Wood Stove Removal in Portland Oregon
Many Portland home sellers are not aware of the wood stove removal laws in Oregon. The law began in August 2010 and was put in place to protect citizens from uncontrolled wood smoke pollution. The Oregon Senate Bill 102 created a uniform standard for the entire state of Oregon that requires the removal of any uncertified wood stove or fireplace in Oregon at the point of sale. Since this is a “point of sale” law, it directly impacts Portland residential home sales and your Portland real estate agent should be able to guide you through the process.
How does this affect Portland Home Sellers?
When you are selling a home in Portland with a wood stove, you should first check to see if your wood stove or fireplace insert is certified by DEQ. Lists have been created that you can check your make and model against. Your local Portland real estate agent should have a copy of this list! If it is certified, you don’t have to do anything. In general any wood stove manufactured prior to 1986 and without a DEQ or EPA certification label is uncertified. If your wood stove or fireplace insert is not certified you will need to remove it. The law puts this burden of wood stove removal on the homeowner. Additionally, the homeowner cannot simply unhook the wood stove and place it outside or in a garage. The Portland homeowner must have it completely removed from the property and destroyed! In fact, Oregon will want you to obtain a receipt of destruction for the wood stove or fireplace insert. So the wood stove removal task is not a simple one for the Portland home owner.
Who can help me?
Your Portland real estate agent can direct you to companies that will come out to your property and remove the wood stove and provide you with the proper destruction receipt. They do charge for this service, but it is the simplest way to make this problem go away. If the Portland home owner doesn’t want to pay someone to remove it they can take it to an approved recycling site (again your Portland real estate agent can provide you with a list of locations). The nice thing about the wood stove recycling locations in Portland, Oregon is that they will either recycle it for free or some will even pay you! Be sure to obtain a destruction receipt from the wood stove recycle location. Remember, this is the law. Be sure to follow your Portland real estate agent’s advice and property remove that uncertified wood stove!
