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What To Do With My Russian Furnace Real Rock Wall/Fireplace- draft issues.

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Ellethwyn 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello,

I recently bought a house and I really like it. It passed inspection but once moving in I noticed a small water stain near the chimney of my russian furnace. Then noticed a musty smell coming from that area so I removed the drywall and insulation to find that it had been leaking for awhile and there had also been mice living up there at one point, not anymore. The leak is fixed because I am having a new roof put on right now, the wood sheathing on the roof on that area had to be replaced.

I scraped the darker areas on the wood (pictured below) and cleaned it but it still has a musty odor so I am going to tear down all the new insulation and drywall I put up and paint the wood a couple of times and put new insulation and vapor barrier, then of course new drywall. This ordeal led me to behind the russian furnace....





The problem I have with the furnace is how they built it. See the light coming in on the pic above? There is a good size gap all the way around the stove and I'm having a hard time sealing that gap. This is kind of hard to explain so bare with me. It goes back into the wall a few inches, and on the exterior of the house is an access door, there is enough room for a person to stand in there, it's great access but it's such a big cavity and so much air comes inside the home around the fireplace, not to mention it stinks back there, though there is no more mold or mice, the wood and concrete is so porous that years of there being a leak and mice have tainted the wood and concrete so I am trying to figure out how to stop that air coming in, and make it not stink! I cleaned out the area and sprayed some cleaner, but it still stinks so I am planning on painting the wood and possibly the concrete on the back side. I hope it's ok to paint the backside of the furnace which is concrete. I want to put up a vapor barrier back there too and fill the cavity/empty space with insulation but don't want the insulation to absorb the smell if there is still an odor after painting and putting up a vapor barrier. I'm not sure how to go about making the air not come into the house. Right now the gaps on the interior around the fireplace are spray foamed, taped off and some wood trim put around it, which is not working very well. What kind of insulation should I use behind the furnace and is it ok to use a vapor barrier behind it? Also, what would be the best way to seal the gaps?

I am also wondering how would one go about totally removing this solid stone/ concrete russian furnace? Just curious.
I really do like Russian stoves. Here are pictures...





 
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