The stovepipe for the wood stove has, up until this point, been temporarily run though a window. This was accomplished by cutting plywood to fit into the open window, sealing it for drafts, and simply running the triple wall pipe it through a hole in the board.
This was working well to allow us to have heat while we lived in the space & decided exactly where walls will be constructed and where the permanent location for the stove should be.
Initially I had planned to wait to do the permanent installation until the interior walls are built & tiled, and stove was ready to be installed permanently, complete with new, proper pipe.
However, I came home Saturday afternoon to find that an intruder had used the temporary window installation as a way to access the house. (Don't worry, everyone is fine.)
They had pushed the board in, damaging the window, and climbed through, irreparably bending our laundry rack, which sits beside the stove.
This wasn't altogether unexpected as the same person had broken into the house several weeks back by pushing in the window unit air conditioner, so I had already been looking at options for stovepipe installing, but had not yet been able to get necessary supplies.
We believe this young person is also the one responsible for the destruction of the greenhouse at Blue. Their motivation seems to be being a nuisance, as much as anything, as the fact that we have really nothing worth taking doesn't seem to be a deterrent. So, we will have to push a lot of projects back in order to invest on security related items in order to get out of the revolving door of continually having to repair damage instead of moving forward in building.
So, yesterday, I worked from home so my lunch break was spent cutting a hole in my wall, which is harder on my anxiety that anything else. 😄
I was so concerned about doing it wrong but kept reminding myself that I knew how to do it properly & to just trust the process.
So I made a cardboard template to have the exact size. Cut away the insulation & marked the hole. Then I drilled holes around the perimeter of the circle which allowed me to get tin snips in and cut away the steel. Then a jig saw finished taking out the wood, creating the hole that the triple wall pipe simply slid through.
Please note this is not a complete installation nor one I would recommend to anyone! This is more like a partial install, with several future steps needed.
I plan to add a clean out & properly flashing to the outside. Unfortunately, the building supply store did not have the parts I needed at the moment, so for now, drafts are blocked out solely by caulking, until those parts are secured.
I will also have to replace the rain cap, at some point, as it was damaged when it crashed to the ground during the break in. I bent it back as best I could but it's not as effective and then creases from the bend will eventually break.
One advantage of living with it partially complete, mhowever, is that I get to see up close how well it's working. As there aren't yet wall boards, I can observe & be sure that nothing is overheating & causing fire risk, which will make me much more at ease when we do close up the wall.
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