Do-it-yourself stove door repair

We bought a house in the village with a stone stove, which turned out to be in rather bad condition. I had absolutely no experience in this matter, so I did not immediately notice that she was “defective”. She was whitewashed and seemed quite decent. I was afraid to undertake its repair myself, but I understood that if you invite a stove-maker, it will cost a very decent amount. In addition, I thought that if I repair it myself, then there will be experience and additional confidence in my abilities. So I started practicing myself - everything worked out for me, and not even bad at all. I will say right away that while the final repair of the furnace is not completed, there are still all sorts of little things to be done in the spring, but it is already working and is working well. So do not be afraid and feel free to take on the independent repair of the brick oven: I think you will succeed too. And now useful information from my experience, how to repair a brick oven with your own hands, both in the country and in a private house.

• Brick. At the construction market I bought a brick of the Tula brick factory, which was called "stove brick". Professionals say that, in general, there is no special oven brick - any building ceramic brick of any brand will do, even M-75 - the main thing is that it has no cracks. But, by the way, I really liked the brick that I bought - smooth, without cracks, much better quality than the usual building brick. It cost 15 rubles apiece, and I took as many as 100 pieces. In some stores, they even sell them for 25 rubles apiece. By the way, 7 pieces were not enough, and I had to use the old one, which I took out of the oven. I also bought 20 pieces of fireclay bricks at 49 rubles apiece. Fireclay bricks can withstand very high temperatures, as much as 1800 degrees. I wanted to lining the firebox with them, but then it turned out that it would not work. So this expensive brick lies and waits in the wings - it will come in handy for a new oven.

• Furnace casting. These are latches, furnace and blower doors, cleaning doors, cooking floor. The so-called scar casting (Zavod "Litkom") is the leader in quality. There is also a supplier from Balezino, but the quality there seems to be worse. I took the Rubtsov furnace door, and the ash door, as less important, I bought the Balezin one. I paid 1,500 rubles for everything. I did not consider imported casting: it is, of course, much better quality, but it also costs decent: I thought it was not advisable to buy it. I did not buy a cooking floor (stove): for now I decided to use the old one, which had been split, until spring. I didn't buy the grate either - I used the one that was in the old oven. By the way, it's homemade. Do-it-yourself brick oven repair did not include replacing valves and cleaning doors from me yet, so I did not buy them. I will do all this in the spring.

• Basalt cardboard BVTM used for sealing when installing metal parts: cooking deck, door. I bought two sheets of 5 mm thickness at 156 rubles apiece. This was quite enough and even remained, but I think that it will still come in handy: during the life of the furnace, it may well be required.
• Wire and metal tape. It is used when installing doors. I'll tell you more about this a little later. I found the wire in the garage, and bought the tape in the store (I gave 500 rubles for 20 meters) - such as in the photo.

• Drill with mixer attachment - used to prepare the solution.
• Brush (drill attachment) - used to remove soot and old mortar from bricks in some places.
• Grinder + disc for metal + metal disc for concrete - mainly used to cut bricks.It turns out quickly, evenly, but hefty dusty, so buy another respirator. Sometimes it was required to cut the metal too: now a corner of some of the oven sticks out - I cut it off completely, then the grate cut. The photo shows an example of using a grinder when working with bricks. This is a key brick, which is placed over the firebox door.

• Building level - it is clear why.
• Gon - it is better if it is long, I had a short one. I mainly used it to mark out bricks.
• Roulette - for measurements of all kinds.
• Marker - they marked the brick. I took the marker from my daughters from drawing sets and will not return it, because it has worn out in the trash.
• Trowel, trowel - used to work with the solution. Basically I used a 70 mm wide spatula, it seemed to me that it is more convenient for them to work than with a trowel.
• Hacksaw for wood (old) - used to cut a brick out of the oven at the seam. An irreplaceable thing. Sometimes it was required to take something smaller, then I used canvas for metal.
• Hammer - used to neatly straighten a newly laid brick. And so, for other purposes, the hammer will find application.
• Sponge for washing dishes - wetted the surfaces of bricks prepared for mortar with water.
• Buckets - for mortar and for soaking bricks in water.

• If non-critical cracks need to be repaired, then, of course, it is not necessary to disassemble the oven. We melt it - the seams expand. Then we thoroughly clean out the old mortar until we clean the brick well at the crack. It is convenient to work with a cloth for metal.
• If a cracked brick needs to be replaced, then an old wood saw comes to the rescue for cutting bricks from masonry along the seam. Then carefully remove the brick and clean the bricks in the masonry, preparing them for mortar.
• If most of the oven is in critical condition, then you have to take out a lot of bricks. It is very dusty. I did not think of separating the stove from the room with foil, and my whole house was covered with a layer of dust. We remove the bricks until we reach those that hold tight. But turn on your head, otherwise you can disassemble the whole stove. The fact is that some bricks that wobble a little can be left in the masonry. Then they will bond with their new neighbors, and everything will be fine. And, of course, we also take out all the cracked bricks, and also the burnt ones. Here, look at the photo of how my firebox looked like. It had to be taken apart and laid out again. I took out about a little over 100 bricks from the entire oven.

After you have prepared the seams for repair (I wrote about this above), we wet the bricks with water using a sponge and put the mortar into the seam: we take it a little bit and with a trowel we "chase" the seam - we seal it with the edge of the trowel until the metal practically stops penetrating into the solution.

Do-it-yourself brick stove repair is very often a firebox repair. First of all, I took out all the burnt-out bricks and prepared the firebox for new masonry. But there was one serious problem: one of the walls of the furnace turned out to be load-bearing in the entire structure - let's say, the pipe rested on it. Therefore, I decided not to remove the bricks from this wall, but simply shifted the firebox to a half-brick to the side and laid out an absolutely new firebox wall. There is nothing particularly difficult in the masonry itself - just do everything carefully, take your time and try to keep all the bricks tied. Under the grate, I cut out the bricks with a grinder so that it would lie in the grooves, as it were. The grate must lie freely under its own weight with a gap of 5 mm from the bricks, otherwise it will expand from heating and begin to destroy the masonry. Some people advise to fill these free gaps with sand, but I did not - they themselves will be filled with ash.

All kinds of doors (furnace, blower, cleaning) are installed so that there is a gap of 5 mm between them and the bricks, otherwise they will destroy the masonry when heated. The doors are fastened either to wire or to tape.They are attached to the wire like this: four pieces of wire are tied to the door (there are special holes in the doors), and then these mustaches are embedded in the masonry. Places for embedding (seams) must be pre-cleaned. If the door wobbles a little after the mortar to be laid has dried, then bend the wire with pliers - as if pulling it. In this way, I fixed the blower door. I did not like this method - the door is not very securely mounted in the masonry.

But the fire door, as a more responsible one, I fastened with a metal tape. I riveted two strips to the door with rivets, which I made from cut nails, and walled up this whole structure in the masonry. It turned out perfect. Therefore, I almost forgot about the basalt sealant, which is placed between the metal of the doors and the bricks. You can immediately close it up, and then you can fill it in a 5 mm gap.

The cooking deck was also installed with side gaps from bricks of 5 mm. It lies with me just under its own weight, but along the perimeter under it there is a basalt sealant in two layers. So that the cooking floor was flush with the plane of the stove, I cut out grooves in the bricks with a grinder along the perimeter of the stove.

This time he did not repair the valve on the pipe and the cleaning doors for soot - he postponed this business until spring. But in general, the approach is the same.

Ideally, if the oven dries up by itself. This is long enough: it can take a month or two. Drying times will depend on the scale of the repairs performed. Another drying option is gentle heating. In this case, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise the seams will crack. And it worked out for me: the upper two rows of the stove, newly laid out, cracked at the seams, because I hurried and went out ahead of time (5-7 days) to the normal mode of the furnace.

In my case, this is not critical: in the spring I will move the heels of the bricks again, and in some places I will simply rub the cracks. But nevertheless, it is still unpleasant. And one more thing: the criterion that the stove is dry is that there is no condensation (water droplets) on the cleaning doors and on the valves.

A brick oven can serve for several decades if you regularly engage in preventive maintenance and promptly eliminate damage and breakdowns. Depending on the complexity of the work, it is customary to subdivide furnace repairs into current, average and major. Minor problems are easy to fix in a few hours, while major problems can take days. To save on stove-maker services and extend the life of the stove, it is recommended to make repairs already in the first years of operation.

Professionals strongly recommend that you carefully examine the state of the hearth before the start of each heating season. Timely repair of stoves and fireplaces prevents accidents and fires.

Any owner, even if he does not have the skills in construction, can perform minor repairs of the stove in the country or in a residential building.

1. The scuffs that appear on the pre-heating sheet make cleaning difficult and can cause a fire. The leaking metal must be removed, the floor covering must be protected with an asbestos sheet and the roofing steel of the required size must be nailed on top.
2. To replace the grate, you need to remove the old part from the oven and clean the area of ​​soot. The new grille must be exactly the same size as the broken one. It is laid in place without mortar, similar to the old grates.
3. The chimney should be inspected twice a year for foreign objects and debris. It is recommended to use special chemicals to clean the canals from soot.

Leaky seams spoil the appearance of the brickwork and let harmful gases into the room. To detect weak areas, it is recommended to heat the stove - this will make large cracks visible. To eliminate the problem, it is necessary to cleanse the seams by 2–3 cm, having previously soaked them with water. Next, the walls are well washed with clean water using a brush.

The resulting depressions are filled with new clay mortar, carefully compacting the mixture and rubbing the voids. To increase the resistance of the mortar to cracking, you can add a little table salt to the clay - 300-350 grams per bucket of mortar. It is recommended to seal wide gaps with a fire-resistant cord. If necessary, the walls are plastered and whitewashed or tiled.

The gaps formed between the doors and the masonry due to mechanical stress and thermal expansion also begin to let dangerous gases into the room. Do-it-yourself oven repair in this case begins with cleaning the surface and removing the old solution. The cleaned area is washed and primed with heat-resistant glue diluted in the same volume of water.

A sealing asbestos or ceramic cord is attached around the perimeter of the door - it protects the clay from cracking, compensating for the differences in thermal expansion of materials. In order not to buy a fake instead of a fire-resistant cord, experienced stove-makers recommend setting fire to the purchase without leaving the checkout. Next, the area around the door is rubbed with repair mortar and left to dry for at least a day.

Similarly, the gaps that appear between the hob and the walls are eliminated. To remove the stove, heat the stove a little, then pry the cast iron with a hard metal object, such as an ax. Instead of a cord in this case, you can use basalt wool or felt. If possible, the old stove can be replaced with a more modern one.

Medium-level malfunctions will also not be difficult to eliminate without the involvement of experts. This approach will help save money on the services of a stove-maker.

Over time, the refractory brick from which the firebox is made collapses and requires attention. Do-it-yourself repair of the furnace firebox is carried out through the furnace door. In case of minor damage, the destroyed areas are restored using clay mortar or factory-made masonry refractory mixture. If several bricks are damaged, a partial replacement can be dispensed with. To do this, soak and clean the solution in the right place and remove the damaged element. New bricks are carefully inserted into the voids and carefully covered over. It is advisable to take the same composition that was used during construction.

It is not always possible to completely replace the lining through the furnace hole; in some cases it is necessary to disassemble the wall. If the top of the stove is covered by a hob, it is easier to get to the top of the combustion chamber. The new lining is made of fireclay bricks, not forgetting that the refractory material should not be tied up with the one from which the furnace body is folded. In large ovens, bricks are laid flat, in small and medium-sized ones - on the edge.

A new cast-iron door must have the same parameters as a broken one. In order not to be mistaken, you must measure the width and length of the product before purchasing. The old door is dismantled together with the frame, clearing the masonry as much as possible in the right places. So that the masonry mortar can be easily and quickly removed, it is soaked with water. Just in case, you need to stock up on a few bricks - they will be needed if unforeseen destruction occurs during dismantling or unusable bricks are found. Steel legs are attached to the new cast-iron door and set so that the strips are in the masonry seams. An asbestos or ceramic cord must be placed between the masonry and the frame. The gaps are filled with a solution, carefully eliminating all the cracks.

Major renovations are rarely complete without replacing damaged bricks. Most often, the problem occurs over the firebox door. The damaged elements are carefully removed from the structure, after soaking the solution, and the resulting "window" is cleaned from the remains of clay. The new brick is immersed in water for a few minutes and placed on a refractory mortar, after which possible gaps are filled and the seams are rubbed.When repairing a sauna stove, it is recommended to seal large gaps with a mortar with the addition of brick chips made from refractory bricks. The repair of the Russian stove in many cases consists in the restoration of a destroyed or sagging vault. As a rule, to eliminate the destruction, it is required to make a new circle and move the brick in this area. The second vulnerable spot of the Russian stove is underneath, here the burnt-out bricks can be easily removed and replaced with new ones.

For those who do not feel the strength to repair a brick oven with their own hands, we do not recommend taking up work. In this case, as well as if a complex chimney repair is necessary, it is better to immediately seek professional help from experienced stove-makers.

Describe your question in as much detail as possible and our expert will answer it

If the door does not fit as tightly to the oven body as before, it’s time to repair it.

• mortar for repairing a brick made of refractory clay and asbestos powder (clay, cement, sand);
• ceramic cord (for large gaps);
• brushes for applying materials.

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How to seal the oven door:

With a complete replacement of the door, the following work has to be done:

1. removal of brickwork along the perimeter of the door, starting from the first horizontal row from the top;
2. one brick is removed from the side;
3. a heat-resistant mixture is prepared (a solution of clay and asbestos powder, as described above, with the help of which heating furnaces are repaired);
4. fasteners for the door are installed;
5. the door is attached.

Replacement is a complex process, which can be full of errors. Therefore, measurements must be accurate.

Due to regular temperature fluctuations of large amplitude, the operation of the furnace sooner or later fails. Any owner can repair a brick oven with his own hands, having initial technical knowledge and skillful hands.

The main thing is to do it in a timely manner, then you will avoid troubles and fires.

Usually renovation work are divided into three types:

1. elimination of minor problems
2. medium troubleshooting
3. elimination of serious defects (overhaul).

We advise you to remember that regular inspection of the oven before the heating season and maintenance is a way to prevent possible serious damage to the structure in the future.

What minor problems can you face when operating the oven and how to fix them?

This problem can occur due to the following reasons:

• the stove was not used for a long time, and cold air accumulated inside the chimney;
• there is no air flow to support combustion;
• exposure to strong winds from the street;
• soot clogged the smoke ducts.

Solution: we ignite the stove not with paper, but with a piece of rubber or dry fuel.

Attention! The use of kerosene or other flammable liquids is prohibited.

In case of a blocked chimney, you need to carry out the following activities:

• light the stove;
• pour coarse salt (about a handful) into the firebox;
• close the damper immediately;
• soot will fly out in chunks into the chimney.

If this method does not help, then it is necessary clean the pipe with your own handsby opening a special door, or taking out knocked out bricks. Experienced kiln craftsmen will always leave doors or knocked out bricks for cleaning.

To determine, where are these bricks located, do this:

• make an external inspection of the oven; especially in places of passage of smoke channels;
• the knock-out brick is usually displaced slightly outward, in contrast to the main masonry;
• clean the old mortar and take out the brick. This will make the smoke channel accessible and you can clean it;
• then replace the knock-out brick and coat it with clay mortar.

as a result of which the stove began to smoke.

In addition, its appearance is spoiled.

Heat the stove and you will notice cracks that need to be covered by hand.

Sequencing:

• soak the seams, and then clean them 2 - 3 cm;
• rinse the walls with a brush using clean water;
• prepare a solution by mixing clay, sand, asbestos fiber and salt (at the rate of 100 grams per 3 liters of the mixture); an indicator of a quality solution is an average viscosity. You can purchase a ready-made solution at a hardware store;
• fill the seams with a clay mixture, compact it, wiping out all the voids;
• if necessary, plaster the walls, whitewash or tile.

It is required to replace it with a new one.

Sequencing:

• clean clay and dust from the place where the old brick lay;
• moisten the place with water and put a clay cake on it;
• wet a new brick, coat its top and sides with a clay mixture (we prepare it first in the same way as for covering the cracks);
• lay it in place of the damaged old brick.

Sometimes, in case of moderate damage to the furnace, it is impossible to do without self-repair and strengthening of some parts.

Mechanical stress and temperature fluctuations can lead to the formation of gaps around the door of the firebox or hob. As a result, hazardous gases escape.

These places need to be compacted.

Sequencing:

• clean the surface, remove the old solution;
• rinse and prime it with heat-resistant glue diluted with the same volume of liquid;
• attach an asbestos or ceramic cord around the door or hob to prevent cracking of the clay.
• rub the necessary areas with the repair mixture;
• dry for at least a day.

Advice: in order to check if the fire-resistant cord is tampered with, set it on fire right at the cash register.

You can eliminate the cracks around the hob using the same algorithm. Heat the oven before removing the stove. Then pry off the metal with an ax. It is permissible to replace the asbestos cord with basalt wool or felt. If the old stove is completely leaking, replace it with a new one.

It becomes necessary if cracks and cracks are located around the entire perimeter of the oven... In this case, it is best to shift the masonry, but if you do not have enough time, you can resort to screeding the frame with a metal wire.

Sequencing:

• we chase special channels with a depth of 15 to 20 millimeters in the oven strictly horizontally;
• we lay the wire in the grooves so that it provides the frame screed;
• we stretch the wire by twisting it with a beard or a thick nail so that it does not break;
• plaster the stove.

When replacing the grate, keep in mind that there must be a gap between the brickwork and the grate. It must be covered with sand. The new grill must be exactly the same size as the old one.

This manipulation should be performed only when the sheets are perforated or rusty. Sequencing:

• removing the old sheet;
• excavation of nails;
• laying a piece of felt that has been previously soaked in clay solution;
• nailing a new sheet.

Sometimes the damage to a brick oven is so serious that it is necessary to restore its full performance, replace or improve the broken parts.

Lining is nothing more than protection of the furnace surface from various mechanical and thermal damages. In our case, this is the use of fireclay bricks.

If the firebox lining is damaged, it must be replaced.

Important! For old and new masonry, use a homogeneous brick so that the coefficient of thermal expansion does not change.

Simple work can be done through the firebox door. To do this, it is enough to restore the damaged areas with clay mortar or factory refractory mixture.

Partial replacement of bricks is performed in the following sequence:

• prepare the mortar that was used during construction;
• soak and clean up the old solution in the required area;
• remove the item that has been damaged;
• insert a new brick into an empty space and cover it well.

For these manipulations, a ready-made refractory solution can also be used - Chamotte mortar, which consists of chamotte and refractory clay. Then the seams of the furnace will be able to withstand more than 1700 degrees.

Complete replacement of the lining is carried out only after dismantling the wall. The main masonry must not be touched.

Sequencing:

• disassemble the wall from the hearth to the ash hole; do not touch the stove ribs;
• remove the remnants of rubble;
• lay out a new fireclay brick lining so that it is not tied up with the material of the stove body. Observe the thickness of the seam - no more than two millimeters.
• if the stove is large, lay the brick flat. If small or medium - on the edge.

This may require plastering of the masonry, or even busting it in case of destruction.

The main method is to lay out the walls of the firebox with fireclay bricks using refractory mortar. Install slopes on the sides of the firebox. On them, hot coals will fall down during the heating process and close the grates.

It is important to use only high quality bricks.

It is better to prepare tools for repairs in advance.

You will need:

• brick;
• double-sided hammer;
• Master OK;
• plumb line;
• level;
• roulette;
• bucket for solution preparation.

Not all the subtleties of repair can be described in words, the video will show this clearly.

Didn't answer your question? Please leave your comments and wishes below. Thanks!

During prolonged operation of the stove, most often the grate burns out, the firebox doors loosen or fall out, as well as warping and cracking of the cooking decks.

The grates are the easiest to change. A worn-out grate is removed from the fuel part and a new one, identical in size to the old one, is installed in its place. However, during installation, the grate must be correctly positioned: the cone-shaped slots for ash must be positioned with the wide part upwards. And we must not forget that a grate made of metal will necessarily expand when heated and at the landing site it must be left at least 5 mm of free space.

Until recently, wire strands embedded in the seams were the most common way of fastening furnace doors and ash pan doors. But, if the ash pan doors are practically not subjected to regular thermal and mechanical stress, then, as a rule, they rarely fall out of the attachment points and receive other damage, unlike fuel doors.

In the process of daily operation of the stove, and especially with a careless attitude towards the door of the firebox (hammering logs of unsuitable size into the firebox, overheating with too intense firebox and other negative actions), the fastening wire gradually stretches out. As soon as the twist is exposed, then under the influence of an open flame, the unprotected wire, in the end, inevitably burns out and the door at best begins to wobble, and at worst falls out. This nuisance is often accompanied by a partial or complete collapse of the brick lintel above the door.

In addition to attaching oven appliances to wire strands, there are a number of ways to install them. In particular, on thin-walled stainless and, accordingly, much more heat-resistant than ordinary black steel corners, as well as on clamps made of steel perforated tape. Based on the fact that stainless corners are very expensive, and fastening doors on them requires certain skills, for repair purposes, the method of installation on cleats is more relevant.

Clammer, or more simply, an ordinary strip of steel tape freely sold in hardware stores (Photo 13), which is fastened with short self-tapping screws, comparable to the thickness of the door frame, or, which, in my opinion, is more convenient, with rivets, with a diameter of 4-5 mm.

When attaching the clamp strip, it is necessary to move it as much as possible to the frame cut-off facing the inside of the firebox.Otherwise, after installing the oven device, it will protrude from the outer part of the seam.

The seams into which the clamps will be inserted are thoroughly cleaned of the old solution and rinsed.

When installing the door, the clamps are inserted into the cleared seams (Photo 16), and the oven device itself is fixed, as a rule, with a pile of bricks stacked on top of each other.

Then the seams are minted to the maximum filling and thoroughly washed. You can use the oven after installing the door after the solution has completely dried out for the time specified by the manufacturer of the mixture.

Do not forget that the fuel door, like the grate, is made of metal, which expands when heated. Accordingly, when installing the door, from the sides and from the top, it is necessary to provide at least 5 mm of space to the brick, for tightness filled with basalt materials.

In case of critical destruction or falling out of bricks, the lintel above the door should be replaced by installing a so-called "lock" brick in the middle of the lintel, which is clearly visible in Photo 17. This method of laying, when the brick is cut 45 degrees along the pins and as a wedge or "lock »Is inserted between previously cut adjacent bricks, significantly reinforces the lintel, preventing it from collapsing even if the mortar that binds the bricks spills out.

Replacing the cooking floor, as well as replacing the grate, as a rule, does not cause any particular difficulties. However, in this, at first glance, quite simple operation, there are a number of nuances. The first - the cooking floor, like a grate, a fuel door, however, like almost any metal in the body of a brick oven, it is necessary to leave at least 5 mm of free space for pressure expansion. Second, it is pointless to seal the gap between the flooring and the brick with masonry mortar, as most stove owners often do. The solidified and lost elasticity mortar will inevitably collapse and spill out during regular cycles of expansion-contraction of the flooring during the operation of the furnace. Therefore, sealing should be carried out by filling the cavities with heat-resistant basalt materials.

Third, domestic-made cooking floors, especially solid ones, without burners, are not particularly durable and often crack even after several furnaces. Therefore, despite the higher cost, it is preferable to install cooking floors from foreign, in particular, Finnish manufacturers.

To remove soot from the convection system, or, in other words, the smoke circulation system, special technological holes, called cleaning doors, must be provided in the furnace body, into which cleaning doors are installed. Ideally: for each chimney, its own cleaning door is provided. However, in the process of laying the stove, for various reasons, they may either not be made or not made enough, thereby complicating or making it completely impossible to clean the heater.

By the way, the deposition of soot in the smoke circulation and chimney, in addition to a significant deterioration in draft and a critical decrease in efficiency due to a decrease in heat transfer from heated gases to a brick, significantly increases the danger of fire, since soot under certain thermal conditions tends to flare up and burn with a very high, more than 1000 ° C temperature.

Fire safety rules require cleaning the convection system of the furnace at least twice a year - at the beginning and at the end of the heating season.

Before installing the cleaning door, it is necessary to determine where the flue duct is located. If the ego cannot be done by visual inspection, then the channel will have to be looked for.To do this, a thin drill is installed on the drill, no more than 4 mm in diameter and more than 120 mm long (brick width), a drill for concrete, which in the drilling mode (impact mode can damage the brick) in the place of the proposed location of the smoke channel pierce the seams until the drill will not fall into the void. After the boundaries of the channel are determined, a hole is prepared for the installation of a cleaning door by removing bricks from the masonry, in a manner similar to that used when replacing defective bricks.

If, when installing by cleaning the door, it is required to remove half of the brick, then the line of the future spall is first drilled with several holes, and then the unnecessary part is beaten off with a chisel.

As for the cleaning doors themselves, on the market there are mainly cheaper doors of domestic production, in the overwhelming majority of production in the city of Rubtsovsk (Photo 22), as well as imported, mainly Finnish production.

It should be noted that, despite the lower price of the products of the Rubtsovsk plant, they do not possess one of, please, the main qualities that a cleaning door should have - tightness. Therefore, nevertheless, it is preferable to install imported cleaning doors.

Nevertheless, regardless of which cleaning door is installed - imported or domestic - additional sealing will not interfere with it at all, since cold parasitic air, as mentioned above, significantly reduces the efficiency of the furnace and can lead to smoke. Making the clean hole airtight is not difficult at all. To do this, cut out a rectangle from dense basalt cardboard, CONLIT 150 mud, a rectangle exactly the size of the cleaning hole. The main thing is that the plug fits tightly and tightly closes the cleaner.

Almost every owner living in a private house or in a country house, who owns a brick oven, has to face the problem of repairing it. This is not surprising: over time, from mechanical stress and constant exposure to high temperatures, at least the clay joints around the metal elements of the furnace are chipped.

Furnace repair: A - replacement of cracked or burnt bricks; B - piping of the cracked furnace.

Trying to save money, many owners of brick ovens are trying to cope with the problem of repairing them on their own. But you need to understand that there are differences between repairs and repairs. Repair of brick ovens is divided into three types: current, partial and major.

The simplest type of repair is in-line. It consists in maintaining the oven used in a private house or in the country, clean and tidy. The entire repair consists of getting rid of the ash and soot from the furnace and eliminating minor defects in the brickwork of the brick furnace: small cracks, chips. This type of repair is handled by each owner and does not require the presence of a master stove-maker.

Diagram of the device of a bath brick oven.

Partial repair of the furnace involves the replacement of one or more of its parts. It all depends on where these parts are located. Replacing a malfunctioning grate or cast iron plate will not cause any particular difficulties. And not everyone can replace or strengthen the firebox door or damper. With such a repair, you need to have at least minimal skills as a bricklayer, since you will have to disassemble and re-fold the brickwork around the damaged part.

Also, partial repairs include partial replacement of the firebox lining, partial restoration of chimneys, partial repair of the beginning of the fire channel, etc. With such a repair, having the experience of a bricklayer and carefully examining the masonry of the damaged areas, you can also try to cope on your own. But the chances that you will get it right are not very high.

Overhaul is the most difficult type of repair, and it cannot be done without the help of an experienced stove-maker. The need for such repair arises when partial or complete disassembly of the furnace is required, for example, when upgrading the furnace or rebuilding it for a different type of fuel.

The first thing that makes it necessary to repair the stove is poor draft, as a result of which the stove begins to smoke heavily. The most likely cause of poor draft is soot deposits in the chimney and chimney. A soot layer of only 3 mm reduces the heat output of the oven by almost half. A thick layer of soot not only inevitably leads to an almost double overconsumption of fuel, but also significantly increases the risk of fire. Therefore, the passages in the chimney through which the smoke is removed and the chimney must be systematically cleaned of soot. For this, a long pole is usually used with a brush attached to the end or a large rag wound and tied. You can also use thick wire instead of a pole.

Diagram of the device of the Russian stove.

If the stove burns well in dry, warm weather, and when cold weather sets in, it starts to smoke, then the reason is most likely in damaged thermal insulation or insufficient thickness of the chimney or chimney. In this case, the passing gases are rapidly cooled, significantly reducing the thrust. The repair will consist of removing the old plaster and smearing all the seams in the chimney and chimney, and then plastering again, increasing the thickness of the plaster layer in order to increase the thickness of the walls.

Also, cracks and cracks that appear on the surface of the stove or chimney, through which cold air enters the stove, can also cause a deterioration in draft. Such a suction will inevitably lead to the fact that the fuel will burn poorly and the stove will smoke. Cracks must be repaired. This is done using clay mortar.

A few words about the preparation of clay mortar for the repair of the stove.

The clay solution should not be made either too greasy or too thin, since both types will inevitably take on new cracks, and efforts to repair the stove will go down the drain.

But if the components are correctly observed, then the composition practically does not crack upon drying and does not give precipitation. In this case, it is very important that the prepared solution is homogeneous, without lumps and without areas with one clay or one sand. To make the mortar more refractory and at the same time elastic, shredded asbestos fiber can be added to it. A properly prepared solution should be similar in density to sour cream.

Diagram of the device and masonry of a brick oven with an open stove.

The cracks found in the brick oven are eliminated in this way: first you need to clear the crack and deepen it by 2-3 cm, after which the cleaned place is moistened with water and immediately rubbed with a solution. In this case, it is a prerequisite that the mashing process follows immediately after soaking. Even a small break is unacceptable here.

To carry out in-line repairs, you will need tools:

During the operation of a brick oven, it is often necessary to replace burnt out or damaged bricks. To do this, you need to remove the damaged brick, and the place where it was located must be completely cleaned from all sides of the old mortar and soot and thoroughly moistened with water. Then put a new mortar on the lower layer of the masonry, the brick to be inserted must be lowered into the water for a couple of seconds, put a layer of mortar on it from above and from the sides and inserted into the formed niche.

Scheme of laying the Dutch oven.

One of the most common types of brick furnace repair is strengthening or replacing its cast-iron elements: furnace and view doors, grate and, in fact, the stove. Here, the easiest thing to do is to replace the grates. Since the grate lays down without clay mortar, it is enough just to take out the old grates, after carefully examining how they were laid, and put new ones in their place in the same way.

Often, during the operation of a brick oven, the cast iron plate is damaged. Today their quality leaves much to be desired, and with the constant alternation of heating and cooling, the material, unable to withstand, bursts into two or even more pieces. The same can happen due to improper installation of the stove. But it is also possible that the stove can still be used in the country or in the house, but due to damage to the bricks on which it was laid, it lost the necessary support, gaps appeared between the brick and the stove.

In the first case, you need to replace the stove with a new one. But keep in mind that the slabs may vary in size. When purchasing a new stove, do not forget to accurately measure the dimensions of the old one. The new slab should be the same size as the old one, at least 10-15 mm larger, but in no case smaller. Otherwise, instead of a banal replacement of the stove, you will have to redo the entire firebox.

In the second case, there is no need to purchase a new slab, but you will have to replace the damaged bricks of the upper row, and even more reliable - replace the entire upper row of bricks.

Decorating the stove with decorative masonry.

You can use a carpenter's ax to remove the old slab. The blade of the ax is pushed from the side under the slab and, using the handle of the ax as a lever, it is lifted. Then do the same on the other side of the plate. The stove can then be easily removed.

The way to replace damaged bricks was mentioned above. The re-laying of the upper row is carried out according to the same principle: first, the old bricks are carefully removed. Here, the technology is simple: a thin but wide blade of a chisel or chisel is driven into the bottom under the brick (a knife with a wide blade is also possible), pull the handle and tear the brick from its place, after which it is easy to pull it out. You need to start with the most damaged brick, since the first brick is the most difficult to tear off from its place. Then they do the same with the second brick and take out everything in turn.

The surface of the bricks of the lower row is thoroughly cleaned of clay mortar and soot, thoroughly moistened with water and a new row of bricks is placed on top, observing, of course, their dressing. When installing the stove, you need to remember that cast iron tends to expand when heated, therefore, it is impossible to firmly fix the stove in any case.

It is easier if the new slab is put in place of the old one and corresponds to it in size. In this case, the place where the stove will be placed is cleaned of the remnants of clay mortar and soot, the stove is installed and the cracks are sealed with a freshly prepared mortar. If the slab is placed on new bricks, then a recess must first be made in them along the perimeter of the slab, and the dimensions of the recess on each side should be 5-7 mm larger than the dimensions of the slab; install the stove in the grooves and seal up with freshly prepared mortar.