Master Chimney Sweepers

The chimney flue is the passageway for toxic gases to escape out of your home. Cracks, holes, or obstructions in a chimney flue can cause dangerous carbon monoxide fumes, or soot, to leak into your home. This is why the National Fire Protection Association recommends that oil and gas furnace flues are inspected yearly to ensure proper draft, venting of soot & fumes, and, to guarantee that there is not an obstruction in the flue.

To understand what is getting inspected in your chimney, you need to understand what is happening in your chimney. For starters, your furnace is exhausted into your chimney. If this passageway becomes obstructed with debris, carbon monoxide and soot will be exhausted into your home, which creates a very dangerous situation for you and your family. The debris that accumulates in your chimney is from the ongoing breakdown and decay of the inside passageway from your furnace chimney. This passageway is constructed of terracotta tiles that form a column to exhaust the gases. Over time, the exhaust, which is laced with sulfur and water, attacks the skin of these terracotta tiles, and this begins an ongoing shedding process. The shedding debris then begins to accumulate at the base of the chimney or in the turns of the chimney column. This shedding and accumulation process requires yearly monitoring by a chimney technician. Failure to do so puts your furnace chimney, and your home, at risk of a carbon monoxide blockage. Also, as your chimney ages, its 5/8” thick liner can become so decayed that partial or full sections of tile can collapse and cause obstructions and holes or cracks in the exhaust column. This allows gases to leak into your home’s living quarters. At this point, you may need to have the liner replaced with stainless steel. Your chimney technician monitors this aging process, protecting your chimney, your home, and your family. Finally, if your chimney was built prior to 1900, there is no column of tile. This is called an unlined chimney and should be relined with a stainless-steel chimney liner.