Why Is My Chimney So Smelly?
Every summer, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service receives many calls from our customers about stinky chimneys. A few things can cause chimney odors, and the heat and humidity of summer can intensify these unpleasant smells that can enter your home through the chimney and fireplace system. Our chimney technicians have years of experience of dealing with stinky chimneys and fireplaces and know how to get rid of any bad odors from your hearth. We would like to tell you more about what causes chimneys that are smelly enough to affect the living spaces of your home.
Negative Air Pressure
The reason why unpleasant odors enter your home through the fireplace and chimney has to do with negative air pressure. Sealing up a home too tightly when you weatherize for the summer to keep the cold air inside your home causes smoky air to enter your home from the fireplace instead of exiting out the chimney. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can solve negative air pressure problems by installing a top-sealing damper to promote proper air circulation.
Creosote
According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), creosote forms naturally as a result of the combustion and condensation processes that occur when burning wood. Consisting of amorphous carbon, creosote sticks to the interior walls of your chimney and can accumulate into large deposits. Not only are these deposits extremely flammable, but they also emit a sour odor that is made worse by heat and humidity. The CSIA-certified chimney sweeps from Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can remove all of the creosote deposits that have built up inside your chimney during a professional chimney sweep, which will alleviate odor problems.
Other Causes
Water leaking into your chimney from rain and melted snow can create musty odors. To keep moisture from entering your chimney and causing unpleasant smells, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can install a chimney cap on the top of your chimney. A chimney cap can also prevent another cause of unpleasant chimney odors: birds and animals. Without a chimney cap, birds and animals can easily get inside your chimney to nest. Debris from their nesting materials can smell badly, and even worse, a bird or animal could become trapped inside your chimney and possibly die. This worst case scenario can result in extremely unpleasant odors within your chimney that could affect the living spaces in your home.
If you have a smelly chimney, contact Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to allow us to improve the situation by dealing with what is causing the unpleasant odors.