The functional ability of any unit depends on its condition. Despite correct and accurate operation, there comes a time when any mechanism or unit requires repair. The oven is no exception.

Today we will consider various methods of how you can repair stoves with your own hands, from covering up the cracks and ending with a complete overhaul of the furnace.

For those who do not quite understand the question of why a serviceable and properly operated stove in the country or in the house requires repair, we will make a small explanation.

As you know, certain parts of the stove work in extreme conditions, especially for the firebox and chimney.

This is affected by the effect of high temperatures during fuel combustion.

• As you know, when heated and cooled, materials significantly change their volume.
• Let it not be noticeable to the eye, but the heated brick exceeds the volume of a similar cold one.
• Examining a brick oven, you can observe the following picture: cracks appear on the plastered surface, and on ovens without plaster, you can see cracks in the seams of the masonry.
• Sometimes there are small dark patterns around the metal parts of the stove, dampers, doors.
• All this is the result of the expansion and contraction of materials when heated and cooled.

Difference of materials as the main difficulty

It is important to understand here that, for example, a brick oven consists of various materials. Even if fireclay bricks and clay mortar are used for adhesion, which consist of one basic material - clay, their coefficient of thermal expansion will be completely different, not to mention the metal parts of the furnace.

• Used in masonry bricks heat up unevenly.
• The part of the furnace closest to the fire heats up faster and more than the distant one; horizontal and vertical expansion occurs, while the bricks also have different expansion coefficients in their structure.

In other words, during operation, the furnace constantly changes its shape depending on the temperature regime. It is not at all surprising that over time, any oven requires repair, in addition to caring for itself.

Stove Malfunction: First Signs to Concern

Usually, the repair of a Russian stove is required in the event that the thrust suddenly disappears. As you know, the quality of traction is primarily affected by the correct design of the chimney. If your stove worked properly from the very beginning of its device, and then after several years of operation, the draft suddenly disappeared, this indicates clogging of flue gas ducts... So, repairing stoves in the country often consists in cleaning the chimney with your own hands.

Fuel is another important factor

As stated above, exposure to temperature affects brickwork.

It may happen that a piece of brick fell off inside the smoke channel and clogged the channel. This situation is rather complicated in its elimination. Serious repairs of brick ovens will be required, which will not be easy to do with your own hands.

But do not rush, it may also happen that a large piece of soot just fell off the walls of the chimney and blocked the channel. This can quite often happen in ovens where wood is used as firewood. softwood: c osnas, spruce. Such wood splits well, but when burned, it forms a very large soot due to the presence of resin in it.

We burn smoke channels

In order to clean the chimney of the stove in the country with our own hands, we will proceed as follows:

• Let's heat the stove well using alder or aspen wood.
• After the wood is well heated, throw a handful of ordinary table salt into the fire.
• If the channel is blocked due to soot, this method can be used to clean the pipe well and burn out all the soot.
• Well, if this method did not give a positive result, it will be required in search of the stuck brick.

Our reference: Usually competent stove-makers leave enough doors or knocked-out bricks for cleaning.

How to identify knocked-out bricks?

If you bought a house with a stove and do not know where the knocked-out bricks are, proceed as follows:

• Examine the oven carefully.
• Place the main emphasis on the places where the smoke channels pass.
• The knocked-out bricks are mounted with some displacement outward relative to the main masonry by a few mm.
• Having cleaned the mortar around such a brick, you can easily remove it.
• Access to the channel is provided.
• After clearing the channel and pulling out the stuck brick, you can put the knock-out brick in place and coat it with clay.

Our tip: If you've removed a stuck brick from a chimney, try to locate where it fell from. If it happens in the winter, then you can operate your stove until spring. But with the onset of heat, overhaul of the furnaces will be required. A fallen brick is the first sign of destruction that has begun.

Features of "country" life

Such repairs of stoves in the country are especially often required. The point is not even that modern ovens are not placed quite correctly and correctly. This is most likely due to improper operation of the ovens.

After all, as a rule, they are not used entirely for their intended purpose: they prepare food and heat the house, but sometimes household waste is also burned.

It is understandable that people want to keep their site in order and cleanliness, but one must also take into account the fact that the oven was not originally designed for the disposal of household waste, rags, and even more so plastic bottles and packaging.

Repair of smoke channels

Brick oven repair is usually required in two cases:

• Traction has disappeared or has significantly deteriorated.
• Cracks appeared, and carbon monoxide gases began to flow into the room.

Not everyone knows that not only the clogging of the flue ducts is the cause of poor draft and deterioration of the heat output of the stove. Cracks in the walls of the furnace and furnace doors also significantly affect the correct operation of the furnace.

Do-it-yourself brick oven repair begins with the identification and assessment of damage. As you know, all metal parts of the furnace are installed taking into account the coefficient of expansion of the metal when heated. Over time, soot forms around the doors of the firebox, which is a clear sign of the passage of carbon monoxide gases into the room.

The main methods of repairing furnaces

Since the firebox doors are installed together with the bricks during masonry, you do not need to remove the doors. It is necessary to scrape the mortar around the doors to the brick and seal the cracks with a mortar of clay and cement.

It is prepared as follows:

• Clay - 3 parts.
• Sand - 10 pieces.
• Cement - 1 part.

All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and diluted with water until thick sour cream. This solution is used to cover the seams around the firebox doors.

With the same solution, you can cover up cracks in the body of the oven itself with your own hands. If the stove in the country is plastered, the crack is scraped up to bricks and thoroughly covered with mortar.

Furnace repair: strengthening the frame

But there are times when the number of cracks is so great that they encircle the entire oven. Simple blurring is not enough here.

Of course, the best option is to completely rebuild the oven, but if the oven is working properly and you simply do not have time to rebuild the oven, repairs can be done as follows:

• You will need to tie the furnace frame with metal wire.
• We have already described this method when plastering stoves. But in a similar way, you can carry out routine repairs and ovens without plaster.
• Horizontal channels are grooved in the furnace to a depth of 15-20 mm.
• The strobe should encircle the entire furnace in such a way that the wire laid in it tightens the furnace frame.
• When the wire is laid and secured, it needs to be tightened.
• This is done by simply twisting the wire in several places with a barb or thick nail. Do not twist the wire so that it does not break.
• After that, you can plaster the oven again. We will not dwell on this in detail, since they are described in detail in the corresponding section of our website.

Our advice: after such a repair, it is better to plaster even an unplastered stove, and it will serve you faithfully for a long time.

Features of "civilization" in the operation of furnaces

Very often, do-it-yourself furnace repair is required when the very principle of heating the furnace changes. You can often encounter such a situation: for a very long time, the heating and cooking stove was fired with wood, and now, finally, civilization reached it - they supplied gas.

With the gas connection, people install gas stoves and modern heating systems, but very many continue to use the old familiar stoves, having installed a gas burner in them. This, of course, is convenient: there is no need to prepare firewood and clean the stove from coal and soot.

But the old problems of cracking and skipping in the joints remain. This is especially the case with stoves on which metal hobs are installed. Cracks form at the junction of metal and brickwork, which is quite difficult to get rid of.

Difficulties and methods of sealing seams

Of course, it will not be difficult for an experienced stove-maker to prepare a solution that will adhere well to these joints. You won't find such specialists in the daytime with fire, but for a beginner this is a real problem.

Various methods of determining the fat content of clay, the percentage of sand, as a rule, do not give the desired result, cracks are formed over and over again. It is understandable, this requires a long and persistent practice.

The use of heat-resistant sealants does not make things much easier. After a short period of time, cracks form in the joints and the repair must be repeated over and over again.

Fireclay mortar is the best option

One wonderful material can be successfully used to solve this problem, it is sometimes used when repairing a muffle furnace. This is a fireclay mortar.

Chamotte mortar

Chamotte mortar

Our reference: fireclay mortar is a ready-made finely ground refractory mixture. The composition includes fireclay and refractory clay. The seams made of chamotte mortar can withstand temperatures over 1700 ° C.

Fireclay mortar is sold in packages of 50 kg and more. Diluted with water. For the best effect, no more than 15% of the mass of mortar, ordinary Portland cement, can be added to the mixture.

The main types and properties of chamotte mortar

When purchasing mortar mixtures, you should know that the following brands exist:

• MP - semi-acid mortar
• MSh - fireclay mortar
• MML - mullite mortar
• MMK - mullite-corundum mortar

In our case, it is necessary to purchase MSh mortar. The number designation determines the refractoriness of a particular composition.

We carry out lining repair using MSH

This composition can be successfully repaired without re-laying.

This is done as follows:

• The surface is thoroughly cleaned of soot, and cracked mortar is removed from the seams.
• A solution is prepared from chamotte mortar according to the instructions on the package.
• The surface of the lining is abundantly wetted with water.
• A protective layer can be applied.
• After the first layer, a second, thin layer is applied using a brush or broom.
• When the mixture is well leveled and all holes are filled, the oven can be flooded.
• The solution hardens from exposure to temperature.
• If after a few days small cracks appear, it is necessary to dilute the mortar solution according to the consistency of liquid sour cream and cover them with a brush previously soaked in water.

Our reference: fireclay mortars are used for refractory coatings in steel-making furnaces.

This method is especially relevant when the furnace is being repaired in a bath. Indeed, in sauna stoves, brick and metal very often coexist. These two materials are completely different in terms of thermal conductivity and thermal expansion, which leads to the formation of problems with the formation of cracking in the joints.

Such repairs will allow your furnace to function properly for a long time without major repairs.

Correct operation is the key to good oven performance.

But the most important thing is always worth remembering: do not use unsuitable fuel for the furnace. Incineration of household waste in an unsuitable stove contributes to environmental pollution and negatively affects the functionality of the stove itself.

Good luck and warmth to your home!

Brick ovens need to be repaired over time. Cracks can occur during long-term operation, or due to errors in its construction. It is not always possible to do a complete reconstruction, and often it is not necessary. Timely repair of a brick oven solves the problem for several heating seasons ahead.

You can invite a specialist or fill up the cracks in the oven yourself.

What is the composition of the cracks in the furnace

Thermal expansion in brick ovens often leads to splits at joints with steel structures. Local overheating, and sometimes errors during the construction of the furnace, also contribute to their appearance. It so happens that the solution does not spill out, the smoke does not come out, but you still need to fill up the cracks. No one will give a guarantee that at some point they cannot blow up smoke. And when the stove smokes, being in the room is not only unpleasant, but also unsafe. Do-it-yourself current repair of brick stoves will save money for a large-scale reconstruction of a heating structure in the future.

It is easiest to close up small defects, up to 0.5 cm.To answer the question of how to cover up the cracks in the stove, you need to pay attention to mixtures from the category that are usually used when laying stoves: only clay and sand, or clay and sand with the addition cement.

There are many options for ready-made solutions on the market. They are accompanied by detailed instructions and manufacturer's recommendations. Experienced stove-makers solve the question of how to cover up the cracks in a brick oven simply: you need to use the same solution for repairs as for masonry. But most often the composition is unknown, since usually old structures have to be repaired.

If the splits are deeper and wider, then crushed chamotte and alumina (aluminate) cement are added to the solution for repairing a brick oven. This cement hardens very quickly, limestone and rocks containing aluminum oxides are used as raw materials for its production. Crushed chamotte will give the solution thermal and chemical resistance. A finely ground kiln masonry additive will solve the problem if there is no way to find alumina cement, and Portland cement is used instead. Crushed chamotte plays the role of a "reinforcing mesh", thereby preventing the appearance of fresh cracks.

How to cover up the cracks: stages of work

When the solution is ready, you can start covering up the defects.

The stages of repairing cracks are as follows:

• preheat the oven (until warm, not hot);
• expand the cracks;
• thoroughly cleaned from dust and dirt;
• be sure to moisten abundantly with water;
• cover with prepared solution.

Further heating is possible only after complete drying of the solution. But this should be done at a maximum of half the fuel load. After the fuel has burned out in the "light" mode, you can heat the stove as usual.

Attention: it is better not just to cover the cracks in the brickwork with a solution, but after laying them with an asbestos cord. When working with asbestos, a protective mask must be used.

Thus, in order to find out how to repair a brick oven with your own hands, you must definitely study the procedure and the composition of the solution.

Features when repairing a furnace

Most often, the firebox is damaged when it is lined with ordinary red bricks, and not chamotte. The brick flakes and falls off in plates. How to repair a brick stove in this case? It makes no sense to cover up and reinforce red brick, it still crumbles from high temperatures. Since it is impossible to reduce the temperature level in the firebox, additional lining must be made to reduce the effect of temperature on the walls.

The inner lining of the firebox is made using the following materials:

1. Cast iron... It will last for a long time. But there is one trick: you need to leave a gap between the wall and the cast iron. For this, corrugated cardboard is laid, which will burn out immediately at the first firebox, and will burn out, and the gap will remain.
2. Steel... For that. To be repaired with steel. It is also necessary to make a gap. But steel will still burn out quickly enough, especially if the repair is done in a sauna stove.
3. Fireclay brick ША-6 ("leshchadka")... It is able to serve without splitting under prolonged loads of extreme temperatures. A gap of 1 cm is left between this brick and the wall with the help of laid basalt cardboard. The solution is taken the same as when laying fireclay. After repairing the stove with the help of the firebox lining, the heating rate of the room will be reduced, but the temperature inside the firebox turns out to be higher. Combustible gases burn out completely.
4. Fireclay brick... The destroyed firebox can be repaired with ordinary fireclay bricks placed on the edge. True, it will reduce the furnace space, the gap between it and the wall will have to be maintained in the same way.
5. Vermiculite boards... Such plates are environmentally friendly, do not emit harmful vapors, are made entirely of natural material, and are highly fire resistant.
6. Superizole (calcium silicate)... When the question arises of how to repair the furnace firebox with your own hands, it is worth considering this safe material of a mineral nature. It can easily warm up to 1000 degrees.

Attention: vermiculite boards and superisol are not often used. But they justify themselves in cases when you do not want to reduce the size of the firebox. The only task that will have to be solved when repairing the furnace firebox is to organize the fastening of these fire-resistant panels.

How to repair cracks around steel elements

Metal and brick have different expansion when heated, and this leads to cracks. To prevent this from happening, stove-makers make special notches in the bricks during the construction of the stove. Steel or cast-iron elements are laid with heat-insulating materials (asbestos cord, asbestos cardboard, or mineral wool cardboard). The heat insulator must be resistant to temperatures from 800 degrees.

How to repair a brick oven with your own hands if these requirements were not met and cracks appeared? Such slots are sealed with a solution with the addition of chamotte. In case of large damage, the structure is disassembled, the fastening wire is tightened and the metal is wrapped with a heat insulator.

How to prevent cracks in the hob

In heating and cooking stove structures, the "sore spot" is a cast-iron hob. By themselves, cracks in the panel do not interfere with the operation of the oven. When folded correctly, it has good traction and cracks are not uncomfortable. But - for the time being. If the design of the stove is broken or there are errors in the masonry, then carbon monoxide can leak through these slots. And this is a big threat to the lives of people who are in the room.

As a rule, high-quality cast iron panels almost never crack. But it's better to play it safe.

In order to prevent the appearance of cracks on the panel, the first heating of the stove with a new hob is done carefully, warming up slowly, without loading the entire firebox. To distribute heat evenly over the panel, a thick layer of sand is poured onto it, or a brick is laid out. Sand is removed or a brick is removed from the panel only after it has completely cooled down. An evenly loaded panel will “shrink” without distortions, which means there will be no “stress” cracks in it.

Types of brick oven repair

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 keeping the stove used in a private house or in a country house clean and tidy. The entire repair consists of getting rid of the furnace from ash and soot 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.

Partial furnace repair 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.

Partial repairs also 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.

Routine repair: its possible causes and ways to eliminate them

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.

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 joints 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 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 eliminated. 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 skinny, 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.

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:

• mortar blade;
• trowel;
• scouring.

Replacing damaged bricks and removable cast iron elements

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.

One of the most common types of repairing brick ovens 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 it must be borne in mind that the plates 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.

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 raised. 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 under the brick (a knife with a wide blade is also possible), pull by the handle and tear the brick from its place, after which it is easy to pull it out. It is necessary 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, it must be remembered 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 plate 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 you must first make a recess 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 a stove in the grooves and seal up with freshly prepared mortar.

Strengthening and replacing the firebox doors

With constant operation of stoves, a problem often arises with the firebox doors. This is typical for private houses, but such an embarrassment can also happen with a stove in the country. To make repairs, you need to partially disassemble the brickwork of the stove. The door, together with the frame, is removed from the oven masonry. If the legs of the frame (usually pieces of soft steel wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm) become unusable, they must be replaced. If the door changes, then it is also necessary to put paws on it.

The brickwork at the installation site of the door is cleaned, thoroughly moistened with water and the frame is installed in place. In this case, the legs should fall into the seams of the masonry. If you install the door without the tabs, it will fall out quickly. The seams are completely filled with mortar. If necessary, the old bricks are replaced with new ones. Masonry is done observing all the rules of brickwork.

There is a subtlety: between the frame and the brickwork, you need to leave a gap within 5-8 mm. The gap will then need to be sealed with a ceramic heat-resistant cord that can withstand temperatures over 1000º. Just before buying such a cord, do not be too lazy to check its authenticity using 3-5 matches, because they can slip a fake. The frame installed in this way will be firmly fixed and will not loosen and fall out. After strengthening or replacing the frame, all remaining cracks are covered with clay mortar and rubbed over.

For a partial repair of a brick oven, you will need the following tools:

• mortar blade;
• hammer pickaxe;
• trowel;
• level;
• meter or tape measure;
• plumb line;
• jointing;
• scouring;
• rule.

Perhaps this is all that can be repaired in a brick oven without the experience of a stove-maker. If you are confident in your abilities, then you can take on more complex repairs, but the chances that you will do everything right the first time are few. So it is better not to waste your nerves and time and invite a good master stove-maker.

Good luck! Warmth and comfort in your home!

To prevent the oven from cracking in the house, it is necessary to take a responsible attitude to the performance of work during the construction of the building. The main causes of the malfunction are laid down at this stage. But if the problem has already arisen, it is important to quickly fix it. How and how to do this, you will learn about this in the article.

Collapse

First you need to understand why the cracks are spreading along the wall of the stove.

Reasons for the appearance

Before properly and reliably covering the oven, in order to prevent repeated malfunctions, you need to know what can affect the integrity of the oven coating:

• with a long break in heating the house and sudden temperature changes;
• the laying of the stove was carried out on a low-quality mortar;
• perhaps the reason is the settlement of the building or foundation. In this case, it will be necessary to carry out a major overhaul of the foundation, increasing its size and strength;
• after laying the stove, the process of normal drying of the surfaces was disrupted;
• when plastering the stove, a poor-quality mortar was used or a thick or very thin layer was applied;
• perhaps the reason is faulty ventilation and condensation on the walls of the furnace.

Can a cracked stove be used?

The answer to this question is unambiguous - it will be necessary to cover up a faulty, smoking stove immediately, it is not recommended to use it. Such requirements are explained not by a violation of the appearance of the walls, but by cracks that allow carbon monoxide to pass into the room. Poisoning by combustion waste can lead to dire consequences.

Firefighters' statistics claim that most people die in a fire because of the gas, and not from the fire.

Damage diagnostics

Therefore, at the first sign of smoke in the house, you will need to do:

• diagnose the furnace surfaces and find a malfunction;
• after that, immediately prepare a solution or buy a ready-made material to fill the gaps;
• cover up the walls and plaster them again.

But first of all, it is the diagnostics that will help determine the size of the damaged surfaces and the approximate amount of materials to be eliminated. If the solution is simply cracked from high temperatures, you simply need to whip off a layer of plaster and apply a new layer of high-quality materials.

It is worse if the cracks are through and continue to expand after the work has been done. In this case, it may be necessary to call specialists to find out the reasons and lay a new stove. Stone stoves are a complex design, so you should not try to lay it out according to a book; it is better to entrust this work to an experienced stove-maker.

Such cracks cannot be simply covered up.

In this example, too, do not gloss over. The brick is badly cracked.

If the cracks are small and their size does not increase, you can proceed to troubleshoot yourself. For this, it is important to prepare a high-quality solution and apply it correctly to the wall. How to cover up the cracks in the oven so that it does not crack from the heat - knowledge of the basic materials for making a solution will help in this matter.

Examples of small cracks:

How to cover up cracks?

For these purposes, you can use several options that will reliably seal cracks in the walls and prevent gas from entering the room. Let's take a closer look at each method.

Fireclay

Before you cover the cracks in the stove with chamotte clay, you need to know its advantages:

• the material is resistant to temperature during fuel combustion;
• high level of vapor permeability;
• resistant to moisture when heated;
• environmentally friendly material, safe for humans and animals, therefore it can be used in residential premises.

To make a solution, you will need to mix several ingredients:

• 1 part of cement grade 500;
• 2 parts of fireclay clay "
• 7 parts of river sand.

The solution is mixed well and water is added. The consistency depends on the craftsmanship and the type of work, but it should not be made very thin or thick. To get rid of stones and lumps, you can first soak the clay in water for several hours and knead the lumps of material, and sift the cement and sand. Such a solution will be plastic, it will be laid on the surface in an even layer.

Plastering walls with a certain skill is easy. To do this, it is important to install beacons and distribute the solution, level the layer on the wall. You will need to prepare a trowel, a spatula, the size of which depends on the surface area.

Clay and sand

This is the most democratic inexpensive solution for plastering surfaces. Such a solution for the furnace has sufficient ductility and is not subject to destruction under the influence of high temperatures.

It is simple to prepare the solution for work, this will require:

• prepare a large trough in advance, fill in the required amount of clay and completely fill the layer with water. Pour 3 buckets of water into 1 bucket of clay. The clay should be soaked within 24 hours;
• then mix the solution and add more water to it. We pass the slurry through a sieve, get rid of lumps and let the solution settle;
• we drain the water that has come out, getting the thickness of the solution like homemade sour cream;
• in a ratio of 1 to 1, add river sand and mix the solution.

Expert opinion

Pavel Kruglov

Stove operator with 25 years of experience

Important! At this time, the quality of the solution can be determined. Having lowered the holder from the shovel into it, and seeing the adhered clay - in this case, you will need to add a little sand. Only when you see small clots of sand and clay solution on the holder, you can start plastering the walls of the stove.

With this solution, it is necessary to close up all the cracks that have appeared, having previously moistened the surfaces and then plaster the stove in several layers. In the villages, they still use the old method, adding horse manure to the ready-made solution. Such a solution is obtained with enhanced thermal insulation properties. Hay plays the role of air spaces that prevent the free passage of heat.

Grout

This stove putty is sold ready-made, but it is easy to make it yourself. The main advantage of this material is the ability to retain properties even when heated to 10,000. Industrial materials are used to equip and repair stoves and fireplaces, but the price of such a grout is high, so home craftsmen make it with their own hands.

The mixture for coating the furnace is made in several stages:

• knead large lumps of clay and pour it into a trough;
• fill it with water and leave it for 10-12 hours;
• pour part of the sand into the soaked clay, maintaining a ratio of 1 to 4, mix the solution well, adding 5 parts of chopped straw in small portions;
• add 1 kg of coarse salt to the finished putty and finally mix the solution.

The finished grout can be used to fill gaps between bricks, cracks, cracks and perform the first rough layer of plaster.

Furnace glue

In order to repair the furnace from a crack, you can buy heat-resistant special glue at a hardware store. Due to its properties, it is not exposed to high temperatures for a long time. In its composition, the addition of chamotte clay and cements with high refractory properties is used.

A plastic and solid mixture of glue is produced. Plastering of furnace surfaces is carried out with the help of hard materials. Cracks and seams between bricks are filled with plastic glue.

When using this material it is necessary to follow the instructions for the dilution and use of the refractory substance. It should not be done in large portions, it dries quickly and becomes unsuitable for work.

How to properly coat the oven?

In order to reliably cover up the cracks in a brick oven, work is carried out in several stages:

How long to wait for drying?

It is not recommended to use the oven until the solution is completely dry. This period may vary with different materials. Using heat-resistant glue as a putty - the solution layer will dry out within a few hours.

It will take longer for the clay and sand to dry and form. In this case, it will be possible to use the stove only after a day. Then a brick oven, protected from cracks with a solution, will remain crack-free for a long time.

Therefore, we do not advise you to rush, immediately flooding your Russian stove with a stove bench. Repairing furnace cracks is a simple but challenging job. The choice of material for the solution is a purely individual matter. The main thing is to do the work carefully and responsibly. Then your house will always be light and clean, without the smell of burning and smoke penetrating through the cracks in the walls of the stove.

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How to properly repair a brick oven with your own hands? The question is always relevant, because problems with the stove arise sooner or later. And I don't want to spend money on expensive stove-makers, among whom there are only a few professionals.

Urgent repairs are necessary if soot appears on the door, smoke and smell break through, there is no or minimal draft, or gaps of different sizes have formed in the brickwork.

All malfunctions that require repair of the stove in the house in the country are related to the temperature regime. Bricks and metal become larger when heated, and when the oven cools down, they return to their original position. If the stove is used every day or vice versa, it is extremely rarely used, the materials do not withstand the stress. It becomes inevitable that there are cracks or a blockage in the chimney.

In addition to the temperature load, there are other reasons for the appearance of problems:

1. Burning conifers. Spruce and pine leave a lot of unburned sawdust. They go up in and clog it up.

Conifers for oven use

2. Waste incineration. Since the oven is not designed for this, plastics and other materials tend to crack.

Burning garbage in a kiln

3. Poor termination. If a poor-quality was used, over time it can simply fall off, opening the gaps between the bricks.

Sealing joints with mortar

4. A huge amount of fuel. The desire to warm up the stove as quickly as possible often leads to the fact that too much wood is put in it. The result is slots of different sizes.

5. Brick in the chimney. Sometimes fragments or even whole bricks fall into the chimney. If this happens, traction is partially or completely lost.

6. Problems in masonry. Perhaps the stove was originally assembled in a hurry. Then a major overhaul is needed.

Also, malfunctions arise due to external factors. Since the chimney is also outside, it is influenced by weather conditions. Birds occasionally fly into it. It is almost impossible to predict these moments.

Minor repairs

First of all, you need to clean the stove in the house. This is the easiest thing to do with your own hands. Cleaning is done through a special door.

If you don't want to climb into the stove in the country with your own hands, we kindle dry fuel or a piece of rubber. The material will burn for a long time, thereby "knocking out" the formed blockages with air flows.

Professional chimney cleaning

You can also put 200 grams of coarse salt into a burning stove. Close the barrier immediately, otherwise you can get burned (the salt "jumps out"). Thanks to a simple tool at hand, the soot will fly out through the chimney.

If everything is too bad, you will have to "knock out" the blockage with a stick with any heavy object at the end. The blockage is removed with your own hands. However, you have to feel like Carlson, who lives on the roof.

Removing gaps

Next, we repair the "smoking" stove. All cracks must be covered with a solution. Different ingredients are used for this purpose. One of the best ways is to mix clay, sand, powdered asbestos, and salt. Clay and sand should be twice as large. Instead of asbestos and salt, you can also use cement, but in different proportions - 1: 1: 1.

Any solution should be of medium viscosity, so as not to cause inconvenience in the future. Alternatively, you can use ready-made solutions that are sold in stores. They are diluted with water according to the instructions, and are immediately ready for use. With them, stove repair is faster and easier.

Replacing bricks

If a brick falls out or burns out, you need to put a new one in its place. To do this, we clean this place, moisten it with water and put a piece of clay prepared in advance.

We dip the new brick in water, after which we abundantly coat it with clay mortar on all sides. We put it in the brickwork and heat up the oven so that the solution solidifies. Use the same solution as for sealing the cracks.

Medium renovations

We make repairs of medium complexity, installing grates and replacing the lining. This also includes minor repair work on the brickwork.

Note: When replacing grates, it is important to provide for an expansion joint of 3-5 mm between them and the masonry. It is advisable to cover the formed seam with sand.

To strengthen the wobbly door, you need to disassemble the bricks around it and reinstall it using steel wire.

The pre-furnace plates are not repaired, they are changed immediately. For this, the old sheet is removed, the nails are removed from it. Next, a piece of felt is soaked in a liquid clay solution and placed under the bottom, and a new sheet is nailed on top.

Tips for Doing Your Own Furnace Repair

The old and new masonry, when replacing the lining, is made of the same brick in order to maintain the same coefficient of thermal expansion. This is one of the important points when repairing a stove in a house in a country house.

Major overhaul

Overhaul of a brick stove involves repairing a chimney and a thorough repair of a stove. This implies a complete restoration of working capacity, replacement of broken parts and the creation of new, improved ones. It is difficult to do it on your own, but it is possible.

For this, a number of activities are being done:

1. The destroyed brickwork is moved over, a new one is installed instead.
2. All non-working or poorly working elements are replaced.
3. The chimney and the stove itself are plastered.
4. If desired, the stove is covered with decorative elements (tiles, etc.).
5. The operability is checked.

If you have not previously repaired the stove, then you may have to perform all the steps again. Therefore, the last point is required. Please note that the most difficult work is the installation of brickwork. Often, stove repairs take a long time at this stage.

You can fix any malfunction with your own hands. It is worth preparing in advance for this a brick, a double-sided hammer, a plumb line, a tape measure, a level, a trowel, a bucket and mortar components.

Note: To check for draft, light a match or paper and direct it into the chimney. In the presence of thrust, the flame will rise upward.

All about chimney draft

The stove needs preventive cleaning of the chimney, which is done approximately once a month using any of the above methods.

You can convert one type of furnace to another in different ways. To make a gas stove, the walls of the firebox are laid out with bricks on a refractory mortar. Small slopes are made around so that the coal rolls down during firing.

Repairing a stove in the country or in the house is a responsible business that a real man can handle. It is quite difficult to repair the stove with your own hands, but if you follow the prompts, everything will work out.