Strange Chimney Pictures

of dangerous chimney conditions that I have found over the years

I am still amazed at what I find

here is a link to a You Tube video of a chimney fire which can burn in excess of 2000 degrees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_PJ_TtZ360&feature=related

Here is a Video scan we did showing a large hole in the flue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-7abTYtuuc

Sometimes we need a Mason and Crane to do our job properly

Click to view the video  Slate lifting

This is how we found the chimney behind a wall in my own kitchen, It shows how some one left a piece of galvanized smoke pipe in the chimney and just plastered and painted over it then hung a cabinet over that, an inside the chimney flue video inspection will show problems like this with out opening the wall. This chimney flue has been relined with the Ventinox Liner System.

Here is a shop looking down an oil heating flue, the flue tiles where never cemented “dry stacked” and they fell over, blocking the flue, no telling how long the block oil heating flue was like this if may be sending CO2 back into the home.

Same home other 2 fireplace flue, here is a video of one moving,

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFBksGzDt0w

Hot air goes straight up very well, diagonal ok and down hill not so much, this will never draft and will back up CO2 into the home and that is deadly, Both in the same home

All Smooth Wall SS chimney liners are directional, arrow printed right on the liners pretty much making it idiot proof but in most cases they just make a better idiot. This is the way it should be installed.

Some times we have to get inside of a chimney to repair it properly

Some times what you cant see will can you, this is for an Oil Heating system, had not done a video scan yet, but the Mason found this collapsed flue with in the chimney.

  

 

 

 

Look at what I pulled out of a chimney, this is a SS liner with crimped seams not welded like the Ventinox we use

Here you can see the plastic that is melted on this hot water heater, this is due to “Spillage”, the hot gases are not venting from a hot water heater and “spilling” back into the home this can be deadly,  3″ gas hot water heater pipe has a cross sectional inches of 7 and  7″ x 7″ flue a cross sectional inches of 49 so that is 7 times the amount of air that little hot water heater has to push up the chimney and it can not so it “Spills” out at the draft hood. Proper sizing and relining will correct this issue.

This is a large piece of Creosote, it was in a fireplace “that just had a chimney fire” can you guess why, Creosote should be removed when it is 1/8th inch thick.

Here I found a Wooden Trim Ring for a wood stove, this is not to code, should be metal and have 18″ clearance from the smoke pipe to any combustibles including the wall and the stove is set on a wood base & rug also notic the Asbestos board as a heat shield on the back wall, this is so dangerous “but it’s been like this for over 20 years and I never had a problem” We refused to clean this system as it is NOT safe to use.

Yes you can have some thing living in your chimney these raccoons were removed to an animal rehabber.

Chimney Swifts (are federally protected migratory birds) they nest inside your chimneys and are very Noisy.

Here is a picture taken looking straight up in an oil flue, the customer did not want it cleaned or have the blockage removed and said “its been like this for years and it’s been working fine”…I just have to shake my head.

Here is a base of a chimney that has no thimble and must be relined

Here is a picture showing a better thimble to flue connection

Here is a picture looking up inside a Pre Fab fireplace it is all rusted out and the customer said “I’ve been using it like this for 11 years, why is it all of a sudden not safe to use?”

Here a double wall chimney for a fireplace that is missing the outer wall and is not tall enough to get the smoke out of the fake metal chimney and smoked out the house with this wrong “pop top” damper that was installed by a lesser chinmey sweep.

Here I found a galvanized pipe that passed through a wall (not to code) that was rotted out, so some one just taped the pipe, notice the openings on the bottom

Here you are looking up in a fireplace smoke chamber that has the oil flue run in it and has broken allowing soot and Carbon Monoxide into this area, Very Dangers.

Smoke Tite will fix this after the oil flue is moved to another flue in the chimney.

An unlined chimney, notice the gaps in the cement between the brick.

Here is a picture of a 10″ round, “crimped” type of chimney liner and it came undone, like this it is more of a blockage than a vent and will back up heat and carbon monoxide into the home. We use the welded Ventinox liner system and never have this problem. This liner has not been removed and is still like this, serving 2, 10″ gas boilers…not safe.

A rusted, separated smoke pipe from a heating boiler to the chimney, in this condition it can vent carbon monoxide into the home.

Here the flue tile is not intact and the pipe inserted to far.

This picture shows where some one had installed a natural gas hot water heater into this chimney, notice the bricks in the way, this was never installed correctly and the flue was not opened. The hot water heater was venting carbon monoxide back into the home.

This picture shows the same flue tile open and a clear path for the smoke pipe to be inserted all the way into the flue the way it should be, this chimney also needed to be relined.

Here is another picture showing what I found when I removed a hot water heater smoke pipe, it  was just put into a cinderblock foundation wall venting into the building.

Picture after a chimney fire this creosote was over 3″ thick and had rained sparks out on to the wooden roof.

We found a blockage of broken flue tile this is what was left needing a relining

This shows large piece’s of flue tile missing and large cracks in an oil flue that may be allowing carbon monoxide into the home and collapse and blockage

Here some one had improperly installed a liner in this chimney and never bothered to remove the steam pipe that ran inside the oil flue chimney, the liner just stopped at the base and was never connected to the boiler, making this more of a blockage.

After the improperly installed liner was removed we could cut the steam pipe out of the chimney and then reline it properly and safely (notice the broken piece of flue tile next to the steam pipe).

Here is a picture of Improperly installed liner, notice the pipe was not attached to the liner and just left in the wall, like this it make the hot water heater pipe blocked. and the boiler pipe (removed) is also partly blocked and not connected properly, notice the color of the ceiling, pipe is to close to the ceiling

Here a 6″ round Oil pipe is so sooted up it is now down to 3-4″ round choking off the boiler and causing a very dangerous condition

Here some one built a 2nd story on their home but extended the chimney in Galvanized for an oil unit.

This chimney is falling down look at the bottom held with a clamp

Here is an oil flue that was venting up into the wall also

Here the sheet rock had been removed it shows large cracks in the chimney and where smoke got behind the masonry. So what you don’t see can hurt you.

Another fireplace where smoke was leaking out of the side of the brick

Here we found a 4″ x 10″ pipe just left in the flue?

Here is a blocked oil flue

After blockage removed