Plugged chimney cap, 3 1/2" of snow on the roof

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adrianrog

Member
Dec 9, 2010
28
NW Georgia
I just opened the insert to load it and the smoke from the new wood started to roll into the house. I closed the door and it went up the chimney. Opened the door slowly and got smoke into the house. Waited a few minutes and had the same results. I figured it had to be the wire mesh in the chimney cap plugged up and needed to be cleaned. Unfortunatley, I'm in GA and we're having some crazy weather. 3 1/2 inches of snow has fallen in the last 2 hours. I convinced my lovely wife to get dressed so that she could come outside and watch me. I figured if I slid off the roof she could either laugh at me or dial 911 if I impaled myself on a crape myrtle. Anyway I got out my extension ladder climbed up to the least steeply sloped portion of our roof. From there, I climbed to the peak and walked the peak to the adjoining more steep peek. I started walking it out to the chimney, but a slip sent me to my knees and I decided it was safer to get the rest of the way to the chimney on my knees. I made it to the chimney and sure enough, the wire mesh was coated and mostly plugged up. I pulled the cap off and cleaned it by running a screwdiver aound the wire, flexing it and breaking away the creosote. I took a quick peak down the chimney liner and it looked pretty good, so I put the cap back on. I crawled back across both peaks and then came the problem. Climbing up didn't seem too daunting, but sliding back down the roof to the ladder looked pretty scary. I started down and slid a little. I realized that if I got going that I'd never stop so I decided to just say the side of my leg down and push all the snow down ahead of me. I was pretty easily able to slide down like that and down the ladder was no problem. Back inside, I opened the insert door and no smoke. That was an easy fix, but I should have been more dilligent about checking it before the snow.

-Adrian
 
Thats about one of the dumbest stunts Ive read on this forum. Glad your not a quadriplegic.
 
"Here, hold my beer!" :lol:
 
I use a chicken ladder when going up on the roof.Check with your local ladder supplier for one and maybe clean that cap before the season.If not use the chicken ladder.
 
What chimney system do you have? I removed the mesh from my Simpson liner - the mesh wasn't more than 3/8th, and would constantly get clogged. Someone else posted that any mesh under an inch can pose a problem...
 
Adrian, I'm betting you'll keep watch of that cap from now on so you won't have to do that during a snow storm again! I can just picture you going across that roof and then sliding down to the ladder. No doubt about it, you should have had your wife taking a video! "Don't do this at home folks!"

If it was to ever happen again, I'd highly suggest a rope tied on the opposite side of the house so you have something to grab hold of, especially for getting back down to the ladder.
 
A ladder and a ridge hook are very good things to have! It's the only way I'll climb on a snowy roof, or any metal roof for that matter.

Regarding the cap.. I have known... someone... who used a pellet gun to knock the soot off a spark arrestor during a snowstorm. It was his own chimney. Just don't miss.
 
It really wasn't too bad. I live in a 1970's ranch and the portion I was climbing wasn't too steep or very far off the gound if I fell. The holes are probably slighly smaller than the holes in hardware cloth, maybe 1/2". I don't remember what kind of chimney system I put in, but duraliner sounds familiar. Maybe or maybe not though.

I did clean it in the summer, at the same time that I swept the chimney. It's been a colder than usual winter and we've burned a bunch more wood than we normall would have by this time.

We currently have 4 15/16" of snow on the gound. I'm sure it was deeper before the rain, now it's raining and a 3/8" sheet of ice on top of the snow.
 
adrianrog said:
It really wasn't too bad. I live in a 1970's ranch and the portion I was climbing wasn't too steep or very far off the gound if I fell. The holes are probably slighly smaller than the holes in hardware cloth, maybe 1/2". I don't remember what kind of chimney system I put in, but duraliner sounds familiar. Maybe or maybe not though.

We currently have 4 15/16" of snow on the gound. I'm sure it was deeper before the rain, now it's raining and a 3/8" sheet of ice on top of the snow.

So in ATL you measure snow to the 16th?? Up here it is by the inch...
 
While on the roof was the pipe also checked? A clogged cap can be an indicator or other issues such as burning too cool, or so-so wood. If the pipe is also caked, it's time to clean.
 
adrianrog said:
It really wasn't too bad. I live in a 1970's ranch and the portion I was climbing wasn't too steep or very far off the gound if I fell. The holes are probably slighly smaller than the holes in hardware cloth, maybe 1/2". I don't remember what kind of chimney system I put in, but duraliner sounds familiar. Maybe or maybe not though.


Ding, ding, ding - me too - next time you're up there, pull that mesh out, rinse hands, stop worrying.
 
Both, but mostly to stop live embers.
 
BeGreen said:
Both, but mostly to stop live embers.

Mine would never stop any embers less than an inch in diameter. My chimney sweep removed a couple of smoked birds last September. Thought I heard something the year before, but it stopped soon after we lit the first fire.
 
Yeah no joke. More or less had the same happen to me 2 months ago on a roof I had just sheathed and ended up fracturing a vertabrae when I hit the ground.

Hanko said:
Thats about one of the dumbest stunts Ive read on this forum. Glad your not a quadriplegic.
 
Sorry, a plugged screen is not an indicator of bad burning practices or wet wood. It is an indicator of the presence of a screen. Most often, the clogged cap is sitting on top of a relatively clean chimney showing us that the clogging is NOT caused by bad burning practices.

You can expect that screen to clog several times per winter if you are burning 24/7. Some folks are lucky enough to never clog them and some will clog even more often. Some folks remove their screen to eliminate this problem.
 
After you risked your life to get up there can you tell my why you didn't just leave the cap off! If your burning 24/7 you don't need a cap anyway.
 
Same thing happened to mine minus the snow on the roof. Chimney looked plenty good but screen clogged up. It tapped right off with a screwdriver I used to get the cap off. I am thinking I will catch a good warm day and go back up there and remove it. Maybe build a good roaing fire at night and watch the stack to see what comes out without the screen.
 
Our damn spark arrestor does the same thing. I've been tempted to just take it out of there. Of course the Englander instructions say to have one, but I figure it's going to cause more problems than it's going to help. Luckily all I have to do is climb to the top of the ladder and brush the screen out with a broom because the chimney is close to the edge of the roof. But it's still annoying to have to wonder if it's clogged or not.
 
For the last few weeks I haven't been able to make a fire in one of my wood stoves. Smoke would fill the firebox and if I left the door open just a tiny bit, my house was filled with smoke. I thought the problem was the venting and I couldn't afford to call my dealer. So I have been using my other stove to heat my house but while one side was warm the oher was cold. Today I had the chimney cleaned and the problem was with the chimney cap. It was clogged with soot. I never had problems until I had it installed a few years ago so I had the guy today remove the cap. I made a fire and it was so easy-started right up and no smoke! Now my whole house is warm.
 
Cut some of the mesh out so it can't clog...
 
I just removed the mesh from mine last night. That was the second time this year it had clogged. It may be my wood is on the verge of too wet at around 20-23%. No worries for next year as I have 2-3 years worth stacked.
 
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