well, to be honest, it’s my grandma’s flue liner. I’m no mason, and I don’t pretend to be…but my grandma has water coming into her fireplace from above, and I got up on the roof to take a look. seems the bottom edge of the top most section of flue is broken away.
By the way, the cap is also cracked – a chimney repair guy came to take a look and told her that it didn’t need to be repaired. I’m thinking…”what the?” It’s a low slope one story roof, so I know he wasn’t thinking the job was too much hassle – so I don’t know what to think about whether it needs to be fixed…
Can this hole be causing an occasional leak? It’s not every time it rains, but she can’t figure out what conditions (wind direction, force of rain, etc) is creating the need for a baking pan in the firebox to catch the drips.
If need by, how can this flue liner be fixed? patch the hole? remove/replace top section of liner?
Justin Fink – FHB Editorial
“Everybody wants to know what I’m on…
What I’m on? I’m on my bike, busting my
# 6 hours a day…
…What are you on?”
– Lance Armstrong
Replies
Looks to me like those flue liners were not installed as the stack was being built, but were retrofitted in sometime later, due to the fact that there is no mortar between sections. There are some fancy poured in place systems that can be used sometimes but the reality is that the stack would have to be torn down and rebuilt to set those flue liner sections correctly.
What is this flue for? Is it in use? If so, does it meet the requirements of the attached appliance/fireplace?
If you just want to stop rain, put a flue cap on. Those stainless steel things.
I have a similar situation but my hot water tank is the only appliance run through it. I had a wood burner but have eliminated it. I think I can just snake a flue liner down it after I bring the masonry chimney down below the roof line and use triple wall SS through a new wooden chase. The chase only needs to be three feet tall.
I suppose I should have mentioend the use of the flue, sorry.
It's a two flue brick chimney stack with terra cotta liners and concrete cap. One pipe is for the furnace (hot H2O as well?), other is fireplace. I believe that the shots I took here are from the furnace pipe...but the leak is in the fireplace opening (the leak we know about, anyway).
I suppose it's safe to assume that if one side looks this bad - aka: without any mortar - then the other side might have the same symptoms. Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
"Everybody wants to know what I’m on...
What I'm on? I’m on my bike, busting my ### 6 hours a day…
...What are you on?"
- Lance Armstrong
It is possible that the two sides are totally different. That is, one side could have been modified, say for the furnace and already have a liner of some type.Personally, if the problem is the fireplace side, I would look at installing a gas burning insert with a stainless steel liner and a flue cap.But that presumes a lot of things.However, I don't think burning wood in that flue is a very good idea, long term. Too much area for creosote to build up in un-cleanable areas.
Justin - By the looks of the rest of the flu liners' joints it would be best to take it apart and do it right as you can see most of the liners themselves are offset, with the mortar missing or non existent " AS IN NEVER WAS THERE" plus the one liner that you were talking about with the chip out of it .
I would carefully demo a hole while trying to save the brick,the width and highth of a liner approx.two courses of brick bigger than the liner itself , down about three ft. from the top of the chimney big enough to remove a whole liner while slightly jacking and shoring up the liner that is resting on the one you are removeing, when you remove the liner and still have the top one shored up in place ,what I do next is rig up a nylon choker sling on the out side of the chimney above the hole and attach a well wheel , rope and hook to the bottom of the suspended liner ,tighten it off , then remove the shoring and then lower the top liner down and remove it, then reach down into the flu snag the bottom liner and hoist it out and off the chimney.
Since flu liners are 24" to 26"long you only have to open up the chimney every 6' or so till you get them out to where the liners look like they will pass your inspection, when you go to install the liners back just go back with them in the opposite order, just butter the flu joints with refractory cement -which is stickier than regular fire clay-set the botton liner, then shore up the top liner in the hole, then set the middle liner with the top allready buttered for when you lower the very top liner in place.
I would shurley fix the cap while I was at it' as that will let in more water than seems possable ,with the installation of a metal chimney cap or terra cotta chimney pot to top off all the repairs to completion, with that done all you have ahead of you is to lay up the demoed and hopefully reclaimed brick.
Edited 10/16/2007 8:45 pm ET by dedubya
Thanks for the detailed infor dedubya. I sure hope it doesn't come to this level of repair...at least not for a non-mason like myself.Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
"Everybody wants to know what I’m on...
What I'm on? I’m on my bike, busting my ### 6 hours a day…
...What are you on?"
- Lance Armstrong
Maybe I didn't completely understand the post...(Maybe?!?! HA! I've no clue!!!!)But I have to say that, from the sound of it, anyone who can do the job just described was already doing similar stuff and this represents some differences of a technical nature.The job described does sound like it would make a great article in the magazine.....
Rich Beckman
<< The job described does sound like it would make a great article in the magazine..... >>
you read my mind RichJustin Fink - FHB Editorial
"Everybody wants to know what I’m on...
What I'm on? I’m on my bike, busting my ### 6 hours a day…
...What are you on?"
- Lance Armstrong
I would like to start by saying this may not be the right way!
My "Yankee" Uncle welded a pipe thread coupling to the crank section of a scissor jack, and buttered mortar on each section of the flue liner. Lowered each piece with long sections of 3/4" pipe into a open flue in an open chimney and back filled around the liner as he installed each piece.
This was done when I was 16 years old, I am now 50...... no problems!
Back in my previous incarnation as a chimney sweep, I made a tool very similar to what you're describing ( I like yours better) to install flue tiles into unlined chimneys. I also had a tool which was basically a 4"x4" piece of 1/2" steel with a nut welded to the face slightly off center. The nut would receive a chimney sweeping rod which would be chucked into a 1/2" drill. Turned it on inside of damaged flue tiles and it flopped around and "removed" them in a heart beat. http://grantlogan.net/
I was born in a crossfire hurricane..........shooby dooby do
My Uncle, was pretty crafty in all things. He actually did a very nice job with the chimney. It had enough open space to lower the flue liner with a couple of inches of space on all sides. As each liner was set very carefully, he would use a 1" or 1 1/2" piece of that black plastic pipe that's used for water line, with a funnel on top to fill in around each liner. Mixed a lot of gout mix (my job... carry each bucket up on the roof). As we got higher up in the chimney, he would simply cut the plastic pipe to a workable length. He also used a 2' piece of chain on a long rope to clean the extra mortar off of the inside of the liner.
Strange how stuff like that sticks in your mind!
I like your idea about the offset banger ...chimney router