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Thread: Furnace exhaust wrecking concrete sidewalk

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    Default Furnace exhaust wrecking concrete sidewalk

    I have a few ideas in mind but I'm interested to hear if anyone else has a suggestion that I haven't considered.

    My sidewalk that runs beside my house is old and will need to be replaced, but I'm not willing to redo it until I find a solution to the damage caused by the furnace exhaust dripping on the concrete. From my understanding, the condensation formed in the furnace exhaust contains nitric acid which drips on the concrete and dissolves it. Winter is much worse as a giant ice volcano is formed on the sidewalk which also appears to damage the concrete.

    Has anyone else experienced this? Moving the exhaust or sidewalk are not options. I need to determine how to protect the concrete if the water continues to drip on it or find a solution to manage the drips while considering winter temperatures.

    What would beyond do, besides being not poor and simply moving to Aspen.
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    I would heat my home with solar.

    Can you, in the new sidewalk, put a catch drain/grate in that pipes it out under the sidewalk? Bit of heat tape for the winter?
    Last edited by JRSC00LUDE; 03-25-2022 at 10:40 AM.
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    What about simply tying a string (or something more permanent) to the bottom of the furnace vent for the water to run along that goes redirects it to the edge of the sidewalk instead of on top?

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    A drip should be very easy to catch/re-route. Pics would help.

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    There should be zero in non freezing months. This path to grade idea sounds good

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    I previously patched some of the damage with some leftover self levelling cement from another project. Interestingly, it’s resistant to damage.

    Running a string or extension over the sidewalk isn’t an option as I can’t block the sidewalk. Rerouting the drips in winter are a problem since the drips will freeze and create an ice block. In the middle of winter the ice block is a fairly considerable size and this would need to be considered even if I was using heat tracer to get the water away from or under the sidewalk. Total volume of ice would be 1 cubic foot of volume at least.

    The grade is flat between the house and fence line and a new sidewalk would likely go within a foot of the fence. There is also a 2-3’ retaining wall between my lot and the neighbors. Plumbing water next to the retaining wall, underground where it will freeze wouldn’t be great for longevity of the aging retaining wall.



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    Whoa! Why is it so close to grade in the first place?!? That's weird and not what I was picturing.
    Maybe you could custom fab a super long and skinny trough that sat tight against the house and then figure out how to route the vapour into there? You could try a plastic, "window box" from a garden centre as a trial.

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    I think the angle of the pic is deceiving regarding the exhaust height to sidewalk grade which is 22” from sidewalk to pipe Center.

    Additionally the sidewalk is likely 40+ years old and the furnace exhaust pipe has been there for ~8 years. It runs in the floor joists therefore no option to run it higher unless I reroute it through the dining room above the floor. Haha The old furnace was routed out the roof of the house like any traditional furnace.
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    Ah, I see. I could tell it was roughly 2 feet, but for some reason I thought it was from the garage furnace and those are always 10+ feet up.

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    High efficiency furnaces sound terrible

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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtsniffer View Post
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    High efficiency furnaces sound terrible
    Yes.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    Here's what I meant by cheap plastic window box.
    These used to be extremely common from a company called Duraco:

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThePenIsMightier View Post
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    Here's what I meant by cheap plastic window box.
    These used to be extremely common from a company called Duraco:

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    This would be my vote as well as everything else seems not feasible for your set up. Having something "temporary" that you can empty or move seems like the only option.
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    Yup, I think I agree. A box that simply fills with ice over the winter might be the simplest solution. The other ideas I had would be more work, more complicated and may not actually work.

    I’ll custom fab a tapered steel box for easier ice extraction.
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    It's considered poor practice to vent over a sidewalk, it's not necessarily against code in certain instances, but I avoid doing that for the concrete degradation and the ice build up that occurs.
    Two things to look for on your install, the flue exhaust vent should usually be a minimum of 5 feet, some manufacturers say 8 feet with a minimum of 12" horizontal run. Also the vent should slope backwards towards the furnace, about 1/4" per foot so the condensate drains from the furnace instead of dripping from the flue pipe.
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    All this is why the old fashioned non-condensing furnaces are best.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    Quote Originally Posted by ExtraSlow View Post
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    All this is why the old fashioned non-condensing furnaces are best.
    Flue gas is full of steam. How is older furnace different?

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    The exhaust gas doesn't cool enough inside the furnace to produce condensation inside the unit

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maxt View Post
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    It's considered poor practice to vent over a sidewalk, it's not necessarily against code in certain instances, but I avoid doing that for the concrete degradation and the ice build up that occurs.
    Two things to look for on your install, the flue exhaust vent should usually be a minimum of 5 feet, some manufacturers say 8 feet with a minimum of 12" horizontal run. Also the vent should slope backwards towards the furnace, about 1/4" per foot so the condensate drains from the furnace instead of dripping from the flue pipe.
    The run is closer to 15 feet from the furnace, and this was unfortunately the only option for venting. The house is a 4 level split so couldn’t go the opposite side of the house, straight out the back was also on a concrete pad and too close to windows and an overhang. The slope was also a constraint due to the requirement to stay within walls and duct spaces.

    I can’t recall if the exhaust on this style could have been run straight out the roof or not? Maybe that would have been an option?
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    Could you just have a gravel box (with some big 3/4" crush or similar) beneath? something wood-ish on the edge to reduce the heat transfer to the concrete. A mini ornamental rock bed so to speak; there's probably a way to make it not look awful.

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