- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
We moved into our home one year ago - age of home approx 126 years now! The fireplace is in the living room on the first floor and has an insert..installed before we purchased. We used the fireplace last winter and a few times so far this winter. My question is: Before we moved in, a room on the second floor where the chimney is had a little damage where the wall joined the ceiling over the chimney. The entire room including the chimney area is painted with a rough textured white paint. I am noticing much more effervecsing (sp?) (yellow streaking down the chimney) this year....What can you tell me about this, or where can I ask to find out?
Answer:
It is very possible that a house as old as yours has a unlined chimney - that means no flue tile in the interior of the chimney. If this is the case, flue gases can mix with moisture and soak into the porous masonry and into your interior wall.
Also, masonry itself contains lime and other chemicals that could stain the wall.
You should do a couple things:
1. Have the chimney checked to see if it is lined. If it is not lined and you would like to burn wood or coal, you must line it.
2. Cap the chimney and waterproof the top of the chimney structure to assure that a minimum of moisture enters the masonry.
3. Once you do #1 and #2, you can probably apply some stain killing primer and a couple of coats of paint in the interior to hide the streaks. --
We moved into our home one year ago - age of home approx 126 years now! The fireplace is in the living room on the first floor and has an insert..installed before we purchased. We used the fireplace last winter and a few times so far this winter. My question is: Before we moved in, a room on the second floor where the chimney is had a little damage where the wall joined the ceiling over the chimney. The entire room including the chimney area is painted with a rough textured white paint. I am noticing much more effervecsing (sp?) (yellow streaking down the chimney) this year....What can you tell me about this, or where can I ask to find out?
Answer:
It is very possible that a house as old as yours has a unlined chimney - that means no flue tile in the interior of the chimney. If this is the case, flue gases can mix with moisture and soak into the porous masonry and into your interior wall.
Also, masonry itself contains lime and other chemicals that could stain the wall.
You should do a couple things:
1. Have the chimney checked to see if it is lined. If it is not lined and you would like to burn wood or coal, you must line it.
2. Cap the chimney and waterproof the top of the chimney structure to assure that a minimum of moisture enters the masonry.
3. Once you do #1 and #2, you can probably apply some stain killing primer and a couple of coats of paint in the interior to hide the streaks. --
