Question About Chimney

I have recently acquired an Alaska Kodiak stoker stove and have not yet got it up and running. I still need to vent it to my chimney, and I am not sure what to do. I have an inside cimney with plaster over it then paneling and finally sheetrock on top. I don't know what I need to do in order to get my stove pipe into the chimney.

A local contractor said to get a clay or terra cotta "flange" to be cemented into the hole made in the chimney. Does this make sense? How will the stove pipe seal into that?

I was giving some thought into attempting this myself but how would I get the hole into the chimney? Do you just take out whole bricks and then fill it in with cement around the flange? I know it can't protrude into the chimney at all.

Ok, enough with the rant. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Yes, you need a clay thimble (flange?) cemented into a hole as you describe, you can pick one up at a brickyard. It should pitch uphill slightly. The stovepipe is just shoved deep into it. Probably the easiest way to poke the hole is with a hammer drill, drill a bunch of small holes in a circle and punch it out.

I would check about 6-7' up the wall where the chimney is, sometimes in older homes, they put thimbles in and just put a cover over them and then plaster them in....

WNY, I would almost bet on there being a hole there somewhere, but it is long buried under paneling and sheetrock. plus, I need to go into the side of the chimney anyways.

I wonder if I could pick up the thimble from lowes or home depot. Would I use mortar to cement it in?

You could try to lower a flashlight tied to a rope down the flue and you might be able to see if there is a thimble in the area you want.

If you see one you might be able lower a hammer or something and swing it gently back and forth tapping where someone inside the house might be able to pin point it.

That's a good idea, but if there is a thimble already then it will probably be on the front of the cimney. I need one on the side, because of where the stove is going to be.

If there is a hole on the front, you might not want to make another hole on the side right next to it. Remember there's a few ton of chimney above it.

With a fairly large mirror and a sunny day I can see all the way down my chimney.
Ray

Another thought, If there is an old thimble in the wrong place you should try to verify that is is sealed correctly.
Make sure it's not just covered with wood or something combustible.