Wood Stove & Insert Service in Bayfield, CO

What Happens to a Stove That Sits

Seasonal-use appliances up this valley have the opposite problem to the ones in Cortez. They are not worn out - they are corroded, seized and full of things that should not be in them.

Ash left in a firebox over a wet summer is the main culprit and it is entirely avoidable. Ash is hygroscopic and mildly alkaline; left sitting in a cold stove through a monsoon season it holds moisture against the cast iron or steel and pits it. Ash pans rust through from the inside for exactly this reason. Emptying the stove before you close the cabin is a five-minute job that adds years to the appliance.

Air controls are the next thing. Sliders and spin dials that have not moved since March seize, and forcing one is how linkages break. They free up with penetrating oil and patience, which is a service call rather than a parts order - if nobody has forced it first.

Wildlife Gets In

An uncapped flue on a cabin means the stove is connected to the outdoors for nine months. We find nests in smoke chambers, mice in ash pans, and once memorably a squirrel's winter stores in a firebox. All of it is a fire load and none of it is visible until the appliance is opened up properly.

This is the direct argument for capping a seasonal property first and worrying about everything else second - see caps and spark arrestors in Bayfield.

Do It in the Shoulder Season

Service on a cabin stove wants to happen when you open the place up, not when you need it. Access up the valley is easy in spring and autumn, there is time to order a part if something turns out to be shot, and you are not discovering a seized air control on the first cold night of the year with a two-hour drive between you and anyone who can help.

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