Hi everyone, I am renting a house with a structural, permanent cement chimney canopy over the cooktop. There is currently no exhaust system installed, but there is a 200mm opening which is open to the air at the top.
What options do I have to get a working exhaust fan in this space safely?
Any advice or product suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I’ll preface this by saying I have zero masonry experience, which is pretty self explanatory from the picture.
Anyways, I’m putting together this paver fire pit and I’ve been using refractory mortar to make a fire brick veneer on the inside. I made the last mix of the mortar I had way too thin, so I just skim coated all the brick to fill in any joint gaps I had.
My question is, mainly, is this a hazard at all? Is the mortar skim coat just going to crack and fall off eventually? I’m really just hoping there’s not any potential danger to this and was thinking this would be the right group to ask.
I had top of my chimney repaired because the mortar was cracking. The guy installed the new mortar to the top of the chimney liner.
The 3 holes on the right are plugged. The one on the far left needs to be covered but I’m not sure with what because there is no flue liner sticking up to mount a cap to.
I live where we get a lot of snow so I want to make sure snow melt doesn’t go down the chimney and critters can’t get in there. The one on the left vents the hot water heater and gas fired boiler.
How should I handle this?
I have a leak around my chimney. A similar leak occurred about a year ago and the chimney was tuck pointed and new flashing was placed. I discovered the leak again after some hard rains. After inspecting it I found a few small cracks between the flashing and chimney that I caulked. However now I'm wondering about this piece of flashing that faces the ridge. I sprayed water on the chimney and the water runs down and pools on the flashing instead of running off the sides. Could the water be wicking under she shingles?Could this be the source of the leak? Any info would be appreciated!
Hi all,
I was given a fireplace insert for free for my renovation house and I am trying to work out if it will fit in.
It was covered in plaster with an old gas fireplace there when I bought it and after removing the plaster it has revealed the original fireplace.
The insert will fit in width-wise, but it is slightly too tall to fit at the moment.
I am trying to figure out if the block behind the opening, that would need cut to get the insert in, is a lintel or not (not planning on taking any risks touching it currently. It doesn’t insert into the walls at each side which makes it seem like it isn’t, even though you’d think it was?
Any advice/thoughts?
Okay, so I have a house with a dual flue clay liner brick chimney that hasnt been maintained by previous owners. Between the leaking cap on the first flue used for a wood burning fireplace, this flue also has a shifted clay section about 3 lenghts from the top so its OOS. The second services the boiler and hot water heater. It wasn't venting well when we bought the house, until I added a vent for make-up air. It does vent and have the proper pitch, I have checked at times with a proper meter from the firehouse, I would not keep using it if this hadn't corrected the natural vent.
The other issue is that it may have some settlement, it is an old style build where the hearth extends out supported but the floor joists instead of block to the footing. The foindation sits at about the face.of the firebox so the main weight is bearing as it should but the modern code is to have a full support.
The thing would need repointing but I think it is beyond that and it regularly spalls off big flakes of brick. I am sure if i lined it and poured around the liner that would add stiffness but I also was thinking that you dont see many brick chimneys on new builds and while I may not be a mason, I am a carpenter so am I out of my mind to consider ripping down the old brick to a point above the damper perhaps and then mounting the liner and boxing out a finish detail around.it. It seems like an ideal way for a lot of people to save when dealing with a masonry chimney that needs to be rebuild brick by brick but haven't seen it done before.
Even as a.hypothetical, is this not a viable idea? I would think a proper double lined stainless and a heat gap would make it easily safe enough or a layer of type x in the inside of all framing. I actually have a couple other more specific questions but figured I would start with proof of concept
What is a fair estimate to rebuild this chimney from the roofline up?
I need advice about a couple things with my 1920 built home we bought.
First the chimney that carries the exhaust for my water heater and boiler is unlined currently, and it’s the original to the house. I turned off the boiler for the summer to save on my gas bill and the water heater is orphaned and not drafting properly without the boiler on.
Second my water heater is 13.5 years old and will need to be replaced eventually. I was considering going for a tankless unit and having my plumber vent the unit directly outside. I could also replace it with a standard atmospheric unit.
My questions is should the priority be relining the heating chimney which will run 3-4K most likely I was told or replace my water heater with a tankless unit and whole home filter( $5600 for the tankless and $2400 for the filter). My boiler will still be venting out the chimney either way.
I live in Long Island so prices are not cheap for this work.
Hello all! Ok! Looking for some guidance, hoping i can explain this in a way that makes sense.
My house is 161 years old. The chimney was unlined and the water heater vents into it. So...I was a good little homeowner, saved my money, had the chimney lined, capped, and 2 draft holes in the chimney filled where the water heater connects. 2 days later there's a leak somewhere in the chimney area coming into my upstairs bathroom. Chimney guy is super cool, comes back out, can't figure out what the problem is. Says the flashing around the chimney is really not ok, and that the roof is hinky. I have 5 different roofing companies come out. All say the chimney needs to be demoed below the roof line, B vent installed, need new roof because whoever replaced it last was drunk.
The furnace and the chimney are VERY close together in the basement. Almost touching. Something is dripping from up high in a dark cavern that no one can see.
My question is...
Could the act of lining the chimney and filling in those holes have caused condensation that can't escape from the water heater in the chimney? WHAT could be happening here? At first I thought the ducts for the HVAC may have been dripping, but now I'm not so sure! I have since put a heavy duty commercial dehumidifier in the basement and the dripping persists. The leak also shows up in the plaster upstairs even if it hasn't rained (the chimney area is tarped, but of course the whole thing isn't tarped because the water heater vents through the top).
Any help would be greatly appreciated! The water is starting to soak the beams below it, and who knows what damage it's causing in the house.
I've had roofers, HVAC guys, and a plumber all come out. Plumber is convinced that once a B vent is installed the issue will be resolved...buuut...that just doesn't make sense to me. Help!
After years of thinking we had a roof leak and trying various repairs we finally discovered it was actually coming from loose bricks in the chimney. Does anyone have a recommendation for someone who can fix it? I’ve found some on Google but would love to hear from someone who has had experience with something similar in Calgary.
Had a roofing company do this flash job to my chimney. They left a gap in between the flashing and shingles.
Hello all! Ok! Looking for some guidance, hoping i can explain this in a way that makes sense.
My house is 161 years old. The chimney was unlined and the water heater vents into it. So...I was a good little homeowner, saved my money, had the chimney lined, capped, and 2 draft holes in the chimney filled where the water heater connects. 2 days later there's a leak somewhere in the chimney area coming into my upstairs bathroom. Chimney guy is super cool, comes back out, can't figure out what the problem is. Says the flashing around the chimney is really not ok, and that the roof is hinky. I have 5 different roofing companies come out. All say the chimney needs to be demoed below the roof line, B vent installed, need new roof because whoever replaced it last was drunk.
The furnace and the chimney are VERY close together in the basement. Almost touching. Something is dripping from up high in a dark cavern that no one can see.
My question is...
Could the act of lining the chimney and filling in those holes have caused condensation that can't escape from the water heater in the chimney? WHAT could be happening here? At first I thought the ducts for the HVAC may have been dripping, but now I'm not so sure! I have since put a heavy duty commercial dehumidifier in the basement and the dripping persists. The leak also shows up in the plaster upstairs even if it hasn't rained (the chimney area is tarped, but of course the whole thing isn't tarped because the water heater vents through the top).
Any help would be greatly appreciated! The water is starting to soak the beams below it, and who knows what damage it's causing in the house.
I've had roofers, HVAC guys, and a plumber all come out. Plumber is convinced that once a B vent is installed the issue will be resolved...buuut...that just doesn't make sense to me. Help!
Another repair that needs done on the house. I will hire this one out, but how serious does this seem what would cause this? Does not look like this on the basement or on the roof as best I can tell
Edit: sorry I guess I left out some info. This is the chimney. This portion in the chimney is in the attic, looks like it needs new mortor but just wondering the urgency of the repair and the cause? I’m guessing moisture.
TLDR - What’s the feature at ‘A’? A big hole? Do ‘A’ and the cracks suggest I need a liner? We plan to use the chimney for 5 more years.
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I’ve attached screen grabs of a video inspection of my flue. It’s the oil-burning boiler flue—there’s a fireplace flue in parallel. 65 year old house, boiler is very clean burning, stack is in good shape. The entire chimney is behind drywall except in the attic and basement.
I’d like opinions about the cracks, which are limited to a short section below grade.
The technician told me the cracks aren’t bad and I don’t need a liner. His company installs liners. Most of the flue tile looked clean and without issues.
Also wondering what that feature is marked with a question mark.
Our furnace tech tells me we have an excellent draft and very clean boiler.
Bought this money pit last year and the ceiling in the bedroom has a water spot next to the chimney brick. It’s coming from the left side (oil boiler vent). I’m assuming it’s because for whatever reason the roof butts up to the chimney and water is entering from the flashing. Mind you while this is an old home the second story and chimney extension were done 20 years ago. So really don’t understand this logic of the lack of chimney caps.
Anyway we can’t seem to find someone to work on the chimney for us. Called multiple companies found online. A few came out and only three followed up with quotes. One guy would only work on this chimney if he could work on our second one. That one isn’t leaking but the fireplace isn’t functional. It’s not in the budget to repair at this time.
The only two companies that gave quotes and will work on the chimney may be scams?
Company 1 says the issue is water intrusion from the bricks and flashing. Says they will repair the flashing and waterproof the bricks. Along with adding TWO chimney caps. I said I wanted one big one but the gay misunderstood that I wanted the flues cut down. I said I understood they had to stay but wanted one large cap in a bronze color to cover them. He still doesn’t get it and I feel like now it may not be a real thing? That’s quote is 3k
Company 2 says the damage is from the flashing and moisture from the oil boiler degrading the flue liner tile in the left chimney. Said they WOULD cut off the flues and install one large bronzed colored chimney cap. Quote is 4.2k for just the cap and flashing repair. The new flue liner that he claimed I needed wasn’t included in the scope?
My fear of the scam aspect comes from the fact that the company on #2 shirt was not the name of the company I called. Coincidently both guys were Israeli wearing similar outfits. I thought that was odd and when I googled Israeli chimney companies I found a post on this subreddit about Israeli scam chimney companies. So now I’m just concerned/confused.
Any advice is appreciated and if any of you know of a chimney repair company in the Greater Danbury/ Western CT area I’d greatly appreciate it.
This Chimney has ivy growing behind it and a tree growing out of it. My current idea is to separate ivy from the roots, wait a couple of weeks, and then remove the ivy.
The tree, I plan to remove and use a snake camera to assist in removal if i can do do wothout further damaging what i assume will be clay tile. Then I'll have a professional finish making it safe or tell me it all needs torn down. I'd like to keep it but I'm not sure if that's possible. Please advise.
The top of the chimney is flush with the roof so it hasn't been pushed out at the top.
New firebox, smoke chamber, and 12" stainless steel liner. Just a cool project I'm working on at the moment.
There were some cracks in the top of my chimney base so I tried to patch it up with concrete. I’m not sure if I used the right technique or concrete mix (fast setting concrete mix from Lowe’s) but the concrete isn’t sticking to the base, especially on the vertical parts. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix this?