Expert: James Ball - 11/23/2008

Question
I have a house with a flat roof. I used a Buck stove insert in the fireplace for about 25 years.  It finally wore out and I had a new one installed.  The new one did not seem to draw quite as well and the installer recommended a longer chimney.  The original chimney rose about 5 feet above the flat roof and always did well.  Now I had a slight chimney fire which went out as soon as I shut the stove down.  There was about 10 feet of 8 in. stove pipe on an adaptor added to the old chimney.  I believe that the top of the stove pipe was so cold that alot of creasote formed there and caught fire. The original chimney is about 13 inches square with flue liner inside brick. Should I stop using the extra chimney made of stove pipe?  Did the installer do the right thing for my situation?  Do you have any further recommendations?  The original chimney seems to be clean.
Thank you for your help.  M Kesler

Answer
Hello Martin, your stove should be piped to the first flue tile (I recommend to the top) the added smoke pipe must be installed correctly. what did Buck say about the chimney height? I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have, you had a chimney fire you must have the whole chimney checked inside and out by a pro.
James