Wood Stove Repair in Sherman Oaks When the Stove Ran Too Hot

A wood stove overfires when it gets too much air, from a door left open, a failed gasket or an air control set wide open with dry wood. A stovepipe or chimney fire happens when creosote in the connector pipe or flue ignites. Both run very hot, and both leave marks. Look for a stovepipe that glowed red or now shows white or blue discoloring, a stove top or sides with a pale, chalky look, a baffle plate that sagged or cracked, firebrick that broke apart, glass that clouded permanently, and door gaskets that went hard and flat. If you heard a roar from the pipe and saw the pipe glowing, that was a fire in the connector or flue. Close the air control and the door, keep people back from the pipe, and call the fire department if it does not die down quickly.

After any of that, do not light the stove again until it has been looked at. The connector pipe is thin steel, and one hot fire can warp it or open its seams. The flue above it needs the same Level 2 look as any chimney after a fire.

We take the stove apart as far as the maker allows. Baffle plates and boards that sagged or cracked are replaced with the stove's own parts. Broken firebrick is replaced to the stove's layout, since gaps in that lining let heat warp the steel behind. Door and glass gaskets are replaced, and cracked glass is replaced with ceramic glass cut for the door. On catalytic stoves, the combustor is checked and replaced if it broke or clogged. The connector pipe from the stove to the chimney is replaced if it warped, discolored or opened at the seams, which it usually has after a pipe fire. Clearances from the stove and pipe to nearby walls and furniture are measured again, because a stove that overfired once can do it again.

After the repair we explain what caused the hot fire and how to avoid it: dry wood, the air control used as the manual describes, and a stovepipe thermometer so you can see when it runs too hot. In Sherman Oaks, most stove repairs are finished in one or two visits depending on parts. You keep a note of the parts replaced and the cause, for your records and any claim.