My question centers around the exhaust and necessary clearance. After rising a few feet from the stove, the exhaust pipe exits a cinder block wall roughly two feet above grade, putting it roughly 3 feet (give or take) below the bottom of the wood frame first floor. We're on a hill, so grade drops from top of the basement to the bottom as you travel along that wall.

The pipe is double-wall design with stainless steel inner core that ends in some form of diffusor (I haven't studied it yet from any closer than 10 feet away... been too busy enjoying it). In all, it sticks a good foot and a half away from the wall, which will make mowing an annoyance in that area, as well as likely causing all kinds of headaches and/or fines from the county association (they're real sticklers).

I know for wood frame construction at least a foot away from combustibles is accepted practice, but is this long pipe necessary considering it's coming out of bare block and is several feet away from wood/siding? Did the installers simply go with the old standby? I need to have them come back out and install a fresh air intake anyway (it's pulling from the room at the moment), so if they can cut back on the piping while they're here, that would be ideal.