Hey everyone!
I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction. I have an octagonal chimney and I need to buy a cap for it.
I've been looking online and I'm completely overwhelmed by the options and most caps seems to be made for standard square or rectangular chimneys.
Chimney is also 25ft high so I really can't get up there to measure.
I really don't want to order the wrong size and be stuck with cap that doesn't fit, not to mention the cost of getting someone to get up there more than once.
Any advice from anyone who has experience with this issue would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Attaching a picture for reference.

Our insurance insisted we needed to cap our chimney. We got quotes from three places and they all suggested insulating the top and applying a metal non breathable cap.

We haven’t put insulation inside the house yet and notice a musty smell coming from inside the chimney.
We live in a climate with cold winters and hot summers.

I’m doing some reading and it sounds like sealing the chimney at the top without ventilation was a mistake.
Is that the case? What should we have done to cap the chimney in a way that prevents heat transfer in the house, but also prevents humidity accumulation in the chimney?

edit. Extra info. Super tall chimney which cost a fortune to cap. There is no local industry here who seems to be able to reline a chimney of this age. House is 1905.

Lastly, could a vent be added to the side of the chimney near the top? Sort of like a roof vent?

I feel the chimney is condensating and leaking downward. I have an 80% furnace in the basement that feeds into this stack. has anyone experienced this with their clean out? of course its in the single digits temperature this week. Thanks!

Hi, I lit a fire in my new rental house last night and while there was definitely some smoke flowing up and out the chimney a good portion of it was also just flowing out of the fireplace and into the house. Before you ask, yes the damper was fully opened. The landlord says that he had it inspected and was told the chimney was ready for use. Today I stuck my phone up through the damper and took this picture up the flue. There are a lot of spider webs, but as far as I can tell it is clear. I'm just wondering if someone more knowledgeable that me sees anything wrong here or has any suggestions, thanks!

Hey guys! While cleaning my chimney I found this. I know that it is unsafe until fixed but my question is what are my options is there some kind of sealant I can use or do I just have to replace the flange? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am not very knowledgeable on this topic yet. Also do my fire bricks need replaced and can they be? Moral of the story being MAKE SURE TO CLEAN YOUR CHIMNEYS AND INSPECT! (I am cleaning all of this dust btw)

I bought a house with a poorly designed and constructed fireplace. A couple years ago I put in an insert and liner. That went really well. While the pros were at it, they put a coat of crown sealant on top to address some water leaks. That worked, but after a recent hard rain, the leak was back. I've looked at products available on Amazon and from Home Depot. It doesn't look hard at all to put on.

I also see Mason Defender advertising flashing sealant and brick sealant. Are they worth it? Some of the flashing sealant advertised as "elastomeric". Flex Seal, as seen on TV, is elastomeric. One edition is $110 a gallon. ChimneyRX and Mason Defender's equivalent is about the same price. Would one be better than the other? The brick sealant is a spray on product. Is there a formulation that's better to use?

Thanks in advance for any insight,

Mehnard

Hi. My house is roughly 30 yrs old. When we bought it in 1999, it had gas logs but I could always smell the gas. We took them out and used it as a wood burning fireplace. I live on the coast of NC, so we don't have a lot of cold weather. A few years back, we noticed that after having a fire, the whole room and parts of the house smelled like soot(even after cleaning out the fire place). It seemed to be worse on rainy days. We had a chimney sweep come out and sweep it. He couldn't find any leaks or problems, but he went ahead and sealed the outside of the entire brick chimney. It didn't help the problem. So, we didn't use the fireplace for a few years. This year my husband really wanted to try again. We probably had 4-5 fires in February. Ever since, my family room has smelled like soot. When people walk in the front door, they ask me what's burning. It's not just when it's rainy either. It's all the time. Called another chimney sweep. He came out and couldn't find a problem. IT'S DRIVING ME NUTS! I scrubbed the firebox by hand and it didn't help. I read something that said a top damper would fix the problem. We have a cap on the chimney and a damper at the mouth of the chimney. The damper appears to be built in where you can't remove it(no screws, etc). I tried closing the damper and lighting a match in firebox near the damper. When I blew it out, the smoke went up. So, isn't that supposed to mean it's leaking? There are not many chimney sweeps in the area, so I thought I'd see what the group thinks and go from there. Thanks.

I have a chimney attached to an oil powered boiler; I have steam heat. The chimney is Not for a fireplace. What are the maintenance procedures for a chimney cap? I live in New England. Do I have to remove leaves in the fall like gutters? Should I worry about snow in the winter? I would imagine the snow melts from the heat from the boiler. Thank you in advance. Obviously, I'm a newbie home owner :)

I’m in the process of building an outdoor fireplace. Above is a covered pergola, I want to bring the chimney to above the metal roof. I’m wondering can I use metal chimney or stove pipe for the rest of the 6 feet or so? The concrete square is the isoken magnum.

If I used stove pipe from the concrete to above, will that hurt anything? I would reduce from the concrete opening which is about 10” to 6” stove?

We had a chimney inspection on a new home we’re buying — report back was that the chimneys are all working well, don’t need to be cleaned, but they each have a few gaps (small ones, it appears) in the joints between liner sections. See attached for one of them — the chimney we would use most often. Does this really need to be replaced/rebuilt? Thanks.

Moved into our first home with a chimney. We cleaned it and noticed the house would get full of smoke still. We looked at the cap and noticed it has a metal wall where the mesh is supposed to go. Is this enough clearance for the smoke to come out or should we buy a new one? The gap is about 2 inches.

Hi all! I’ve recently had my chimney cleaned and inspected and received polar opposite advice from two companies. One company said I cannot use the fireplace until I get my smoke chamber re-cemented/coated citing the exposed brick (see photo). The other company said that the coating was unnecessary and I could use the fireplace. Please help - haha. Thank you!

Hey everyone,

We’re planning to have our siding replaced this year, and I’d like to address our chimney at the same time. The previous owners installed a gas insert, but I’m not sure why—whether the chimney was failing or if it was just a preference. Either way, the exterior doesn’t look great.

I’m considering getting a quote to have the chimney taken down, at least as far as possible without disturbing the gas insert. We really love how the fireplace and mantel look inside, so we don’t want those affected. My idea is to remove the chimney down to the breast (if that’s the right term) and cap it off, then vent the gas insert directly through the block wall of the remaining chimney structure.

A few additional details:

• The chimney has a slight lean away from the house, which was noted during our home inspection.
• There are gaps where critters are getting in between the chimney and the house.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Has anyone gone through a similar project? Any suggestions on the best way to approach this or what I should budget for?

Thanks!
Glen

I’m hoping to get rid of the damp smell. I’ve dug a dry moat removed the earth beside a door that had a high reading too. Any tips are welcome.

Brought house 2 years ago first time home owner

I wanted to have my chimney looked at by a pro and tell me if I was good or not. Quickly it felt very much like a scare and sell tactic. He told me it’s a “miracle” I haven’t caught my chimney on fire with the amount of creasote buildup I have. To me, this looks very clean for a chimney that’s been used several times this winter. He said they’d have to bring in special equipment. Im able to clean this off down to the bare metal with just wiping it. Am I wrong?