# Installed my woodstove



## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Bought the heating stove for our cabin a while ago, then purchased all the plumbing for it last year. Finally got around to installing it this last weekend. Only 1 year late. Had a friend go up on the roof with me, inserted the mounting frame, and got the chimney installed. Took a while to match up all the metal pieces so they would shed water properly.









On Sunday, we spend the day doing the inside work. Got the stove pipe connected to the chimney pipe, scrubbed the stove down, and got it inserted. Haven't fired it up yet though. I'm glueing in new door gaskets and have to let the glue cure first. Then a coating of stove polish to make it more pretty. I think I'll just light some crumpled newsprint the first time, just for a leak test, and then a real fire inside.











No more kerosene fumes!


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Congratulations! Looks like a very professional job. 

My question is, how do you plan on sweeping the chimney?


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## JuliaAnn (Dec 7, 2004)

I'm not the OP, but do you mean because the stove pipe is (or at least *looks*) so long, or the roof pitch is steep? 

Our roof pitch is steep and our pipe is long, so we took a stick of 20' pvc that is, if I remember correctly, 1.5", and we attached our brush to the end of that with multiple wrappings of plain duct tape. It is a bit of a booger to initially feed down into the pipe from the spark arrestor (cap) but once you feed a few feet down in, the floppy pipe is easier to handle. I've done it myself. We also wear slip resistant shoes, like tennis shoes.

ETA sorry, I forgot.... pretty little stove! It should like really nice with a coating of stove black on it. Your installation looks very neat.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Where'd you get that stove?

We've been looking for one that would be small enough to heat our cabin but not run us out from being too big.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

What's code where you are? I'm not sure you're three feet higher than anything within 10 feet, but at least you have a steel roof. Not trying to be overly critical but my job includes certifying chimneys. Otherwise that's a nice instal you should be proud of! Twisting on additional height is easy now you've done the hard parts!


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Cabin Fever said:


> Congratulations! Looks like a very professional job.
> 
> My question is, how do you plan on sweeping the chimney?


Thank you! If I park my pickup truck just right, I can put my ladder in the bed of the truck at an angle exactly the same as the roof. I can then lay the ladder down on the roof and walk up like a flight of stairs. Standing above the pipe, I'll be above the opening, which should allow me to run a brush down easily. At least, that's what I'm thinking, but I'll find out.




Ross said:


> What's code where you are? I'm not sure you're three feet higher than anything within 10 feet, but at least you have a steel roof. Not trying to be overly critical but my job includes certifying chimneys. Otherwise that's a nice instal you should be proud of! Twisting on additional height is easy now you've done the hard parts!


Oh, I was hoping no one would notice that! I tried to shoot the photo at an angle to hide that. Yes, the top of the chimney is not exactly to code. I do have one additional 3-foot section of chimney pipe, but I didn't want to add it for two reasons. 

First, I have my second wood cookstove to install (next year) and I could use that length there instead. The second reason is that it would make chimney sweeping easier with a lower top. It is going to be a "wait and see" decision. If the draw is fine with no problems, I'll leave it as-is. If there are back-draft problems, then I'll pop on the additional section and buy more sections for the second stove.


wy_white_wolf said:


> Where'd you get that stove?
> 
> We've been looking for one that would be small enough to heat our cabin but not run us out from being too big.


Bought it used from a neighbor. This was supposed to have come from someone living in a trailer home, so the stove is sized for a smaller dwelling.


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## solar (Feb 11, 2010)

Michael Kawalek said:


> Oh, I was hoping no one would notice that! I tried to shoot the photo at an angle to hide that. Yes, the top of the chimney is not exactly to code. I do have one additional 3-foot section of chimney pipe, but I didn't want to add it for two reasons.
> 
> First, I have my second wood cookstove to install (next year) and I could use that length there instead. The second reason is that it would make chimney sweeping easier with a lower top. It is going to be a "wait and see" decision. If the draw is fine with no problems, I'll leave it as-is. If there are back-draft problems, then I'll pop on the additional section and buy more sections for the second stove.


The reason for that code is that if the wind comes from the opposite side of the ridge there will be a down-draft as it passes the ridge which might pressurize the chimney and blow smoke the wrong direction. I wouldn't worry about it unless the prevailing winds come from the other side of the ridge. Most codes are extreme overkill.

Around here most people try to penetrate the roof as close to the ridge as possible because it's easier to make a leakproof hole and sometimes you can get the ridge cap to cover the flashing without the extra transition flashing from corrugated to flat. Also this way you don't have a tall chimney above the roof, flopping in the wind. Also a woodstove in the middle of a cabin is more efficient. Unfortunately, that doesn't always agree with the best floorplan.

Since my chimney is right next to the ridge of my very steep roof, I would have to get someone much younger than I to clean the chimney. I was wondering if I could just place a large dropcloth in the living room and remove the single wall pipe (clean it outdoors) and clean the double wall pipe from the inside.

To minimize creosote I've been burning my stove with the airflow unrestricted. 
I've been told that most creosote forms in the upper sections of stovepipe.


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

solar said:


> Around here most people try to penetrate the roof as close to the ridge as possible because it's easier to make a leakproof hole and sometimes you can get the ridge cap to cover the flashing without the extra transition flashing from corrugated to flat. Also this way you don't have a tall chimney above the roof, flopping in the wind. Also a woodstove in the middle of a cabin is more efficient. Unfortunately, that doesn't always agree with the best floorplan.


Yes, if I had designed this building, that's how I would have done it. When we bought our land, we "inherited" an unfinished building that two previous owners worked on. It was really an oddball. The first owner build a one room windowless concrete block shed for tool storage. It had a steel door and a corragated metal roof. He subsequently sold the land to the guy I bought it from. He added a second, L shaped room along side the first with the plumbing for a bathroom cast in the concrete floor. No roof was put on the second room and it was open to the sky.








Now, it's my turn. I have to turn this mis-mash into a liveable space. I pulled the roof off the first room, and turned the two rooms into a "one and half story" Cap Cod style cabin.








To go to the second floor, I had to position the stairs towards the center of the cabin.







I also have to cut a doorway through the concrete block so you can go from the living room into the kitchen without having to go outside. These modifications pretty much rule out any kind of center location for a stove. It's all about working with what I've got. In the "stair picture" the bathroom area is in back of the stairs. The white thing you see in the right side of the pic is the bath/shower that I've since installed in that space. If you turned to the right 90 degrees you'd be looking at the stove shown in post #1. If you turn 90 degrees to the left instead, you'd be looking at the hole I have to cut in the wall to make the kitchen doorway.


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## solar (Feb 11, 2010)

Good work, Michael! Your planning is better than the previous owners. It sure looks sturdy. I used to have a cinderblock lake house in Texas and I remodeled it. I swore I'd never remodel another cinderblock structure, what a pain in the neck! 
With tapcon screws you can attach anything to those walls, just takes longer than working with wood. I screwed 2x2's to the outside with foam panels in between and wood siding. I used 3/4" concrete nails to fasten sheetrock to the walls. Short nails hold better than long ones that penetrate the hollow of the block. I learned a lot the hard way working on that place.
At least you won't have to worry about stray bullets.:grin: That steep metal roof will never leak in a hundred years.

What are those metal stair brackets called? I've never seen any like that.


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Thank you Solar

Here in California, everything needs to be built with earthquakes in mind. Here, block is not left empty. The cells are filled with concrete with rebar spaced every 16". I'd expect longer nails to anchor better in filled cell blocks. 

The metal tabs are called framing anchors. Here in California they're usually called earthquake anchors. On the east coast they're called hurricane anchors. But, they're not just positioned on the stairs. I've used them throughout the construction on the whole roof.
Michael


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Well, last night was the first night cold enough to have a fire, so I lit it up. Started real slow, just burning a few sheets of paper. No wayward smoke. Started a second fire with just a few pencil sized twigs. Ran upstairs to check the pipe. No smoke. Run outside and checked the chimney. A gentle curl of smoke was raising out, just like it was supposed to. Finally stoked a real fire in it and started heating the cabin. Carefully monitored the chimney to make sure there were not draft problems. Everything performed as expected.









Went to bed early, but got up in the middle of the night to check the stove. Fire died down to coals, but I added fresh wood and went back to bed. By 8am this morning there were still hot coals, but I finally let the fire go out so I could finish the first evaluation. Happy to say that wood heat is now on-line at our homestead and we have taken another step to self-sufficiency!


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

Congrats on all the improvements that you have done! Nice looking stove you have there. What is the Sq ft of the cabin?


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Excellent Mike,WELL DONE!


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Our Little Farm said:


> Congrats on all the improvements that you have done! Nice looking stove you have there. What is the Sq ft of the cabin?


Our cabin is relatively small, about 600 sq ft, including the second floor. Here's a better picture of the stove showing the homemade stoveblack I prepared. 

I took leftover bacon fat that I washed in a jar with boiling water to remove the salt. I just left the jar in the frig to let the fat solidify, then poured off the salty water. After heating the cleaned oil to evaporate off residual water, I mixed in an equal volume of powdered charcoal. This made a very thick very black paste that I applied to the outside of the stove. I rubbed the stoveblack onto every exposed metal surface, which did a very very good job of covering up the rusted metal. It was soooooo pretty that I just had to set a chair by the stove just to look at it. Here's a pic of it after blackening it.








After I got the stove burning I ran the generator so I could run an electric exhaust fan out the window. The hot stove smoked for about 1.5 hours after getting hot, but the fan pulled out most of it. The last of the oil "cooked off" by about 8pm and I shut off the fan and continued to heat the cabin overnight. Spent a very pleasant night covered with just a sheet! The surface is now burnt on and not greasy when you run a finger along it. I am very happy to now have an independent source of heat!


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## adamtheha (Mar 14, 2007)

I just pull the top section of stovepipe off when I clean my chimney. I don't want all that gunk falling through anyway, it makes a HUGE mess. Clean it separate, then put it back on.


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

We just had our first fire in our new wood stove this morning too! Ahhhh wood heat! It's a beautiful thing.
I really like your little stove. We have one that is small like that for when we build our cabin someday. I'm glad to hear it worked so well for you.


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## wind power (Sep 29, 2010)

Nice wood stove!
I have one like that, a bit bigger, but I believe it was made by the same company...Consolidated Dutch West???? They made those classic looking Federal period stoves
I bought mine in the mid 80's and is still going strong!
Does yours have the shaker grates too? Those two square knobs at the bottom on the left hand side (facing the front of the wood stove)? If it does you can burn wood or coal.

I see it has a hot plate and a temp gage too... is the catalytic converter underneath? many times i have used it toi cook with when the power would drop around here for a few days

I love mine... easy to get a 10 hour burn time, after getting it burning good I load it up and turn those dial dampners down....often I have to open the front door of the house and let some cold air rush in.


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## wind power (Sep 29, 2010)

The more I look at that cast iron stove, The more certain I become, it was made by Consolidated Dutchwest in the 1980's. If not mistaken Vermont Castings bought them out some time later.

To give you an idea how much they cost...(and I hope you got a bargin) :sing:

The one I bought in the mid 1980's was a tad larger and came with the legs you have, I took them off and used it as a fireplace insert, I ordered the cast iron surround which covererd the extra space between the fireplace and wood stove......drum roll....I paid close to 1500.00 bucks in 1980's dollars too!

I hope you got a spectacular deal those stoves are built for a life time!
All the best!


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## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

wind power said:


> I have one like that, a bit bigger, but I believe it was made by the same company...Consolidated Dutch West???? They made those classic looking Federal period stoves


The stove has an aluminum data plate on the back. Had a funny name that wasn't in any way related to "Federal". Maybe it was Dutch West. Will have to go back and check there.


wind power said:


> Does yours have the shaker grates too? Those two square knobs at the bottom on the left hand side (facing the front of the wood stove)? If it does you can burn wood or coal.


Yes it does, and they both work. I don't have any coal, but the grates are good at dropping the ash to the bottom tray for easy removal. The second disc on the lower cleanout door is the air vent for burning coal.



wind power said:


> I see it has a hot plate and a temp gage too... is the catalytic converter underneath? many times i have used it to cook with when the power would drop around here for a few days


On my stove the temperature gauge is missing, so I was going to shop for a replacement. My stove does not have a catalytic converter. Underneath the hot plate though is an empty steel cylinder about 6" in diameter and 3" tall that doesn't appear to do anything. Is that where the converter is supposed to go?


wind power said:


> I love mine... easy to get a 10 hour burn time, after getting it burning good I load it up and turn those dial dampners down....often I have to open the front door of the house and let some cold air rush in.


It still had enough hot coals after an 8 hour burn to restart a new fire. If stoked well at bedtime, it can be re-kindled in the morning easily. I payed 100$ for the stove. By the way, I payed 850$ for all the chimney piping to install it correctly according to code. Very, very glad I did! There is nothing that gives you more peace of mind when going to bed with a burning fire then a correct installation!


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## wind power (Sep 29, 2010)

Hi Michael,
Good deal! That stove in particular( if not mistaken) sold for close to 1000 bucks in the 80's
The wood stove was designed in the federal period style. The mfg, Consolidated Dutchwest, had a whole line of these classic federal period looking stoves....if you had one of their catalogs back then you would just drool over them...lol, I sure did! They had all kinds of sizes and all kinds of bells and whistles for them too. You could even take the door off the front and use a glass or screen for an open fireplace look

I believe they were located in Plymouth Mass.

Yes, that hole is for you catalytic converter. If you have the bypass dampner up top, you will have to toggle the square knob on the outside of the stove to remove and install the converter...it just drops right in...no special tools needed.
When you have a good hot fire and operate the dampner to run the heat through the catalyst, it will put off a lot more heat and have a very clean burn.
I bought my stove before the EPA mandates on woodstoves but Consolidated Dutchwest had already changed over.
The catalytic converter measures 6 inches across and is 2 inches tall. The thermostat is about 1-1/2 to 2 inches tall and about 2 inches in diameter the temp probe on the theromstat is about 3/16 in diameter and drops right down through the hole in your hot plate.

I'm going to try attach some photos here of the thermostat and the catalyst so you can see this stuff...I hope it works.
All the best,
Gavin



















Oh one other thing, if you go "industrial" and burn coal, and if I remember correctly they said not to use the catalytic converter, it was only for use with wood.
Oh, after reviewing your photos again I see it has the bypass dampner knob for up top....good deal! Drop a catalyst down in there and what how much more heat it will put off!
Enjoy!


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Well, lots of good news about the stove. As Wind Power suggested, it is a Dutch West stove, model 207C. I ordered a new catalyst for it and it looks just like the one in the picture above. Popped it in this weekend and gave it a try. I was surprised at what a difference running it in catalysis mode could make. I ran it in bypass mode for about 30 minutes, noting the amount and color of the smoke every few minutes. 

At first, it was white and heavy. After flipping the lever over from bypass to catalyst, within 5 minutes the amount of smoke decreased in half and it was almost colorless. A little while later, there was no smoke at all. I thought the fire had gone out. I went and checked the stove and there it was burning away. I'm sure that the catalyst will be keeping my chimney pipe clean for several seasons if it works this well!

I also discovered that the ash collection basin makes a great roasting tray. Not much ash falls during the beginning of a burn and here I wrapped several regular and sweet potatoes in foil with salt and butter. I left them to roast for about two hours and they were wonderful. So, besides placing a pot on top of the stove, I can now cook under it too.


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Nice. Great job!


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

Seems like you have a real treasure there! 

How is the rest of the cabin coming along?


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Our Little Farm said:


> How is the rest of the cabin coming along?


Slooooooow! I have cold running water in the bathroom area now. Now that I have cheap winter heat, I can come up to work on something besides the orchard trees. I've been heating water on top of the stove now to take a warm water shower.

I bought a nail gun, so I can start insulating the concrete walls of the bathroom first, then the rest of the cabin. Was going to attach 2X4's to the walls with shot nails, then put sheet foam between them, covered with sheet-rock. Once the walls are finished I can complete the installation of the bathroom sink, tile the floor, and install the propane water heater. 

The upstairs is still bare rafters, but I've already bought the fiberglass insulation to pop in place. That should make winter work even more pleasant. I've bought the solar panels, and once they are up I can have evening light.

So, that's what, three day's work?


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