A Skirt for a Chimney

Some old friends once invited me to their dacha. A bike ride, a look around the garden plot. Then tea and a chat. I agreed and went one weekend. Summer, fields, a thunderstorm!

Everything was planted, tended, and weeded. Inside the dacha house it was cozy and simple.

But on the stove top there stood a basin, and rainwater was dripping into it!

“It’s always been like that. Ever since my husband built the dacha 30 years ago,” said the elderly hostess.

My own stoves don’t have this problem, and I promised to fix that everlasting leak soon.

Already at home I prepared three simple parts from galvanized sheet metal:

– a lower sheet with an opening for the pipe,

– an upper sheet with a bent flange that deflects rainwater,

– a blank for a drip skirt to fit the diameter of the dacha chimney.

I rolled all the tin parts into a roll and tied them with rope.

In advance I packed a hammer, nails, pliers, and tin snips into a bag.

The next weekend I set off on a bike ride with the goal of repairing the dacha chimney.

First I knocked together a roof ladder with hooks from suitable boards and set it next to the smoke pipe.

Then I took the parts and tools and climbed up to make the rain protection.

I trimmed the opening in the lower sheet to fit and hammered a small flange around the radius. I fitted it and nailed it through the slate into the sheathing.

I tried the skirt blank on and trimmed it on site so there was enough material to lock with a bucket-style seam. After pressing, I applied automotive gasket sealant to the joint between the pipe and the skirt.

I also shortened the upper sheet on site and, sliding it under the roof ridge, nailed it tight against the skirt with a couple of nails.

Of course I didn’t invent anything new, but I fixed an old builder’s unfinished detail. There are many ways to cut underlay sheets for different smoke pipes. Hardware stores sell silicone flashing boots.

It’s just that my own version warms the heart.

“Modelist-Konstruktor” No. 11’2017, A. MATVEYCHUK