Have You Hugged Your Chimney Liner Lately?

[BrotherBart]

Missing Brick to Blame for Fire That Gutted Prince George's County Home

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Two-Counties-Respond-to-Maryland-House-Fire-463174403.html

 

[yooper08]

Yikes.

And this is why I have mine done each year. I know it's easy enough to clean by myself and it would save me money, but if this were to happen and I was cleaning it myself, the insurance company comes along and asks for the inspections...uh oh . My point is get it checked each year regardless of who cleans it. Hopefully, just like insurance, you never need them.

 

[mellow]

Or in this homeowner's case if they had a proper chimney inspection done with cameras:

*Have you hugged your Insulated chimney liner lately

 

[St. Coemgen]

Missing brick?

Wow.

Good advert for why one should consider inserting a liner into an old chimney.

(And of course, inspections and routine maintenance).

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I’d hug mine but it’s too hot.

 

[begreen]

One brick missing? Sounds like no tile liner in the chimney.

It's amazing that some homes are still standing, especially older homes with original fireplaces. Our house had a 1925 unlined chimney. To make matters worse there was lots of wood against the brick. And even worse, over its lifetime take offs had been cut for other stoves. One of these was never bricked in, but instead framed over and coated with plaster! And then there were a few major earthquakes during its lifetime. When we moved in the first thing I did was to install a rigid metal liner. That bought us some time, but I still had doubts. An earthquake a few years later rotated the chimney top 45º with only the liner holding it in place! The fireplace came out completely in 2006 and is not missed.

There's a lot to be said for a proper and safe installation. Folks may grumble at the price of a liner, especially if insulated and the tiles have to be broken out, but saving lives and the home has no price tag.

 

[nola mike]

Is it common practice to put a camera down and visually inspect the chimney? If so, I'll have a reason to buy a camera I guess! Actually, I could probably get a pretty good video using an old cell phone and some fishing line. Or actually just taping it to my chimney rods and lowering/rotating it down.

 

[mellow]

Depends on the sweep and if they feel it's needed.

https://www.highschimney.com/articles/levels-chimney-inspections/