John Kogel Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 This wood-burning fireplace was built in 1968. There is a gap at the top where the last flue tile needed to be a little higher, so the mason just pulled it up a few inches. Should we be concerned with the gap there? There is a gap at the bottom where the first flue tile does not appear to be well sealed. Are repairs needed at the lower end? Click to Enlarge 58.54 KB Click to Enlarge 73.87 KB Click to Enlarge 58.92 KB Click to Enlarge 82.6 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 The sweeps I know tell me that those gaps are very bad because they'll allow soot to build up in the interstitial spaces between the liner and the outer masonry. The soot could, of course, catch fire. It's not much of a problem in my area because most of the chimneys lack liners anyway. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 This wood-burning fireplace was built in 1968. There is a gap at the top where the last flue tile needed to be a little higher, so the mason just pulled it up a few inches. Should we be concerned with the gap there? Yes. There is a gap at the bottom where the first flue tile does not appear to be well sealed. Are repairs needed at the lower end?I'd recommend it. There's also some offsets at the flue tile joints. Some sweeps here insist that a chimney be relined or even rebuilt if there is more than 1/8'' offset. They also insist the same if there is more than a 1/16" gap in the mortar of any joints. I have to warn my clients about what some sweeps will say to sell a liner or chimney rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted April 4, 2011 Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 I have to warn my clients about what some sweeps will say to sell a liner or chimney rebuild. Same here. If you read down through all of the NFPA's most current recommendations, it essentially condemns all chimneys. It's open season for sweeps to recommend liners and rebuilds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericwlewis Posted April 4, 2011 Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 when we bought our house in 1991 we had the 1920's chimney swept and the guy used this formula for figuring out how much "repair" we needed. Age of chimney x $10= your cost. He used the same formula @ my brothers house a few weeks later. Neither of us bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kogel Posted April 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 OK, thanks all. There's no soot in this flue, but you can never tell how much use it's going to get from the new owners. If the flue liner needs repair, I don't see a problem with adding a metal liner. It eliminates the uncertainty for a reasonable cost. In fact, I often tell people to have an airtight insert and a liner installed so that they can get some decent efficiency and close off that drafty hole in the wall. Different house now. I had a 100 year old fireplace earlier this week that had no damper in it and just a spark screen parked in front of it. Brrrr. Click to Enlarge 69.08 KB Nice patch. My clients were told $1600 was spent on the 3 chimneys. Click to Enlarge 51.42 KB Click to Enlarge 59.48 KB This flue with the moisture in it is venting a gas water heater in the same house. I called for a liner and a chimney cap. Click to Enlarge 43.57 KB Here's the corbelled section in the attic, two bedrooms up there. Hard to believe they had these chimneys repaired and nobody saw a problem with this flue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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