How to disconnect a gas fireplace chimney without getting on the roof
You can disconnect a gas fireplace vent or chimney from inside the house without climbing onto the roof, though it requires carefully cutting or dismantling the pipe sections while keeping future reconnection in mind. Doing this safely allows you to remove a leaking or unused structure on a tight budget without destroying the parts you might need for a future fireplace insert.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Cutting the pipe right above the fireplace with an angle grinder
- 2Prying clay flue tiles from the bottom with a crowbar
- 3Hiring a chimney sweep or contractor to dismantle it section by section from the roof down
- 4Figuring things out as he goes after doing extensive research and performing the removal himself out of financial necessity.
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Is there another way to disconnect my gas fireplace from the chimney without going up on the roof to pull the chimney out?”source ↗
“I’m about to just cut it out with an angle grinder.”source ↗
“I was hoping to save as much as I can in case it’s ever reverted in the future.”source ↗
“I’m removing my chimney as it was leaking on the cap and through the bricks, and it’s an unused fireplace anyway that we plan to replace with an lp insert in 5-10 years.”source ↗
“Unfortunately at this point in time I’m getting my ass kicked financially and am doing this myself out of necessity.”source ↗
“I just got the chimneys out and noticed that under the shingles on top of the sheathing is what appears to be galvanized sheet metal with some sort of asphalt coating on it.”source ↗
“How far does this extend? Is this normal?”source ↗
“I wanted to look at the sheathing around the opening to make sure it’s not compromised but not sure how far to pull shingles off to find if/where the sheet metal ends.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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