You are here: Home / Archives for March 2009

How to Fix a Chimney Fireplace Smoking Problem

March 17, 2009 By admin 3 Comments

There is nothing worse than spending time to get a fire roaring in your fireplace only to have a room filled with smoke moments later. Smoking problems are a major complaint amongst many home owners. There are many different ways to go about fixing this problem, but you must have patience. Sometimes the answer is simple, other times it’s more complex.

Cold air is much heavier than warm air. The warm air should rise out of your chimney, including the smoke produced. If your flue system is not warm when lighting the fire then you can alter the ability of the fireplace to draw properly, creating potentially harmful smoking problems. A warm air siphon must be created before a fire can burn properly and draw correctly.

windowTip #1: Crack a window

The quickest and easiest tip to creating a good draw for your chimney is to crack a window in the same room you are lighting the fire in. This will bring pressure into the room, causing air to be drawn up the chimney and allowing the smoke to move upwards and out, not into your living room.

Tip #2: Pre-heat with some newspapers

burning-papersPre-heating your flue system is another quick and easy tip to getting a roaring fire. Rolling up five or six newspapers and lighting them in the fireplace will help to warm up the flue and create a good siphon. This process may take five or ten minutes but can be critical to having a properly drawing fireplace. Also, make sure your damper is propped wide open or the smoke won’t be able escape.

Tip #3: Install a Smoke-Guard

smokeguardIf these quick fixes are still not helping your situation, you may need to look into some more expensive but effective solutions. One of the easiest of these is the Smoke-Guard. If your firebox is too big for your flue system, more smoke can accumulate in the firebox than can safely draft up the chimney. The excess smoke has nowhere to go but back out into your house. Install a Smoke-Guard, a strip of metal to increase the size of the opening of your chimney, can immediately solve smoking problems. This makes the ratio of the fireplace opening to the flue size more compatible.

Here’s how to tell if your fireplace opening is too large for your flue:

  1. Determine the area of your flue. If it is rectangular or square, multiply the flue’s length by its width. If it is a round flue, use the radius (half of the diameter.) Multiply 3.14 x radius x radius.
  2. Determine the area of your fireplace opening. Multiply the height of your fireplace opening by its width.
  3. Compare them. If the area of your fireplace opening is more than 10 times the area of your flue, your smoke problems may stem from your fireplace opening being too large for your flue. A smoke guard will effectively reduce the size of your fireplace opening.

Tip #4: Extend your chimney

If your chimney does not extend high enough above your roof line, or there are nearby trees or other flue systems, this can cause competition for proper drafting. Negative pressure can build up into a tightly sealed home very quickly, which means that the air pressure outside the home is greater than inside the home. If the chimney is not tall enough, air and smoke can easily enter the home to fill the discrepancy between the two pressures. Extending your chimney by a few feet can be costly but may be the only way solve a chimney smoke problem.

Filed Under: Fireplace Smoking Problems Tagged With: , , ,

Why Your Chimney Flue May Need a New Liner

March 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

A flue liner is required by codes and standards to cover the inner surface of the flue of your chimney. Relining a chimney is a procedure during which damaged or deteriorated liners are removed and and better, safer systems are replaced. There is a great variety of materials comprising these liners including, but not limited to, ceramic tiles, firebrick, stainless steel, cast-in-place masonry mixtures, or listed lining systems of similar materials. Flue liners for residential and low heat chimneys must be separated from the chimney wall by an air space to protect the life of each separate flue system. Flue liner tiles can crack due to rapid heating of a cold flue or abusive maintenance, as well as damage from a chimney fire. A cracked liner tile is not safe and must be replaced before burning further.

Faulty appliances are actually the cause of a slim percentage of chimney fires. Rather, the major causes are either improper installation or a poorly maintained flue system. Deteriorating liners may be allowing smoke or creosote to seep through the liner into the walls of your chimney. Relining your chimney will actually prevent excessive creosote buildup when venting a wood burning fireplace or stove.

When a chimney fire has occurred or a tile is cracked by some other means, there are many different directions a homeowner can take to

Chimney liner kits make installing a metal flue liner in your chimney less complicated.

Chimney liner kits make installing a metal flue liner in your chimney less complicated.

reline the chimney. Stainless steel liners, whether rigid or flexible, are excellent options. Rigid liners are made of nonmagnetic stainless steel and come in round tubes five to ten inches in diameter and one to four feet long. Flexible stainless steel liners are much thinner and are of ribbed construction. The flexible liners are easier to install but the rigid liners are more efficient due to their smooth walls.

Aluminum liners are designated to line very specific types of gas-fired systems, but not gas fireplace logs. Chimney caps are recommended for any type of liner, whether tile or metal, and proper insulation should be installed.
A cast-in-place liner mixture requires the careful installation of exactly proportioned, inflated, round or oval bladders and casting a masonry material around them. Older or particularly weak chimneys can benefit most from this style of flue lining because, after curing, this masonry material greatly increases the strength of the chimney.
Occasionally a homeowner may come across a situation where a company gives a choice of a full reline or a reline going about six feet up the chimney. A few reasons why you should choose the full reline would be that with the six foot liner, your appliance or fireplace is guaranteed to operate at less than 100% efficiency. Also, the heavy liner will have to be removed for every cleaning which requires more effort and therefore more money.

It is absolutely imperative that you do not burn a fireplace if there is a cracked flue tile. Contact local chimney repair companies or visit amchimney.com for more information and answers to specific questions regarding your unique chimney. Once flames move through the cracked or deteriorating liner, there is no stopping them from lighting the entire rest of the chimney and roof aflame. Allow the experts at amchimney.com to answer all your questions!

Filed Under: Chimney Liners Tagged With: , , ,

How To Remove Creosote Buildup

March 16, 2009 By admin 3 Comments

creosote1

What is Creosote?

Creosote is a flammable and corrosive substance that can build up on the walls of your fireplace and chimney. Creosote is formed when unburned wood particles, fly ash and other volatile gases combine as they exit the chimney. If there’s a poor draft, these unburned particles and gases can condense and build up on the walls of your chimney. Over time, these creosote or soot buildups can become a danger as they can potentially result in a chimney fire.

Causes of Chimney Creosote Problems

Smoke, or better termed, flue gas, is released by the initial fire, or primary combustion. Burning wood, no matter how it is done, releases pollutants in the form of gases and particulate matter. Flue gas, comprised of steam and vaporized but unburned carbon based byproducts (vaporized creosote). If smoke exiting the chimney is cooled to below 250 degrees Fahrenheit, the gases liquefy, combine, and solidify to form creosote. A flue too large for the woodburning appliance may increase the likelihood that creosote will build up. Restricted air supply, unseasoned or rain-logged wood, and cool surface flue temperatures also encourage creosote to build up.

Creosote Stages:

  1. Condensation: In an attempt to save fuel, many people reduce the amount of air entering the combustion chamber, causing the appliance to smolder. This has serious side effects. Smoke then cools as it rises in the chimney, not having enough heat energy to escape the stack. The flue gas then condenses on the inside of the chimney and the sap/resin turns into creosote.
  2. Liquidation: This sap/resin turns liquid and can seep into mortar joints or cracks in the flue tiles. The corrosive property held by creosote destroys masonry work and jeopardizes the life of your chimney.
  3. Solidification: As temperatures fall and rise within the chimney, causing the heating and cooling of the creosote. This quickly enables build-up, reducing the amount of space the flue gas has to exit the chimney and, in extreme cases, blocking the flue completely. This build up can look like tar and is frequently termed “tar build-up.”
  4. Friable State Creosote: When the solid creosote is burned, all volatile oils are removed leaving a residue that appears very similar to honeycomb which is crisp and easy to sweep from chimneys.

Creosote Glazing

Glaze is formed in the solidification stage and occurs when new layers of creosote are being added so quickly that the layers below it have no time to dry. These fresh layers then insulate previous deposits so it eventually solidifies creating the rock-like substance known as glaze.

How to Remove Creosote Glaze

acs-buynowacspowder-buynowTo remove this hard-as-a-rock glaze, it must first be broken down chemically. The two best products to use are Anti-Creo-Soot (ACS) Liquid spray or ACS Powder. ACS in liquid form is a chimney creosote removal spray that can be applied directly onto the fire or used to pre-treat the wood before burning. The vapor goes up the flue and attaches to the glazed creosote and chemically modifies it, converting it into a harmless ash that can easily be swept out with a chimney sweep brush. ACS in powder form is a little bit more powerful. This powdered chimney creosote remover is applied to the chimney walls and up the flue. When you start a fire, the temperature needs to reach 300 degrees F. Once this happens, the ACS Powder causes the creosote to expand and contract at a different rate than the flue it’s attached to, causing it to peel away from the flue liner. Both of these products contain unique chemical catalysts that breaks down the creosote over time. They are the most powerful when used in combination. Use the ACS Powder for the first 2 weeks to break down the really heavy duty creosote. Then use the regular ACS liquid spray every time you have a fire. Give it 5-6 sprays each fire to reduce creosote buildup and keep your chimney creosote-free.

Filed Under: Chimney Creosote Problems Tagged With: , , , ,

Chimney Waterproofing – Can Water Damage Really Destroy Your Masonry Chimney?

March 16, 2009 By admin 9 Comments

Here in Cincinnati, I’m sure I don’t speak for myself when I say I have a new respect for hurricanes. We recently experienced hurricane force winds that caused more damage to chimneys than this city has seen in a while. When someone thinks of a hurricane, lots of water comes to mind, and when it comes to chimneys, few things are more detrimental to its life and quality than water damage. Not to mention there are few things more aggravating than the drip, drip, drip of water entering the chimney, resonating through your home and eventually through your very soul… Well, it may not be that annoying but no one wants to have to write a check for a major chimney overhaul due to moisture damage when it is easily preventable.

Water Damage: A $1 Billion Per Year Problem

This damage comes in the form of staining, loss of insulation value, freeze-thaw damage, deterioration, and ultimately, structural failure. In light of this, I’d like to discuss a few systems, products, and techniques to ensure your family is safe, warm, and dry this hurricane or winter season, whichever you are preparing for.

Masonry chimneys are more prone to water damage than the rest of your home because they extend far above the roofline, unprotected from the elements. Waterproofing is a good idea because it protects the mortar joints from moisture entry and helps a repair last longer.

Waterproofers and Sealers

chimneysaver-buynowAs far as waterproofing goes, Chimneysaver© is the product we use out in the field. It’s important to know the difference between waterproofers and sealers. ChimneySaver is not a sealer. Sealers and silicone coatings form a water resistant surface film which traps water vapors. If these vapors cannot escape, they will add to the deterioration of your brick. Your chimney needs to breathe, which is why we use Chimneysaver©. It’s 100% breathable, or vapor permeable, meaning water vapor trapped inside the brick can easily pass through it. This is a non film-forming water repellent that will penetrate and line masonry pores to prevent water from deteriorating the brick.

Mortar Joint Repair

crackmagik-buynowBefore you waterproof, make sure all the mortar joints are in good condition. If there’s any cracks or missing pieces of mortar, you may need to do some tuckpointing. If the cracks aren’t severe, you may be able to apply a brushable product called CrackMagik. Think of it like a brushable caulk that dries semi-clear. This waterproofs the gaps and cracks in the mortar up to 1/8″.

Waterproofing your masonry chimney can preserve your chimney and prevent water damage and deterioration. A good water repellent normally only needs to be applied once every 5-10 years and will save you the headache of having to replace or rebuild your chimney.

Filed Under: Masonry Chimney Waterproofing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,