I am sheet rocking the ceiling in a garage conversion, and I have a
question. How do I sheet rock around the hot water vent where it goes
in the attic, more precisely, can I put insulation above the sheetrock
around the vent? Or do I need to keep the insulation away from the
vent? This is a propane water heater.

On Apr 27, 12:01 am, ronney wrote:
I am sheet rocking the ceiling in a garage conversion, and I have a
question. How do I sheet rock around the hot water vent where it goes
in the attic, more precisely, can I put insulation above the sheetrock
around the vent? Or do I need to keep the insulation away from the
vent? This is a propane water heater.

You want to keep all flammables some distance from flue, and
avoid possibility of having any flammables excessively heated.
Not trying to be vague, but your local fire-marshal can give you
specifics that matter. (Or a heating professional might.)

Often used is a "thimble"- a fireproof separator that essentially
wraps the flue where it penetrates structure. You might DAGS
on said "thimble" and "propane" and "flue" for 11k "hits."

HTH,
J

ronney wrote:
I am sheet rocking the ceiling in a garage conversion, and I have a
question. How do I sheet rock around the hot water vent where it goes
in the attic, more precisely, can I put insulation above the sheetrock
around the vent? Or do I need to keep the insulation away from the
vent? This is a propane water heater.

The water heater flue should be a pipe-in-a-pipe for just that reason. I
think the outside diameter is usually 4" and the inside diameter is 3". With
this type of vent, you need not be too careful on insulation and the like
(sheetrock doesn't burn anyway - it's ROCK).

And the flue should not go INTO the attic, it should go THROUGH the attic on
its way to the roof.