are ( coal , coal burning appliance vented outside co detector near stove ( bucket of dry sand to snuff fire in event of emergency) some wood to start coal if wood smoke goes up chimney your good to go!

ShawninNY wrote:How do your current gas logs vent if flu is rusted shut? So far so good , I suggest waiting a lil while on purchase of manometer ( or at least using it for now) you have enough to learn about without worrying about limiting draft at the barometer, I personally did not install a baro until my second season! Learn how to burn coal first! Than learn how to burn coal as efficiently as your appliance will allow! The only things you need to burn coal are ( coal , coal burning appliance vented outside co detector near stove ( bucket of dry sand to snuff fire in event of emergency) some wood to start coal if wood smoke goes up chimney your good to go!

The gas logs are vent free. And I think you are right, especially since we don't have a whole season left this year. I think we will concentrate on getting the coal, stove and making it burn safely (with the CO detectors and sand in place) then work on the details next year.

Nice job on the pictures. ShawninNY kept it simple and that is the way to start, and then you will start tinkering The damper looks like a slider and it looks like safety goggles, gloves and a bigger hammer and bar are on your next list! shoot some more pic's when you get the damper down, take as many as you like with different zoom settings and do your own inspection and let us know what you find.

franco b wrote:A block off plate is nice but all it needs is to stuff fiberglass insulation around the smoke pipe to seal off the damper area. Much easier.

Another good insulation for this install would be rock wool. It is made from slag and is fire proof to 2000°. You can get this at Home Depot and Lowe's.
Randy

Okay - nice job on uploading the pics.
What I see doesn't look easy but not impossible. As was stated earlier you will need to extend the exit flu from the stove through the smoke shelf/built in damper.
This is exactly what I had to do at my parents house. It was not easy. Someone said you may have to just make the pipe oval to fit through ? I don't see that happening but maybe the photos are skewing the actual dimensions here.
I see a damper that is angled such that if you were to send a 6" pipe up through it - that it would not go unaltered and you'd have to ovalize the pipe to such an extent it would be unsafe/unrealistic.
My parents damper was moreless on a level plane and not angled.
I was able to lift up #1 as seen in the attached photo below - and unhook and remove it.
The problem then is to remove #2. You may need to cut or chisel out with a hammer drill as I did my parents house.
I then chiseled out brick to allow a 6" flex pipe to exit straight out.
None of this is impossible - but I personally don't see the ordinary person doing this kind of work.
But I believe in 'where there's a will there's a way' so good luck.
I see myself as very capable and there's defintely some work ahead of you.
Once you have #1 and #2 removed - at my parents I simple took some hardibacker board - cut a hole in the middle to allow the flex pipe through - which prevents unwanted drafts from making its way down the chimney and into the living space once the original cast iron damper is removed.