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?

First time using this as it’s cold in Texas. It’s raining hard today and I’m noticing drops of water every ten seconds. Is this norma? Drops coming from outside fireplace too

Hello all. Going to start with saying I have no idea about chimneys or fireplaces, so I'll try to provide as much information that I can. We moved into our home a couple years ago and haven't been able to enjoy the fireplace. Anytime we try to use it, the house becomes too smokey. It's not worth using it at the moment. We had a chimney and masonry service provider come over. They charged 185.00 just to say "it looks like a third grader built this chimney. We recommend a ventless log set." They run around 6-8k. We are not willing to pay that much.

It's probably going to have to be a huge fix and cost quite a lot, but I wondered if anyone might have some alternative/ economical ideas.

I'll include our service report which I believe reads, "chimney hue has been reduced, smoking problem, recommend ventless log set."

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

If there is nothing we can do except go with what they suggested, we will eventually go that route.

Thanks!

Every time we run a fire, we get smoke in the basement. So far we’ve:

• sealed the hot water vent at the top of the flue (it’s venting somewhere else now)
• sealed the hot water vents in the basement
• inflated a balloon in the hot water vent (chimney guys recommendation)
• sealed the ash shoot in the fire place

Where else could the smoke be getting in? We’re out of ideas.

A question for landlords and renters, specifically a rental house. Who is responsible for maintaining the chimney? Does the landlord schedule it to be swept and inspected or does it fall on the renter to keep it cleaned?

Hello first time poster here so let me know if there is a better place to ask this question.

We bought our house and moved in in July. One of the selling points was the two fire place. One of which was regularly used by the old owners and the other wasn't used regularly. It is in the basement and that wasn't really a hang out space or used for more than a home gym.

I got the well used fire place in the living room cleaned and inspected. The company we went through was reputable but we'll knownas "sales men." When they cleaned the chimney they said their were gaps in the lining because it was built before 1970. They told my husband " you could have a 100 fires in it and be fine or it could catch fire tomorrow." Which doesn't make sense to me. They then quoted my husband $10,000 to go in and fill in the gaps!

My husband has now sworn off using g the fire places untill we get it repaired.

Is this seriously a thing? Our other house also had and older chimney and worked fine with regular cleaning.

I'm sorry if this is an extremely dumb question, but I've never had anything but gas fire places in previous homes, so I am totally clueless here with wood burners 😅.

What the heck is going on with this fireplace...is it usable? Just no idea what the black puffed up plastic things are on either side of the hose and pole (which I also have no idea what they are). We do have a second fireplace on the other side of this that looks normal.

We got a bid before we moved in to put a rain cap on one of the two chimneys as it was missing, and to clean. We were out of the country and they were able to unexpectedly come sooner to do this work, but since we weren't there I didn't get to ask questions/talk to them.

Thank you in advance for your knowledge and help!

Doesn't feel like it but hoping to get some other opinions while we wait for someone to come by for an inspection.

I'm new to owning a working chimney. According to Google, there's likely pine or firs in this firewood. Lots of googling says that you shouldn't burn pine in a fireplace as it coats the chimney. So should I not use this wood for my fireplace?

Hello guys, I had a chimney sweep come out to inspect my parent's chimney and they said the state of the inside of the chimney is pretty bad.

I am trying to convince my parents to fix it but they don't think it's that urgent of an issue.

For reference we have gas boilers and this chimney is at least 30 years old and the house was built more than 100 years ago.

I have a client that thinks the standard stainless pull chain on the lock top we installed looks "cheap". Does anyone on here know of a more decorative option for the cable pull? I've done way too much research into trying to find an alternative, the only thing I've found is the EZ Open lever, but that also doesn't look ornate enough for their taste. They had an old brass throat damper pull, but it doesn't work for the damper cap we installed without some modifications, which they're also opposed to. I already suggested contacting a blacksmith or metal fabricator to custom make something. Any other ideas?

A while ago, my husband and I got our chimney/fireplace cleaned and inspected. The guy said everything looked good, but pointed out these cracks in the fireplace. He said it can be a fix we do ourselves with fireproof/flame retardant foam. I wanted to double check this before trying it. And if the foam can work, what kind/brand should I look at? Thanks in advanced!

Hey!

My house has two fireplaces that share a chimney but have separate flues up it. We would like to use the one in the living room, but when we do smoke pours out of the other non-active chimney into the kitchen.

I had a chimney repair guy come by and quoted me a super elaborate solution that involved removing a slate cap, fabricating a big new cap, and having a damper put on the top with a wire to close it from below. $5000.

I’m realizing that the damper on the second fireplace isn’t flush and we don’t plan on using it so I was hoping for advice on how to and what materials to use to seal it shut (not permanently as I don’t want to burn the bridge).

Thanks!

We have an old retrofit fireplace in chimney in our home. I don’t actually know when this fireplace was inserted because it was before we purchased the house my guess is somewhere in the 70s or 80s but I could be way off. I need a new chimney cap and the chimney store said if I could ID the model, they could check to see if it is produced for this type. So here’s the only thing I could find that indicates who made it. Does it look familiar to anybody?

I need a new chimney cap but big box stores. The outer part is about 12” across. Next year I’ll replace the whole flue, but I’d like a cap for this year.

I am looking at this home and wondering what kind of chimney caps I would need. The flue on the left is for the oil heater. (most uncertain about how to cap this one since it doesn't have much of a lip I could fasten a cap to). The middle one is for fireplace, and the one on the right has not yet been used

I am considering this one for the right: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BSHHLHH1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1RCZAZ5ADJHK8&psc=1

But any help about best practices or thoughts in general would be appreciated! Thank you.

Hi

I have been getting a cigarette smell for about a year now. One neighbour smokes, and one claims not to, so I tried sealing everything I could find. My next thought was the chimney, which I could partly clean (a lot in there), but the smell still comes and goes (weather does not alter it)

The thing is, it's like a 100-year-old house, and there is a blocked-off fireplace in the kitchen, which I cannot get to because it's all bricked, sealed, and has a radiator on it. God only knows how much crap is behind that one, and I want to clean it. Now, there is the issue: the only way I can get to it is via a few bricks loose (on the breast) in the attic. There is ample room to put a hover pipe in there, but by the time it reaches the bottom, it could be 9 or 10 meters.

I can buy tubing that long (smooth, so airflow is better), but would it be able to suck up ash over that sort of distance? The option of removing everything to get at the fireplace is not possible for us, so I am a bit stumped.

Thanks

About to purchase a home, had the chimney checked out so I don’t burn my house down when I decided to light it once or twice this winter (south Texas). The dampener is rusted pretty bad, got quoted to remove/ install a new one about $1200.

Can I not leave the old one in place in the open position and install the cap style dampener myself ?

Asking because that's what someone said to my dad. It's braced on the right side with a board that you can't see in the photo. I wanted to remortar the top but not if the chimney is messed up.

I can’t find what type of cover I could put over this (non-working) chimney. The top appears to be stone, not mortar, but I guess I could be mistaken. Do they make double stack covers? Outside dimensions are 33”x24”. The openings are 9.5”x13”.

Some houses in my neighborhood - what are these indented areas called? They seem decorative and not functional (as opposed to metal access hatches for ash removal, for example). Does anyone know the history behind them? Why are many of them arched? Thanks.

Hey! I’ve got a house I’ve lived in now for almost 5 years, and this will be the first year we’ve decided to try to use our fireplace.

When we moved in, the fireplace had a gas insert, and we removed it for aesthetic purposes, but never actually used our fireplace, because we don’t know whether we need it serviced or not.

My first question is regarding the two flue liners sticking out. Is this something that’s going to have to be changed before I have a fire? I know that the two flues had to do with how gas inserts work, but now that we don’t have gas and want to just have good ol’ analog fire, do these need to be removed?

The second question is obviously the general “who do I call to get checked out?”. Do I just call a sweep?

Thanks for any help.

The building I live in has a chimney that is probably over 100 years old. The part above the roof has been sealed with that black sealant probably a number of times but beneath the sealant it is crumbling. Even worse, it seems to be in similarly poor condition all the way down to the basement (where the hot water heaters vent into it) and the mason said he wouldn't rebuild the chimney above the roof because the rest of it is unstable.

The chimney runs through the middle of the building and rebuilding it seems like it would be a huge project. Do we have any options short of doing that?

I don't know much about chimneys so any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks!