Forum Archive: Chimney

In investigating ants, i saw some dirt coming from this sewer-like cap about 3 feet off the ground. Took out my wrench and “unscrewed” it, but it just fell out. The hole is filled with dirt/sand/brick chips.

Previous owner’s contractor did renovations, but i’m perplexed as to why fill this with sand and what is the purpose? Should I clear this out and cement this over? Why would they leave the cap when parging the chimney?

Thanks for your help!

I am looking to purchase one terra cotta chimney tile in the South Slope area. Any address? Thanks!

hello all. I’m sure this has been addressed on this forum, but as it is not searchable, I have to ask again. How does one know when it’s time to have the chimney swept? What are the symptoms?

Thanks in advance!
Jp

A chimney cleaning company (Top Sweep, Inc) called me out of the blue to clean my chimneys. My house was gut renovated a little over a year ago before I purchased it.

Do you think it’s necessary to have a chimney cleaning so soon? We have gas heat, no fireplaces and only one chimney.

Has anyone had dealings with this company? Thx.

We are on the 5th floor of a 20 unit building. The boiler’s chimney goes right in our apartment between our from door hallway and a bedroom. When we walk in the door, there is a very strong odor which seems related to the boiler. Smells like oil/citrus/must? It seems to build up right in that spot. Our landlords have been difficult in helping solve this, as has the management company that runs this building. Can we hire someone to test/sample this odor as proof? We can’t get anything done unless we can get the people in charge to believe that this is a (potentially) serious issue. On a side note, this apt. was majorly renovated 5 years ago but we have discovered many, many “openings” to the interior of the building. There was some shoddy finishing work. We have tried to seal these areas up as best as we can (caulk, etc.) but the chimney area appears to be intact (no visible holes.) So, we can’t really do anything from the interior of the apartment about this. Any advice will be most appreciated! Thanks

Hi all –

We had a cracked chimney liner and had fumes coming in through the chimney on the parlor floor. So we had it relined on Wednesday.

Well, the guys who did it got soot all over the house. And we still have fumes (but not as bad).

We have started to put in a claim with our insurance for the soot. Does anyone have any advice about what to do about the soot, the insurance claim, and why we might still be having fumes and what to do about it? Something about the connection, maybe?

This took 1/3 of all our savings, I think I might faint or go insane. I’m ready for a brand-new condo now, but can no longer afford one.

can someone tell me if it’s code violation to takedown/remove interior masonry of existing/non used chimneys within my attached brick townhouse?
would like to vent new boiler (mod/con) to roof with PVC behind chase wall, remove the brick footprint of the chimney and have a square room. I would re-brick the exposed area to match flush with the existing wall. any code problems with this?
thanks

Two years ago, I noticed a strong smell of gas in my second floor bedroom. The gas company came to investigate a possible leak, and it turned out that my neighbor had turned on an old gas fireplace in his neighboring townhouse for the first time in over a decade, and the exhaust fumes were seeping through the chimney/flue that runs between our two attached houses, and into my bedroom through the wall, mainly around some electrical sockets. The gas company sealed his fireplace on the spot as a dangerous health hazard to my family and forbade him from using it. The neighbor, who can be a pretty difficult guy, claims that prior owners of my house (with whom he apparently had some legal issues) must have dislodged several bricks that damaged his flue when they were upgrading my home’s electrics the year before I bought it. He therefore wants me to rip open my bedroom wall, replace electrical sockets and patch up alleged holes in the brick chimney behind the drywall so he can use his fireplace. He has furnished no evidence to substantiate his claim that the prior owner of my house somehow knocked a hole in his flue. When I ask him whether he has ever had his chimney properly lined, he gets angry, saying only that he is an architect and he knows what he is talking about. He has yet to give me a yes or no answer as to whether he has a properly lined chimney – he simply gets angry when I ask the question, and accuses me of obstructionism by not agreeing to rip open my bedroom wall to take a look. I hardly want to block my neighbor from being able to use his fireplace, but I am certainly not willing to have toxic fumes come into my bedroom or my kids’ bedrooms. I don’t want to rip open my walls — certainly not at my expense — without receiving any grounds to suspect that this might solve the problem. The neighbor fought with me for a year, stewed silently for another, and now has started up again. He is a retired architect who spends a lot of time digging around the DoB and through his wife, is threatening to start filing violations on my property (no clue what) to force me to rip open the walls. I don’t want World War III with my neighbor, and am at a loss for the best way to handle this. Suggestions welcome. I have thought of a) finding a neutral chimney specialist (not someone of his choosing) to come and check out the situation to give an unbiased opinion as to what will make his chimney harmless; b) if there is indeed a problem that can be accessed only from my side, I am not averse to to allowing some work from my bedroom, at his expense, but I am not comfortable about liability issues about having someone else’s workers in my space. Any ideas?

Our chimney is in bad condition, and we’re trying to decide whether to repair or remove it. Essentially the interior was damaged by rain since there was no chimney cap until very recently. We recently discovered that the base has bricks missing and is crumbling in certain places. Also is anyone familiar with cast in place chimney liners? Are these superior to steel liners. Also any recommendations are appreciated. I see that Andre of A&A Chimney has been recommended