How to Install a Chimney

A chimney is simply a structure that you use to direct smoke out of a house or a building. Install a chimney by sections to provide an escape for the gases from a fire in a wood stove or a fireplace. It's best to hire an expert installer to remove any doubt about the workmanship of your chimney.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Attach an anchor plate, or the base of the chimney, to a level floor surface. Align it with the middle of the house's flue opening. Seal the plate with sealant that holds to 1000 degrees and secure the plate in place with masonry anchors.

2. Measure the chimney's outside diameter. Make a hole in the roof, centered over the anchor plate, that's at least 4 inches bigger around than the chimney. You need 2 inches of space on all sides of the chimney to protect your house from the heat of the chimney.

3. Turn the first section of the chimney clockwise to attach it to the anchor plate. Add the other pieces, one section at a time, with the same twist-lock procedure. Your chimney must, according to The National Fire Protection Association Standard #211, "...extend at least three feet above the highest point where it passes through the roof of a building, and at least two feet higher than any portion of a building within ten feet."

4. Align the chimney sections through the hole to the roof. Cover the chimney with a flashing, which is a cone-shaped piece of metal skirted by a sheet of flat metal. It's all one piece and slips down over the final chimney section. The upper edge of the flashing skirt is installed below the roofing material. Nail it to the roof along the top and both sides.

5. Add the storm collar. This is a wide metal ring that slides down the chimney and fits over the top of the flashing. Seal the collar in place with waterproof, high-temperature sealant all around the part of the chimney that touches the collar.