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Chimneys, In the Summer?
Why think of chimneys during the
summer? Because chimney companies are looking for work and prices are
lowest. Not a bad reason to focus on your chimney!
Chimney fires are very dangerous because of the concentrated heat and
often lead to major damage or total destruction of the dwelling. Most of
the chimney is concealed or inaccessible, yet they play a critical role
in the overall safety of a wood-burning system.
Chimneys have two functions. They create a draft to bring air (oxygen)
to the fire to support combustion, and they carry hot gases safely away.
To accomplish this, two types of chimneys are commonly used.
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Factory-built metal:
These chimneys have internal insulation and are often double or triple
lined for cooling. They allow greater flexibility in stove placement and
are simple and less expensive to install. Only units listed by a
national testing service should be used.
• Masonry: These chimneys have the benefit of increasing the net
efficiency of a heating system up to 15% due to leaking heat into the
house. They are also more attractive and tend to be more durable (and
more costly) than the metal alternative. Most people use an existing
chimney for their wood-burning pleasure and in some cases for heating.
Because you cannot be sure of an old chimney’s safety, an expert, such
as a local mason or chimney sweep, should inspect it before it is used.
There are also things that the residents can check personally:
• Tile liner. Tile liners, not present in all older chimneys,
increase overall safety. You can tell is there is a liner by looking up
and down the flue with a flashlight; the flue should look smooth and
uniform. Scrape the surface and you will find that the liner material
(if present) is much
harder than brick.
• Flue tiles. If there are cracks in the flue tiles, hot gasses and
creosote can escape the flue prematurely and start a fire. If you build
a smoky fire and cover the flue and smoke escapes through any cracks or
holes, they must be repaired before the chimney is used.
•
Bricks. If there is loose mortar between the bricks of the fireplace or
the firebox that crumble easily, it will have to be re-pointed before
the chimney is used. This is a
•
Chimney clearance. The hearth must extend at least 16 inches away from
the front edge of the fire box and there should be no combustibles
within 16 inches of the firebox.
• Rain Cap and Animal Guard. During my first week of home inspecting, I
opened the glass doors of the fireplace and then opened the damper door,
only to have two dead black birds fall into the fireplace. Keeping
outside moisture from deteriorating a chimney and preventing entry by
squirrels, raccoons and bats is recommended.
• Chimney height. A chimney should extend at least three feet above flat
roofs. On pitched roofs, a 2-3-10 rule exists. The chimney should be two
feet higher than any point within ten feet and should be at least three
feet higher than the point the chimney exits the roof. It is relatively
simple for a mason to extend a chimney that does not meet these
standards. Keeping a chimney safe is an ongoing concern. Even if a
chimney is safe today, it does not mean that it will be safe next year.
Frequent inspections are necessary to ensure adequate safety.
Alban is
proud to offer FREE Continuing Education Courses in Real Estate Offices!
Call Tina to schedule one of our educational seminars, for additional
information, or to schedule our services at 800-822-7200 or
301-662-6565. |
From the Desk of
Arthur Lazerow
AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY TO THE RESCUE
As a concept, the alliance between Alban
Home Inspection Service, Inc. had no
negatives. Brinks offers to all Alban home
inspection clients a free installed home
alarm system if the new home owner
desires to have an alarm system, in
exchange for an agreement for three years
of electronic monitoring of the system at a
competitive market rate. In addition, Brinks
provides each Alban client with a 90-day
limited structural and mechanical warranty.
Alban has offered this alliance to our
clients for about a year. A number of
clients have obtained the alarm system,
since that was their plan whether Brinks
was available or not.
The warranty was improved during the
year when American Home Warranty
(AHW) eliminated any deductible from
their policy.
Here is how the warranty is so useful.
This is an instance that the AHW
warranty came to the rescue. As a closing
present, our client’s Realtor purchased a
full one-year warranty from one of the
premier warranty companies. This was in
addition to the AHW 90-day warranty. A
week or so after settlement, the furnace
motor failed, with a replacement cost of
about $400. When the homeowners called
the one-year warranty carrier, they were
told that since the defect occurred during
the first month of ownership, this is
considered a pre-existing condition and
there would be no reimbursement.
Now comes AHW! Because the defect
occurred during the 90-day warrant period,
there was no issue with “pre-existing
condition” and AHW reimbursed our
client the $400 for the new motor installed.
Consider the American Home Warranty
program as gap insurance. It works, which
is another reason to recommend Alban
Home Inspection to homebuyers, to friends
and to your relatives.
Random Chimney Facts
• The roof of the chimney, known as the
chimney crown, erodes over time due to the
winter-time freeze/thaw cycle. If the crown is
not visible from the ground, it is time to have
it inspected.
• Homes with wood burning fireplaces, or any other combustion appliance,
should have a carbon monoxide alarm installed. Two are recommended, one
near the appliance or fireplace and one in the bedroom area.
• Burning hard woods, like oak, will help keep the firebox and chimney
clean longer.
• A fireplace should be inspected every year or two by a chimney sweep.
Have the chimney swept after burning one cord of wood.
• A cord of wood is a double row of wood
stacked four feet high and eight feet long. In
the middle Atlantic states, that is normally
several years worth of fires.
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