Hello all,
I'm a new poster here but am grateful for all of the information I've gleaned so far reading over some posts. I have a quick question that I'm sure many people here could answer, but one I cannot get a straight answer to.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I had our chimney to our new (to us, it was built in 1978) home inspected and cleaned for use this winter. I grew up with a wood-burning fireplace and was excited to have one in our new home. After cleaning and sending a camera up our chimney, our inspector noticed some hairline cracks in some of the mortar between the bricks of our chimney. Additionally, he noticed that the firebox had some rust on it.
The inspector told us that we shouldn't use our fireplace and that we had two options:
1. Install a wood-burning insert into our fireplace and bypass all the repairs - $4,600.
2. Re-do (rebuild?) the chimney and firebox - +/- $7,200.
Because we don't have the money to do either option right now, my question is this: is it safe for us to use the fireplace?
I'm not sure if the chimney service technician was telling us not to use the fireplace because he wanted to sell us another service or because it really is unsafe. I feel like it's similar to when you take your car to the mechanic and you know nothing about cars and they pull out the old "I don't feel comfortable letting your drive the car off this property without having this repaired," line. And, because you're ignorant, you shell out wads of cash to have a repair done that isn't necessary.
I made sure to ask if the cracks went through the bricks as well and the inspector told me that they did not. Additionally, the flue works and seals great and everything above the roof line looks fine. As far as I can tell the only issues are the few hairline cracks in the mortar and the rust in the firebox.
I talked to my dad over Thanksgiving and he indicated that he never had my childhood fireplace inspected or cleaned - a practice I know to be unsafe. But, I just want to know if it's okay for me to use the fireplace that has only these defects or if (at my wife's suggestion), I should paint the firebox black and put in some decorative candles and call it unusable.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I okay to use the fireplace or is the inspector being truthful?
(Note: I have some pictures of the cracks and rust that I can upload soon)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I'm a new poster here but am grateful for all of the information I've gleaned so far reading over some posts. I have a quick question that I'm sure many people here could answer, but one I cannot get a straight answer to.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I had our chimney to our new (to us, it was built in 1978) home inspected and cleaned for use this winter. I grew up with a wood-burning fireplace and was excited to have one in our new home. After cleaning and sending a camera up our chimney, our inspector noticed some hairline cracks in some of the mortar between the bricks of our chimney. Additionally, he noticed that the firebox had some rust on it.
The inspector told us that we shouldn't use our fireplace and that we had two options:
1. Install a wood-burning insert into our fireplace and bypass all the repairs - $4,600.
2. Re-do (rebuild?) the chimney and firebox - +/- $7,200.
Because we don't have the money to do either option right now, my question is this: is it safe for us to use the fireplace?
I'm not sure if the chimney service technician was telling us not to use the fireplace because he wanted to sell us another service or because it really is unsafe. I feel like it's similar to when you take your car to the mechanic and you know nothing about cars and they pull out the old "I don't feel comfortable letting your drive the car off this property without having this repaired," line. And, because you're ignorant, you shell out wads of cash to have a repair done that isn't necessary.
I made sure to ask if the cracks went through the bricks as well and the inspector told me that they did not. Additionally, the flue works and seals great and everything above the roof line looks fine. As far as I can tell the only issues are the few hairline cracks in the mortar and the rust in the firebox.
I talked to my dad over Thanksgiving and he indicated that he never had my childhood fireplace inspected or cleaned - a practice I know to be unsafe. But, I just want to know if it's okay for me to use the fireplace that has only these defects or if (at my wife's suggestion), I should paint the firebox black and put in some decorative candles and call it unusable.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I okay to use the fireplace or is the inspector being truthful?
(Note: I have some pictures of the cracks and rust that I can upload soon)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
