DIY Russian stove repair

In detail: do-it-yourself repair of a Russian stove from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

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 realized that if you invite a stove-maker, it would 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 is free of 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.

Video (click to play).

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) - the same 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.

Read also: DIY repair of Seat Toledo

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 furnace repair. First of all, I took out all the burnt 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 fill 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 the general 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 building skills, can perform minor repairs to a stove in a country house or in a residential building.

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 roofing steel of the required size must be nailed on top.
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.
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 clear the seams by 2-3 cm, having previously soaked 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 above the fire door. The damaged elements are carefully removed from the structure, after soaking the solution, and the resulting "window" is cleaned from the remnants 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 Russian stove is used incorrectly or for a long time, certain problems may arise that require the intervention of the owner. In this case, it is not necessary to call a stove-maker; you can carry out repair work with your own hands, without the involvement of specialists. This article will tell you about various problems and ways to solve them.

If you notice that the heating system has begun to function incorrectly, then you should carry out a step-by-step solution to the problems. This must be done in a timely manner so that the structure is not damaged, and the operation is without negative impact on the atmosphere in the room. Let's figure out how to quickly repair the frequently occurring problems of the Russian stove, which is also called current, since it is necessary all the time.

The draft inside the chimney may disappear precisely due to insufficient maintenance of the furnace structure. To prevent this problem from ancient times, aspen firewood has been used for heating, which helps to clean the chimney. Heat the stove with aspen chips, make sure that the smoke coming out of the chimney changes its color from black to light gray.

Try using aspen firewood

The formation of soot inside the chimney occurs due to the use of low-quality raw materials when firing in the furnace. Garbage incinerated in the structure carries the greatest danger, therefore it is strictly forbidden to use it as fuel. Heating with raw wood can also lead to the formation of a large amount of soot.

You can clean a brick oven through a special metal door, or using a special device through the chimney pipe on the roof of the building, which is presented in the form of a long cable with a heavy load and a brush at the end.

Use a cable to clean the chimney

Due to the appearance of cracks and cracks in the furnace structure, serious problems may arise during its operation:

Cold air enters through the holes and the efficiency of the heating system is significantly reduced;
The release of carbon monoxide from the holes is possible, which can cause poisoning and suffocation of those in the room;
Small cracks can expand and if they are not eliminated in a timely manner, then a major overhaul of the structure will be required.

But on the building materials market today you can buy a special solution for brick stoves and fireplaces, which is used to cover up the holes that have appeared. The most popular are: "TerraKot", "Pechnik", "Parade". The correct consistencies are indicated on the packaging.

If visually visible damage has appeared in the furnace structure in the form of cracks, breaks, cracks or other holes, then you should not panic - these problems can be easily solved without calling specialists.Purchase a spatula and a special compound intended for the repair of fireplaces and brick stoves in advance, then you can proceed with the current repair of the heating system structure.

Clean the appeared damage from dust;
Prepare a solution of the desired consistency from the purchased mixture, in a small amount so that the excess solution does not harden;
Using a spatula, seal the previously cleaned cracks;
Allow the solution to dry; for visual beauty, the places of the repair work carried out can be treated with whitewash or special paint.

Under strong mechanical loads and high temperatures, between the masonry and the fire door, or the hob, gaps may appear, which lead to gases hazardous to human health entering the room. To eliminate this problem, it is necessary to seal the furnace door or hob with a special cord and repair mortar. All this can be purchased at a hardware store.

The Russian stove is a unique structure, one of the features of which can be considered a possible independent repair, without the involvement of a stove-maker, whose services are quite expensive. Sealing the holes between the masonry of the fire door and the hob is one of the easiest jobs to implement:

Clean the area between the metal element and the masonry, from dust and dirt;
Wash the gap, prime and process with heat-resistant oven glue;
Purchase a specialized fireproof cord in advance;
Insert the cord into the hole between the masonry and the fire door or hob - it will compensate for temperature changes and protect the solution from cracking;
After that, rub the hole with the repair mortar using a spatula;
Let the composition dry for at least a day.

You can save on the services of a stove-maker not only during routine repairs, but also when carrying out major work to eliminate serious problems. Including with your own hands, you can re-lay the firebox, replace the firebox, restore the masonry and solve other problems. In this case, only a specialized solution and refractory materials should be used in order to prevent the appearance of additional problems during the operation of a Russian brick oven.

Despite the properties of refractory bricks, over time, it becomes unusable, therefore, timely replacement of this component of the structure is also necessary. Do-it-yourself re-laying of the firebox is a rather complicated process and is often trusted by a professional stove-maker, but in order to save money, the overhaul of the stove can be carried out on your own.

If a small damage is detected in several bricks in the structure, then a complete relocation of the furnace can be omitted, having made only a partial replacement. For this purpose, remove the damaged parts in the masonry and after cleaning the surfaces, using a special solution, make a new masonry.

Relining of the lining is one of the most common types of overhaul. In its production, only fireclay bricks are used. It should be remembered that the refractory masonry must not come into contact with the brickwork of the furnace body.

In order not to reduce the overall efficiency of the structure, you should purchase new parts with the same parameters and dimensions as the old ones. This also applies to the fire door, which is most often made of cast iron material. When buying a door, measure the old one and when purchasing a new one, correlate them in size. Also remember about the need to use exclusively specialized solution for fireplaces and stoves.

Dismantle the old part together with the frame, clearing as much space as possible for the new door. Then you can start replacing it:

Clean the old mortar from the masonry;
Attach the steel tabs to the new cast iron piece and position it so that the strips are inside the masonry joint;
Between the oven masonry and the door frame, a pre-purchased cord with fire-resistant properties should be laid;
All gaps are filled with a special solution;
The composition is allowed to dry for 1-2 days.

In a Russian stove, frame brickwork is rarely damaged, since by itself it does not come into contact with fire and it does not threaten damage due to temperature extremes. But if the stove-maker has done the wrong repair work, then it can be damaged too. The restoration of the frame is a simple type of repair, it does not require specific skills or specialized materials.

Due to the fact that the repair of a Russian stove with your own hands is not difficult, whether it be current or major work, the elimination of problems can be carried out without the involvement of a professional stove-maker, which saves money. The main thing is not to forget about their timely implementation and high-quality cleaning of the stove, so that the problems that appear do not lead to more serious damage to the structure.

No matter how reliable and properly folded the wood stove is, sooner or later the time will come to repair it. Temperature fluctuations, irregular use, mechanical stress, dampness and other factors lead to cracks in the masonry, loosening of doors, clogging of chimneys, etc. Anyone can do a simple repair of brick ovens with their own hands if they know how to do it correctly.

We are not talking about complex manipulations that require knowledge about the structure of the hearth. In such cases, it is better to entrust the work to a professional. But some actions are completely subject to "dummies". We will talk about them.

What defects require mandatory intervention? This is the appearance of cracks on the surface, spalling of mortar from the seams, loose bricks in the masonry. And, of course, smoke escape into the room through cracks and crevices around metal parts.

Let's take a closer look at how to eliminate each of these shortcomings with our own hands.

Advice. The oven must be slightly warmed up before any repairs.

If the mortar from the seams has crumbled so much that it has ceased to hold the brick, it must be strengthened. Or, if it itself cracked or fell apart, replace it.

It is important! The composition and characteristics of the new brick should be the same as the old one. Otherwise, the expansion with increasing temperature will be different, which again leads to the same problem.

The algorithm for replacing bricks is shown in the table:

If you don't have a drill, a chisel and hammer will do.

How and from what to prepare the repair solution will be discussed a little further.

Very often cracks appear around the doors of the combustion chamber and blower, cast-iron hob. This is due to the fact that metal and clay have different thermal expansions.

But this does not mean that they cannot be compensated. It is possible, and for this, special heat-resistant materials are used as a gasket and seal. For example, basalt wool or ceramic stove cord.

Note. Previously, repairs to the furnace of a brick kiln were carried out using asbestos materials. This should not be done, since asbestos releases toxic substances when heated.

Step by step, this type of repair looks like this:

We clean the seat from the solution and thoroughly rinse off the soot with water.

With this solution we prime the place of installation of the plate.

It is advisable to check its fire resistance when buying so as not to run into a fake.

A cast-iron cooking surface is laid on it, on the solution.

In wide and deep slots, a ceramic cord is first laid, then a repair mixture.

As for the solution, repairing a brick oven with your own hands will be better and more durable if you add 10% Portland cement and 10% heat-resistant glue to the sand and clay. Although, you can buy a ready-made dry mixture, and dilute it according to the instructions on the package.

Before covering up the cracks, the surface of the stove must be cleaned of soot, since the solution will not stick to it due to the high content of fat in it.

So, before proceeding with the repair, we slightly heat our hearth.

You can ideally repair brick ovens with your own hands, but if the solution did not meet the conditions of their operation, all the work will go down the drain. And preparing the "right" mixture is not so easy, professionals have been learning this for years.

Therefore, it is better not to experiment, but to buy a ready-made dry mixture. There must be a note on it that it is intended specifically for laying and repairing stoves and fireplaces.

The best material for repair is fireclay mortar

Such mixtures are made on the basis of chamotte clay and are refractory. They can also be used to plaster the walls of the oven to ensure that all cracks are bridged.

It is very easy to prepare a working solution from a dry powder - the instructions on the package contain information on how to do this, what proportions to use.

Plaster the stoves on a surface moistened with water, applying and smoothing the mortar with a spatula.

Plastering the furnace with fireclay mortar

If necessary, after the first has dried, apply a second leveling layer and wait for the coating to dry.
After that, the furnace is flooded. The solution hardens completely from the heat.
If small cracks appear on the surface, they are covered with the same, but more liquid solution. You can use a brush for this.

Plastered hearth can be painted or whitewashed and finished with clinker tiles

Quite often, the stove starts to smoke in the absence of any visible defects and destruction.

The reason lies in the clogging of the chimney:

It can literally become overgrown with soot, especially if coniferous wood was used for the firebox or household waste was burned in the hearth;

It looks like a chimney that has not been cleaned for a long time

The chimney could get debris from the street, carried by the wind. Sometimes even dead birds are found there;
Another common reason is a broken piece of brick or a whole brick that has fallen out of the masonry.

All of these factors negatively affect the cravings that need to be restored.

If the stove is folded correctly, it should have special doors for cleaning the chimney. They are opened and debris and soot are removed from the interior using a scoop, hard brush and broom.

Repair of brick ovens may not be required for a long time if you regularly clean the chimney

After cleaning, you need to check the draft by holding a burning paper or candle to the open door. The smoke should be actively drawn into the hole.

More serious blockages will require mechanical cleaning of the chimney from above, from the roof. A weight tied to a strong long rope or chain is lowered into it, breaking through the congestion with it. The debris that has fallen down is removed from the firebox.