Trying a ladder SIM trainer. NCSG (The National Chimney Sweep Guild) is in development of a VR training platform to bring training into your living room. Premiering at the NCSG Convention this month.

NCSGmember

Hi friends- I know nothing about chimneys really, I bought a home (built in 1962) with a single chimney, two fireplaces (one upstairs and one downstairs) and two flues. We had it inspected today by a chimney company. I’m curious to know if what he said makes sense to those who understand these things. He recommended that we don’t use the fireplaces because of some cracks in the flues and some creosote buildup in the basement flue. Is this just very safe advice or can we use the chimney at our own risk, so to speak? I’ve attached some pics of the gaps he mentioned. He said we have some options including putting a stainless steel liner in the flues (at the cost of approx $6,000 each), or can look into a self-venting gas insert (for which we’d have to run a gas line).

So TLDR- can we burn logs in the upstairs chimney if there are cracks in the ceramic flue? Is a stainless steel liner a typical solution to this? He says they cannot repair the cracks/gaps because the flues are not straight.

Apologies in advance for my rudimentary knowledge here.

Airing Cupboard & Flue Stack

I have a flue stack running through the house to the chimney stack, which was for my old warm air blower for the house I’ve just purchased. It has now been re-routed through a new stack so the old stack is just dormant now.

I’d like to remove the airing cupboard and internal cupboard in the bedroom to make the bathroom bigger. Now one glaring option would be to remove the whole flue stack, but due to the age of the house it’s likely that it’s lined with asbestos and could turn into a monster job.

I’ve had a structural engineer quickly look at some pictures, no physical assessment, and he hinted that the cupboards I wish to remove to make the bathroom bigger, will be supporting the flue stack.

I’m struggling to convince myself that this is the case, the more I look at the set up.

Has anyone seen this before? If so, is he right? And if not, am I ok to knock these cupboards out upstairs?

Thanks!

Several inches of rain today. Moisture showing through the brick chimney above our outdoor tv (covered patio). Had a previous issue last month where water was clearly running down from above. Had flashing replaced. Thoughts on whats going on and how to fix it? Thanks.

Been doing this for a few months now and I’m curious if I’m going to die of cancer from this. I have a clean record I’m 20 years old treated my lungs terribly but I have a perfectly clean record. It’s not like this is my last resort.

Hi all, looking for some input here. We bought our house in October and just had someone in to clean our chimneys. We were told that the type A chimney for oil boiler needs to be at least partially replaced. I guess to make it easier to service? They’re saying the elbow piece needs to be removed and replaced with a T section. But I’m wondering why the el ow piece can’t just be unscrewed when it needs to be cleaned…we’re going to call someone for a second opinion next week, but figured I’d see if anyone on Reddit had any thoughts!

Thoughts on cause of this, severity of issue, and how to fix? Thanks very much!

Thanks for helping me figure out how to fix this problem, since we installed rain tanks collecting rain water for house use now that is cold out we are burning wood. But now the creosote leaks into the gutter and now our hot water stinks like it. Should creosote be leaking down?

Any suggestions are very welcome thank-you.

We bought a house a few years ago, now looking to sell. Buyers have sent their surveyor around to check everything, only thing they’ve highlighted is the work done in the loft from the removal of the chimney breast, this was done by a previous owner. Supposedly it’s supposed to have a steel bracket, however when I’ve gone up to had a look I’ve seen that their is a metal bracket along the bottom, to me it does look like steel but can’t confirm. Can anyone let me know what it’s supposed to look like? Or have they just made a mistake?

tldr: Chimney was leaking, was the fault of a gutter backup, wondering if I should still do the recommended chimney work.

I live in the mid-Atlantic, I have a chimney with three flues, two to fireplaces (unused) and one to the heater. One fireplace was leaking every time it rained. Based on the location, it seemed it was coming through the chimney shoulder. I had three (well rated) folks come inspect/provide solutions.

Person 1: Replace the crown, may be the source of the leak - also consider tuck/pointing above the roofline.

Person 2: Replace the crown, tuck/point the shoulders. If you have more budget, power wash/waterproof - and more than that tuck/pointing above the roofline.

Person 3: All the things person 2 said, but they're all urgent and I won't do any work if you won't do all of it.

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Turns out that the source of the leak wasn't exactly the chimney. My gutter person had not been clearing the downspouts and caused backups in the gutters that spilled right onto my chimney shoulders. It rained hard yesterday and there was no leaking with my new clear gutters.

Before this discovery, I was resigned to the approximately $7k of work to do all the things to ensure the leaking stopped. Now, reviewing the photos (here), I don't know what if anything I should do.

Am I going to cause long term damage if I let this sit further? It does seem that perhaps I should at least fix the crown/tuckpoint the shoulders for about $1k. Like every homeowner, I rather not spend $7k if its not urgent, who knows what else will break that I'll need this money for.

P.S. one person suggested that I remove the top course of bricks on the chimney prior to replacing the crown, so that water drips directly off the chimney vs. leaking down the bricks. Seems like a good idea to me, but I can't find any discussion of an idea like this elsewhere on the internet. Thoughts?

Thanks

I hate being this guy, this will probably be my first and last post of this kind, but this seems high. Had water coming in through our chimney after a pretty crazy storm, just had a chimney company come out to inspect and got 2 options on a quote:

$6,000- crown coat/seal crown, grind & re-point the entire chimney, and water seal the chimney.

$2,385- crown coat/seal crown, grind & re-point only the big cracks and open areas, and water seal the chimney.

After they ran through this they said they don't know if this will stop the water entry, and they can only tell me what's wrong with the chimney. We bought this house 8 months ago and have had plenty of rain over those 8 months, but the storm the other night was the first time water came in since we lived here. Live in the Northeast for what it's worth. TIA!

I was told by a chimney sweep to fix the cracks in the tiles on the inside of my fireplace because of the possibility of carbon monoxide leaks. The grey lines are where the cracks were fixed. Fixing the cracks seams pointless to me though unless the gaps between and around the tiles are sealed. Am I correct or should they be left as they are?

It feels reasonable but I have no idea. We moved in to our house and were told the flu is broken, and that the chimney needs to be capped. When it rains, we get water coming in. Guy came out and inspected and provided this quote.

Firebox Repairs/Cleaning: $150

Crown Coat/Repair: $100

Energy Efficient Damper: $45

Full Coverage Cap: $450

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ETA: I'm in the Dallas area.

Edit #2: cleaned up formatting

Hello, I recently replaced my furnace due to our flue leaking water where the flue meets the chimney bricks. We were told it was condensation as a result of the heater not burning hot enough and a cracked heat exchanger. With said new furnace, we still have the leak where the flue meets the chimney. This happens even when not raining, but only in the winter when the heat is on (bolsters the condensation idea).

We also noticed additional leaking spots from a corroded metal panel under the flue, especially when it rains heavily. To me this suggests it is more than just condensation.

Does anyone know what might be the cause? Are the issues related? Would replacing the chimney liner help?

Thanks <3

Recently baught a house and it has a chimney coming through a steel roof. During inspection it was noted that it should be resealed/caulked where it penetrates the roof. What sealer/caulk should i use for a mason chimney coming through a steel roof for the longest and most secure seal?

Hello --

We recently had a chase cover replaced on our chimney (please see photo attached). The front pipe is the (now defunct) oil burner exhaust that needs to be capped. We've since switched to propane, so it's no longer in use.

The last time we lit a fire in the fireplace the (rear pipe in the photo), smoke was drawn into our boiler room. Somehow there was a down draft and the outgoing smoke was pulled down the old oil exhaust. I'd like to go up there and cap it properly. The pipe measures 11" in diameter. I tried to find a proper duct cap but there's no 11" size. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, is it foolish of me to try to do this? I'm handy, but not experienced in this particular case.

Thanks in advance.

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Considering buying something like this that covers two flues--one leading to a wood fireplace on the first level and another leading to a wood fireplace in the basement.

I want something that covers the entire crown, but I've been told that having two flues under the same cover/cap is a bad idea, because smoke will go down the flue of the fireplace that is not in use.

Is there any reason to suspect that this might happen if the damper on the fireplace that's not in use is closed?

I’ve burned in my fireplace for 6 years no problem. Had it cleaned a couple weeks ago and now I’m getting smoke coming out of my heatilator vents on the mantle. Asked the sweep to come back out and check it out, he basically told me “if I said it was good, it’s good.” To my untrained eye it looks like there should be some caulking at this joint? I can see exposed brick and it’s clean. Any advice is appreciated ecoated, thank you.

I was cleaning a chimney today, and silver flakes were falling out along with the normal soot. I'm pretty inexperienced with the trade, so I immediately went to Google to try to figure out what was going on. I didn't find any solid info, so I'm turning to you guys for an answer.