Ugly Exterior Furnace Exhaust Ducts

You know those ugly furnace exhaust ducts/pipes that stick out of your house?  Normally they are on the back or side of your house where they really are not a focal point but not ours.  Ours are right there on the front of the house saying "look at me" and "why did they put me here where EVERYONE can see me".

When we removed the old shingles so that we could install new cedar shingles we also cut off the furnace exhaust pipes.  Normally you wouldn't have to do that but we have two furnaces, so we have two exhaust pipes right next to one another.  They were not the same.  Besides being ugly they were different ugly, too.  We shortened some pieces and bought two new elbows (because once they are glued they cannot be reused) and we were able to make two nearly identical pieces.  What we couldn't fix were their locations.  When the original installer cut through the wall he did not locate both pipes at the same level.  One pipe is about 3/4 of an inch higher.  We made a slight adjustment in our assembly to accommodate this and now it isn't as obvious.

Before we re installed I decided that the ugly off white would stand out against the dark grey shingles and the grey gas meter to the left of the pipes, so I looked in my spray paint stash for the darkest grey I had in the paint cabinet.  Rustoleum in the color granite and in a satin finish.  This paint required no primer and would bond to plastic.  Score!

The first thing I did was lightly sand them to remove the glossy finish and any dirt that might be on them. I gave the pipes multiple light coats and by the time I finished, I think it was 4 coats.

I also spray painted the pipes that come out of the house.  I taped off the area where the pipes would need to be glued together so that no paint would get in the way of the gluing.

I waited a day to let the paint fully cure before re installing them.  We dry fitted them first and made some little marks so that once the glue was on the pipes we could line up the marks.  The primer and glue that you use to connect PVC pipe sets up fast so don't dilly dally.

What do you think?  Now if I had my druthers, I would prefer the pipes to be on the back of the house but we think this was a good way to make it blend in.  It's all about compromise.

Now if I had my druthers, I'd have my new window installed in place of that ugly monstrosity of a bay window.  The new double hung windows cannot get here fast enough.

 druthers

 

 

 

noun plural druth·ers \ˈdrə-thərz\

: the power or opportunity to choose

Full Definition of DRUTHERS

dial

:  free choice :  preference —used especially in the phrase if one had one's druthers