Fire Proof Material

[John Brown]

I'm looking for a sheet product I can fit above the Register Plate up my Chimney to form a tighter collar around the flue pipe. I could use sheet steel but its cutting the 150mm hole that would prove difficult.

   Thanks John

[nomoss]

I used zinc sheet from local zingueur

[Pierre ZFP]

I did use sheet steel for the same thing.  I used 2 pieces that overlapped  by about 5cms and cut a semi-circle in each with a jig saw.

I was going to rivet the 2 pieces together but they work fine just resting in place

[dave21478]

Sheet steel here too. A jigsaw with a new metalwork blade will have no problems cutting out a neat hole. Clamp it to an old bit of plywood or similar to stop vibrations as you cut, if needed.

[Gyn_Paul]

..... and squirt a bit of oil on the blade from time to time. Lubricating something which is cutting always seems a bit counter-intuitive, but where it's metal-against-metal you maintain the edge on the blade's teeth for much longer that way.

And thank you nomoss... I was musing in the shower as to how I was going to make a rain cap for a external chimney I'm building for two flues, and you've reminded me I have a sheet of zinc in the barn (somewhere.... along with much else. I mean, how can you lose half of a airconditioining split-pack? I mean the box is h-u-g-e !).

p

[Théière]

Yep sheet steel also but made my cut out with the turner nibbler (had it in my tool kit already) if using a jigsaw use it slowly, jig saws are too fast for most applications and just overheat the blades.

[Val_2]

Sheet steel for us too, in two halves screwed together round the flue pipe so easy to remove - makes such a difference to keeping the heat in the house. Can't understand some of these folks who stick a tiddly woodburner in a huge huge fireplace and all the heat goes up and out of the chimney, defeats the object of the exercise.

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote user="Val_2"]Sheet steel for us too, in two halves screwed together round the flue pipe so easy to remove - makes such a difference to keeping the heat in the house. Can't understand some of these folks who stick a tiddly woodburner in a huge huge fireplace and all the heat goes up and out of the chimney, defeats the object of the exercise.[/quote]

Doesn't half make you jump however when a piece of something falls down the chimney and lands on the metal register plate. Sounds like a small bomb going off !

[Val_2]

Yes, but we do keep our flue swept ourselves each autumn so we know its thoroughly cleaned. I take out the big metal piece in the stove where the flue joins and that is usually solidly blocked with residue - one of those cinder vacums and a long handled brush soon gets rid of it all though. You would be surprised what residue you get and we only burn oak,chestnut and fruit, never ever any pines or oily woods.

[Gyn_Paul]

Our woodburner's smoke goes up a flexi liner to the concrete chimney capping thingy, where it is suspended level with the top of the brickwork to maximize the draw, so the chimney cavity is not sealed at the top, only by the plate at the bottom, even so, the radiated heat from the liner heats the brickwork up sufficiently to cause stuff to expand and contract (and fall off sometimes). I didn't have it swept before putting in the liner as it was 'the wrong time of the year' according to my chap (which means he's swopped his chimney vacuum for his paint brushes), so it didn't get done. So I expect we can look forward to a few more years of occasional bombardments!

p

[Val_2]

We find it worse for falling debris when the winds start to get up from now onwards even with a cap on the top. Makes me jump sometimes when the house is quiet.

[NickP]

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]Our woodburner's smoke goes up a flexi liner to the concrete chimney capping thingy, where it is suspended level with the top of the brickwork to maximize the draw, so the chimney cavity is not sealed at the top, only by the plate at the bottom, even so, the radiated heat from the liner heats the brickwork up sufficiently to cause stuff to expand and contract (and fall off sometimes). I didn't have it swept before putting in the liner as it was 'the wrong time of the year' according to my chap (which means he's swopped his chimney vacuum for his paint brushes), so it didn't get done. So I expect we can look forward to a few more years of occasional bombardments!

p

[/quote]

Thats interesting Paul as the company installing our wood burner wouldn't do the install on the alloted day as the "sweep" (their man I may add) didn't show up. So they came back the next day with the "sweep" and the flailing machine and when the chimney was cleared they completed the install. Their take was that  the new wood burners and the flexi steel liners get so hot there is a possibility of fire if there's any old soot deposits or rubbish in the original chimney. They also gave us a bill showing that the chimney had been cleaned out prior to the stove install to show to the insurance company should it ever be necessary [god forbid).

[ericd]

Good thread !!! this is giving me the answer to my problem. The hole of our chimney breast is about 1m60 x 0.8m and we are light the "poele a bois" most of the heat goes up the chimney. Not a problem as we are rarely in during the winter but we never know. Questions....:

- How do you fix the steel sheets to the inside perimeter of the chimney??......I intend to use lightweight angle bars drilled/screwed at intervals with the sheets either resting on them (if fitted from above) or screwed in the angle bars (if fitted from under)........comments please?

- How thick are your sheets of steel??.......Don't they rust on the side upper most??

Thank you for any suggestions.

[Théière]

[quote user="ericd"]

Good thread !!! this is giving me the answer to my problem. The hole of our chimney breast is about 1m60 x 0.8m and we are light the "poele a bois" most of the heat goes up the chimney. Not a problem as we are rarely in during the winter but we never know. Questions....:

- How do you fix the steel sheets to the inside perimeter of the chimney??......I intend to use lightweight angle bars drilled/screwed at intervals with the sheets either resting on them (if fitted from above) or screwed in the angle bars (if fitted from under)........comments please? Angle iron, plugged and screwed into the wall, sealed around the edges.

- How thick are your sheets of steel??.......Don't they rust on the side upper most?? 1.5-2.0mm, galvanised so they don't rust.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[/quote]