Chimney Liners Make Older, Masonry Fireplaces Safer
FAIRFIELD, Iowa (February 24, 2005) – Older masonry fireplaces come with some unwanted baggage. They may appear fine on the exterior, but may suffer from cracks, deterioration or broken clay liners. This can translate into smoke, carbon monoxide and even fire seeping back into a home - often with unfortunate side effects.
According to Sooty Bob, a.k.a. Bob Daniels, founder of HomeSaver, an easy solution is to have a chimney sweep add a metal chimney liner to a masonry chimney.
Bob and his staff at HomeSaver are experts in making chimneys safer through the production and sale of chimney liners, chimney caps and fireplace dampers, and are public education advocates for chimney safety.
"Chimney liners serve to ensure smoke and hot gases make it to the outside of a house," noted Sooty Bob. "Not all chimneys require this solution, but many would benefit from this addition."
The cost of this service can range from $1,500 to $6,000, depending on the product and the complexity of the installation. The best way to know if a chimney requires this service is to hire a chimney sweep that can provide a video scan of the chimney's internal workings.
According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), an educational chimney safety organization located in Indianapolis, Ind., the installation of a flue liner has been recommended since the early part of the century, but currently few building codes mandate chimney liners for masonry chimneys. Additionally, the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) indicates that clay flue tiles within a chimney should be replaced if they are cracked, broken, or missing.
Most older masonry chimneys were built with clay tile liners that can deteriorate over time or can be damaged by weather, undetected chimney fires or foundation settling. This deterioration or damage can result in missing or cracked clay tiles that leave the chimney compromised. The lack of flue tiles can also provide opportunity for the gases from a fire to penetrate the brick and mortar, reducing the usable life of the chimney and creating gaps in the mortar joints.
When these conditions exist, potential problems can occur. For example, carbon monoxide can seep back into the living structure of a home. Or, sparks from a fire can escape through the crack in a chimney wall into a flammable portion of the home's construction. Even prolonged exposure to the heat from flue gases leaking through cracked or broken clay liners can pose a significant threat to combustible material near the chimney. Additionally, a chimney fire can move through a breech in an unlined chimney, and spread throughout the home.
"New fireplaces, even masonry ones, are now being built with metal chimneys," added Sooty Bob. "The addition of a metal chimney liner into a masonry chimney brings an older chimney up to today's safety standards."
For more information about HomeSaver chimney liners, or for a list of chimney sweeps that offer chimney lining as a service, visit www.homesaver.com or call 1-866-HOMESAVER (866-466-3728).
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