Chimney Cleaning, Lose Mortar and Crack Fix Before Fireplace Installation

[tathspts]

I was checking the installation manual of the wood insert I purchased and it is mentioned that I need to take care of chimney cleaning, lose mortar and fix any crack before I install the insert.

I wanted to know how important are these? Right now I have a masonry fireplace, from what I understood, there will be a nee lined that will get installed which will take the smoke out. So I wonder cleaning the chimney is necessary, since new liner will act as a chimney now. Same question goes for any crack in the fireplace bricks, since fire will be inside the stove, why is it necessary to fix the those cracks?

I also have lose mortar, because it has been falling on the damper the whole winter, I can understand it falling on to the block off plate when I install new insert, so fixing that make more sense to me. I wonder how does one take care of lose mortar?

This is my first time ever owning a fireplace, any input would be really appreciated.

 

[bholler]

I was checking the installation manual of the wood insert I purchased and it is mentioned that I need to take care of chimney cleaning, lose mortar and fix any crack before I install the insert.

I wanted to know how important are these? Right now I have a masonry fireplace, from what I understood, there will be a nee lined that will get installed which will take the smoke out. So I wonder cleaning the chimney is necessary, since new liner will act as a chimney now. Same question goes for any crack in the fireplace bricks, since fire will be inside the stove, why is it necessary to fix the those cracks?

I also have lose mortar, because it has been falling on the damper the whole winter, I can understand it falling on to the block off plate when I install new insert, so fixing that make more sense to me. I wonder how does one take care of lose mortar?

This is my first time ever owning a fireplace, any input would be really appreciated.

Cleaning is extremely important. And if it is bad enough it is falling down on the damper there may be structural concerns

 

[tathspts]

please see the attached picture, this is what falling down on the damper, the way I understand, mortar is supposed to be between bricks. But this looks to be something else that's falling.

I looked up in the chimney with a torch and looks like it has terracotta liner but it is not all the way through. Terracotta liner is maybe max 4-6 feet long and just on the top part of the whole chimney. After that, it looks like cement all the way till bottom with a heavy of Creosote deposit. Looks like previous owner never had it cleaned. Damn this old house, everything I try to do in it, is a fight.

From the look of it, it maybe that cement that's is what falling down. What you think?

Can you please suggest what is my best course of action in this scenario?

I really appreciate your input.

Thank you.

Cleaning is extremely important. And if it is bad enough it is falling down on the damper there may be structural concerns

 

[bholler]

please see the attached picture, this is what falling down on the damper, the way I understand, mortar is supposed to be between bricks. But this looks to be something else that's falling.

I looked up in the chimney with a torch and looks like it has terracotta liner but it is not all the way through. Terracotta liner is maybe max 4-6 feet long and just on the top part of the whole chimney. After that, it looks like cement all the way till bottom with a heavy of Creosote deposit. Looks like previous owner never had it cleaned. Damn this old house, everything I try to do in it, is a fight.

From the look of it, it maybe that cement that's is what falling down. What you think?

Can you please suggest what is my best course of action in this scenario?

I really appreciate your input.

Thank you.

That just looks like old parging material. No big deal and the firebox looks fine

 

[tathspts]

Thanks for your reply. I will look into cleaning chimney before installation.

I noticed that terracotta liner looks relatively clean, but that cement is mad dirty and mostly black all around. Maybe previous owner been cleaning only terracotta liner and ignoring the rest of it?

I saw few videos on how to clean chimney and most folks were using metal brush sized their chimney liner and insert it from the top. In my case that means only top 4 to 6 feet of chimney. Will the rest of chimney get cleaned from the bottom up?

Thank you.

That just looks like old parting material. No big deal and the firebox looks fine

 

[bholler]

Thanks for your reply. I will look into cleaning chimney before installation.

I noticed that terracotta liner looks relatively clean, but that cement is mad dirty and mostly black all around. Maybe previous owner been cleaning only terracotta liner and ignoring the rest of it?

I saw few videos on how to clean chimney and most folks were using metal brush sized their chimney liner and insert it from the top. In my case that means only top 4 to 6 feet of chimney. Will the rest of chimney get cleaned from the bottom up?

Thank you.

I would use a rotary cleaner

 

[Smolder]

please see the attached picture, this is what falling down on the damper, the way I understand, mortar is supposed to be between bricks. But this looks to be something else that's falling.

I looked up in the chimney with a torch and looks like it has terracotta liner but it is not all the way through. Terracotta liner is maybe max 4-6 feet long and just on the top part of the whole chimney. After that, it looks like cement all the way till bottom with a heavy of Creosote deposit. Looks like previous owner never had it cleaned. Damn this old house, everything I try to do in it, is a fight.

From the look of it, it maybe that cement that's is what falling down. What you think?

Can you please suggest what is my best course of action in this scenario?

I really appreciate your input.

Thank you.

Looks like old lime mortar. My old house is brick and I fix plenty of it. Clean that chimney so you don’t ignite the old creosote off the new liner, or have to smell it smolder, and be aggressive to knock anything else that is loose down.

 

[maple1]

Insulated liner would be best, if one will fit.

 

[Jackfre]

Codes require the terra-cotta liner to be full length. There are plenty of homes taht the mason just tipped a few brick out to support a few sections of the terra-cotta to make it look right and good at the top. Bholler, what is "parting" material? I don't know the term. I'm not a sweep but have a lot of chimney experience both masonry and factory built. It would seem to me that a detailed structural inspection should be done along with the cleaning prior to installing a new appliance, especially with a new burner. Apparently, as the OP could simply look up the chimney it is a straight shot, but while he has found debris today it has probably been falling apart for a long time.

 

[maple1]

Parging maybe?

 

[bholler]

Codes require the terra-cotta liner to be full length. There are plenty of homes taht the mason just tipped a few brick out to support a few sections of the terra-cotta to make it look right and good at the top. Bholler, what is "parting" material? I don't know the term. I'm not a sweep but have a lot of chimney experience both masonry and factory built. It would seem to me that a detailed structural inspection should be done along with the cleaning prior to installing a new appliance, especially with a new burner. Apparently, as the OP could simply look up the chimney it is a straight shot, but while he has found debris today it has probably been falling apart for a long time.

That was supposed to say parging material. My auto correct apparently didn't like that

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Insulated liner would be best, if one will fit.

I agree with the recommendation for a liner. And I think it should be an insulated liner. But....first get a reputable chimney sweep to clean the chimney. The liner is important because it will include a plate to block off the remainder of the chimney around the liner and that will seal off a big heat leak which is what your old chimney is. The same plate should be sealed at the top with cement. You should do this and pay to do it or have it done correctly. The chimney sweep might also take care of the liner after sweeping. Your new insert and your house will both work best if you avoid cutting corners.

 

[tathspts]

I will ask the guy who will install the insert if can do the cleaning as well. I wonder how much does it cost to have a chimney cleaned?

 

[bholler]

I will ask the guy who will install the insert if can do the cleaning as well. I wonder how much does it cost to have a chimney cleaned?

It varies greatly by area. But if he is a reputable installer the cleaning should be figured into the install price already because it is a nessecary part of an install

 

[tathspts]

Update on this, the installer who came to install the fireplace did cleaning but it was limited to terracotta liner.

When I asked him why isn't he cleaning the rest of the flue he goes only the terracotta part up there needs to he cleaned and you can't do nothing with the rest of the flue.

He also added that even if you were to hire any other chimney sweep he will only clean the terracotta part and will not clean the rest of flue where terracotta liner is not there. I wonder how correct this information is?

It was really hard to argue with that guy. He was 69 years old and apparently been installing fireplace for past 40 years. I didn't wanna be anal with him as my knowledge is limited to all these threads on this website. In the end I can only believe what is told to me by a professional.

I wanna believe that he did the job right, but when I read these threads I feel he didn't do it right.

Please help me out here.

I watched few videos today about how to avoid creosote build up and saw few videos where they showed some creosote build up. After seeing that I came to realize that what I saw up the chimney was not really creosote, chimney was just black and I thought if it is black that means it is creosote. I feel silly now.

It varies greatly by area. But if he is a reputable installer the cleaning should be figured into the install price already because it is a nessecary part of an install

 

[bholler]

Update on this, the installer who came to install the fireplace did cleaning but it was limited to terracotta liner.

When I asked him why isn't he cleaning the rest of the flue he goes only the terracotta part up there needs to he cleaned and you can't do nothing with the rest of the flue.

He also added that even if you were to hire any other chimney sweep he will only clean the terracotta part and will not clean the rest of flue where terracotta liner is not there. I wonder how correct this information is?

It was really hard to argue with that guy. He was 69 years old and apparently been installing fireplace for past 40 years. I didn't wanna be anal with him as my knowledge is limited to all these threads on this website. In the end I can only believe what is told to me by a professional.

I wanna believe that he did the job right, but when I read these threads I feel he didn't do it right.

Please help me out here.

I watched few videos today about how to avoid creosote build up and saw few videos where they showed some creosote build up. After seeing that I came to realize that what I saw up the chimney was not really creosote, chimney was just black and I thought if it is black that means it is creosote. I feel silly now.

He didn't do it right. The entire chimney system needed to be thoroughly cleaned first. Make him do that to when he comes to install it the right direction and insulate it. Doing something wrong for 40 years doesn't make it any less wrong.

 

[tathspts]

I will ask him again to do the cleaning. I wonder if he still doesn't do it, will it be ok if I use this tool and insert it from bottom up on the sides of the liner? there he is a good 1 feet space on each side of the liner for me to go up from. Chimney is about 32 inch wide and get tighter on the top towards terracota liner. What you think? Here is the link for the tool.

Amazon product ASIN B0010H5JXA
I generally like to see good in people, I still wanna believe he didn't clean the chimney because he thought there was no need to.

He didn't do it right. The entire chimney system needed to be thoroughly cleaned first. Make him do that to when he comes to install it the right direction and insulate it. Doing something wrong for 40 years doesn't make it any less wrong.

 

[bholler]

I will ask him again to do the cleaning. I wonder if he still doesn't do it, will it be ok if I use this tool and insert it from bottom up on the sides of the liner? there he is a good 1 feet space on each side of the liner for me to go up from. Chimney is about 32 inch wide and get tighter on the top towards terracota liner. What you think? Here is the link for the tool.

Amazon product ASIN B0010H5JXA
I generally like to see good in people, I still wanna believe he didn't clean the chimney because he thought there was no need to.

I believe he thought there was no need to just as he believes there is no need to insulate. But his beleifs are wrong