Instant water heater exhaust

If you put a solid panel over the window it would be legal but it would be a hack job. You would also end up sealing in all of the rot with the panel and the vent where it would still get wet and rot more but would be very difficult to take apart and repair properly with a vent running through it. Solid glass block would also be legal although not so much appropriate for a 19th century house.

It is pretty easy with a short handle sledge and a chisel to split and break out a piece of brick to make a penetration. Score it where you want the hole an break out the piece. Could use a demolition hammer or air chisel too. Pack mortar in around the pipes. It should be soft lime mortar but modern mortar in that little piece would probably be ok, just don't start repointing stuff with it or something like that. In fac the chisel I had wasn't long enough and I just used an old piece of galvanized pipe for the part in the middle.

The short answer is yes you can do that. Take out the window and it's frame, though, and fill with new masonry to get a really clean job of it.

The just drill through the brick idea works, too — if it's brick. However, if your foundation is field stone… you can do it, of course. But I wouldn't advise it with a hand held drill — there is no way you can hold it straight when it hits a change in stone at an angle. Further, in some stone you might find that it would take you a while. I have seen folks trying to drill through some field stone foundations and spend all day — literally — to get through them.

I core drilled a 2 1/2 in hole with core bit in a rotary hammer to run 2" PVC through a granite fieldstone foundation at my uncles' house for a 200-amp service. Took a long time. The rotary hammer was so hot I had to ware gloves. But that was 35 years ago. Today I would rent a core rig to bolt on the wall with a wet core bit……….or better yet sub it out.

The largest hole I ever cored was a 10" through a concrete roof in a hospital for an 8" cooling tower feed.

You can use a core bit with no centering bit but its tricky. Some have started the core bit on an angle until you get part of a grove cut and then straighten it out.

Better idea is to cut a hole in a piece of 3/4 plywood just 1/4" larger that the core bit and anchor it to the wall and use it as a guide to start the core.

A further tip… don't ask how I learned… if you are drilling through stone, rather than concrete or block, you may find that the drill wants to wander off the straight and narrow if it hits a stone which is harder or softer. Not really a problem, but… go slow. The bolted down coring rig works, but if you don't have that, just don't force the drill. Slow and easy…

I'll be that guy. What is the big deal about removing the window and just re-framing it in with proper materials, just as you would do if it was just a typical wood sided house? Is it just a visual thing there to have the wood clashing with brick or concrete? Seems a lot simpler than drilling out the wall to me.

Rick

I would suggest before jumping at this location that you walk around the place looking at where the water heater is currently vs where you use the most hot water. Don’t perpetuate the mistakes of the original low cost bidder. One of the issues with water heating is time/distance to the faucet, regardless of water heater type. Your instantaneous isn’t. It will make it quickly but you still have to draw the cooler water out of the pipe before you get hot. YOu can do recirculating systems to handle this or place the unit where the load is, which is better. Close to the kitchen is best imho. As to the vent, I have vented these it the corner of the kitchen cabinets behind the lazy susan. A pain to reach, but better than the core drill. A closet on an outside wall? Getting the vent up off the first floor is good also for snow clearance.

so can you get cyanide poisoning from those?

Psychological

Evaluation

???

😇

using the window opening is more of an aesthetic issue, in my mind.

Why core a hole next to a perfectly good hole, the window.

If you want some light, I suppose part could be window, part sheet metal for the vent. As long as the window is fixed.