Sealing chimney help?
April 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Kitchen Ideas
I’m in the middle of home renovations. I opened up a wall in between the kitchen and living room and opened up the chimney. It looks great; I love the look of exposed brick. The only problem is watery-soot is leaking through the bricks. There doesn’t appear to be a leak in the roof. It looks like condensation is building up in the chimney and when the furnace turns on (vented through the chimney) moister is forced through the bricks. It looks like I need to seal the chimney and paint it.
What product should I use to seal? Are there any other ideas to fix this problem?
Thanks for your help!!!!!
I was worried about CO and purchased a detector. Everthing appears to be fine. Nothing is detected.
Any other ideas?
You need to replace the chimney liner . . . ASAP because you are allowing CO to enter your living space – a Deadly situation.
Be sure to install at least 1 CO detector alarm outside your bedrooms TODAY – too important in your current situation!
I too love a brick fire place because it just enhances the character of a room.
I would do the following:
Reroute the furnace vent out to the roof!
Repair all damaged mortar using heatproof mortar. It sounds like you have damaged morter between the bricks. If you have cracked bricks you should replace them.
Install a chimney liner by putting stainless steel between your chimney flue and the defects in your chimney walls, not only will this increase the value of your property it will give assurance that the fireplace is protected and safe.
I also install gas fireplace logs because it creates a realistic fire, I prefer the type that looks like seasoned split wood because it looks so authentic.
This will take a lot of work, but it sounds like you will enjoy the outcome.
I have found that the most common reason for a leaking chimney is due to the flashing, the flashing is normally sheet metal and can rust over time and even a little pinhole can display a lot of moisture so this would be the first place to check.
If this is the problem you will find that the liner may not be needed and save a few buck in the process.