Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

What Causes Smokey Fireplaces?

Most of us have fireplaces because we love the ambiance they create in our homes. If there were ever anything to spoil that moment, it would be smoke coming back into the home. There are varieties of reasons you may experience smoke coming back into the home when the fireplace is in use. Here are some of the major causes:

• Smoke During Storms and Windy Days – in many cases, this is merely because there is no chimney cap in place or the chimney cap is damaged. The wind is not blocked and is now able to come back down into the flue and does not allow proper ventilation.
• Smokes Only When Starting a Fire – there are quite a few things that can cause this to happen. A window may be cracked, appliances may be running (such as the dryer or an exhaust fan that will draw air down the flue using its own exhaust), or it may just be the cold air outside that forces the warm air back down inside the chimney.
• Closed Damper – surprisingly, this happens far more often that you would think. Either people become confused which position is open and which is closed or they simply forget to open the damper altogether.
• Dirty Chimney – did you have the chimney inspected before the season started? If not, there may be debris of possibly a bird’s nest or dead animal stuck in the chimney.
• Additions to the Home – this can happen quite frequently, especially for DIYers. They add an addition to the home over the summer and never account for the draft of the fireplace. The added construction may cause an obstruction or the current flue is simply not capable of handling the new load.

In addition to the causes mentioned above, sometimes smoke is caused by factors outside of the home. For instance, you may have a tree in the yard that has gradually grown over the top of the chimney. This could prevent airflow and may need to be trimmed. If you are truly baffled, call in a professional to evaluate the situation and offer their expertise to solve the problem.

Do a Chimney Inspection After a Heavy Storm

Buying a home with a working fireplace is the dream of many homeowners. However, what most of them do not realize is that there is quite a bit that can go wrong with a chimney. This is not to deter anyone from buying a home with a chimney, just to warn them that chimney’s do require regular maintenance and inspections, especially after a heavy storm.

Chimneys look simple, but they have a rather complex makeup. Any one of the working parts being damaged could create a backflow of smoke into the home or possibly lead to structural integrity problems. As most know, a chimney should be inspected every year before the winter season hits, but it should also be checked after a major storm to ensure it is still in good working condition.

When heavy storms hit, high winds usually mean the structure of the chimney can be damaged. These storms also mean debris could fly around and get into the chimney. This could cause some type of blockage, preventing the flue from performing its natural duty as an airway for the smoke to escape.

If a chimney cap was in place, it may have been ripped off during the storm. If this happens, local wildlife may have chosen to use your chimney as a safe haven while the storm passed. Another danger is excessive water getting into the chimney, causing cracks and possibly mold and mildew buildup. This will be obvious with a bad smell emanating from the fireplace area.

Most homeowners simply assume that if the chimney looks okay at first glance, it probably weathered the storm okay. Unfortunately, many of them only realize the damage caused by the storm when they try to start a fire and end up with a room full of smoke. If your home is in an area where recent storms have caused damage, take the safe route and schedule a professional chimney inspection before using the chimney again.

A Pre-Fire Lighting Checklist: Get it Right Before You Ignite!

Following a simple checklist will ensure that the first use of your fireplace this season does not ignite more than you intend:

• Have your chimney professionally inspected.
• Open the glass doors of your fireplace 30 minutes ahead of time.
• Make sure your damper is open.
• Clear the area around the fireplace of newspapers and other combustible materials.
• Check the draft of your chimney with a match.

The first of these is obviously the most important, as it means assurance from a professional that your chimney is clean and in good working order. Until it is, a fire simply cannot be started, as it threatens not only further damage but your health and safety as well. Once your chimney has been certified to be good to go, you can begin your pre-fire check.

Opening the glass doors of your fireplace for thirty minutes before lighting the fire will give it a chance to reach room temperature. Cold air is heavier than hot air, so it sinks down the chimney from outside and gets trapped behind the doors. Opening them will allow the warmer air from the house into the fireplace and begin the movement of air up the chimney.

At one time or another, most homeowners and even apartment dwellers have watched their living room fill with smoke. In all likelihood, this is because they failed to check the damper before starting the fire and the smoke had no access to the chimney. Unless your damper has been permanently fixed in an open position, it should be checked every time you light a fire.

The area around the fireplace is not a good place to stack magazines and newspapers waiting to be clipped or recycled. Embers flying out of wood burning fireplaces seem to seek these out, and they provide fast igniting fuel. Unless a house fire is on your bucket list, paper, cardboard, and highly flammable materials should be stored elsewhere, preferably out of the house.

Finally, you should check the draft of your chimney before starting the fire. Light a match and hold it beneath the flue, watching to see in which direction the smoke travels. If it is coming down and back towards you, something may be obstructing the chimney, with small animals not timing their nest-building to avoid inspections. If the chimney is clear, the draft may just need a little help from a fire starting brick.

Chimney Spalling and What Can Be Done

Spalling is the crumbling of bricks that occurs when moisture has penetrated them, which in turn has frozen. When the water absorbed by the chimney freezes, it expands, pushing the brick face outward and off. Not only unsightly but ultimately the downfall, quite literally, of the chimney itself, spalling cannot be ignored.

First, the damaged brick will need to be removed and replaced by a professional trained to do the job correctly. Crumbling mortar will also have to be addressed and removed before fresh mortar is applied. Finally, the cause of the problem will have to be identified and corrected so that it does not recur.

In all likelihood, the culprit will be either the chimney chase cover or the chimney cap. When these are cracked or rusted, they allow water to penetrate the chimney and chase, and a variety of problems result. The one signaled most by chimney spalling is the expansion of the brick when the moisture in it freezes.

Generally used by builders because they are less expensive, soft bricks are much more susceptible to penetration by moisture. Another added expense that builders tend to avoid is a chimney crown, with an overhang designed to carry water away from the chimney. Without it, water can enter the chimney chase, and even with it, routine inspections need to confirm that no cracks have appeared in the crown.

Once moisture is allowed to enter the chimney chase and flue, serious damage to the chimney begins to unfold. It does not help that flues can also be compromised by the steady flow of corrosive gases to which they are exposed. When cracks occur, more moisture is admitted, and when that moisture freezes and thaws, the bricks expand and spalling begins. Chimney spalling is a sign of serious water damage and needs to be corrected by a trained professional as soon as possible.