Water in Chimney / Ash Pits

[Tek20]

Hello,

I purchased a new construction house with a wood burning fireplace last Fall. We live in New England and as seen in the news we have had two bad Nor'easters in the last few weeks. The first dumped inches and inches of wind driven rain on the area.

I had gallons of water in my ash pits in my basement, which ultimately leaked out into the basement. Not a flood, but probably 15 gallons of water in all. Never has water in my chimney before this. In addition, the bricks in the living room fire box were damp. Appears that rain was seeping in around the closed damper as well.

A camera shot from the ash pits shows the water running down the inside of the chimney walls (attached). The local chimney company said this is because I have a bluestone cap on my chimney (photos attached), which in bad wind driven rain storms will allow water into the chimney.

This storm was bad 50-75mph winds with 12 hours plus of wind driven rain.

Is this really normal? Logic would say yes considering the very bad wind driven rains. Makes me uncomfortable nonetheless.

Thanks.

 

[bholler]

Call the builder back there is something very wrong. That chimney wont last 10 years like that.

 

[Tek20]

This was a 100 year storm for the area. No chance this is normal?

 

[bholler]

This was a 100 year storm for the area. No chance this is normal?

Nope no chance at all.

 

[Tek20]

Nope no chance at all.

Ok. Well what stops water from blowing down that cap? Each opening is about a foot or larger for each stack.

 

[bholler]

What would cause it? You see the cap. The water is coming down from the cap.

Possibly or possibly from the flashing or bad mortar joints or bad shoulders or about a million other places. Call the builder now and make sure they really fix it. Water like that will very quickly tear a chimney to peices.

 

[Tek20]

Builder looked at it today. They want to apply sealer to the outside of the chimney. It is on the exterior wall of the house so it goes from the ground to the cap. Does that sound like something they should do?

 

[bholler]

Builder looked at it today. They want to apply sealer to the outside of the chimney. It is on the exterior wall of the house so it goes from the ground to the cap. Does that sound like something they should do?

No there is a serious leak somewhere causing that ammout of water to come in. They are just looking for a cheap easy way to hide the problem. If built correctly there is no reason a modern brick chimney should need sealer.

I am curious how they looked at it?

 

[brickie]

I'd be interested to see if the tops of the flues extend above the wash.
If they're flush, it's normal during a nor'easter to see that.
Not good, but normal.
If you seal brick it MUST be a breathable sealer.
Expensive. You don't just use Thompsons.

 

[bholler]

I'd be interested to see if the tops of the flues extend above the wash.
If they're flush, it's normal during a nor'easter to see that.
Not good, but normal.
If you seal brick it MUST be a breathable sealer.
Expensive. You don't just use Thompsons.

There is a masonry cap over the top

 

[Tek20]

I'd be interested to see if the tops of the flues extend above the wash.
If they're flush, it's normal during a nor'easter to see that.
Not good, but normal.
If you seal brick it MUST be a breathable sealer.
Expensive. You don't just use Thompsons.

To reply to both, due to the snow pack on the ground, they could not go up with a ladder. Inspection was by ground only. It would appear from the ground, that the flues are flush with the base under the cap. We have had some serious non-wind driven storms and 0 water in the chimney. Nor'Easter and water....

 

[bholler]

To reply to both, due to the snow pack on the ground, they could not go up with a ladder. Inspection was by ground only. It would appear from the ground, that the flues are flush with the base under the cap. We have had some serious non-wind driven storms and 0 water in the chimney. Nor'Easter and water....

So they concluded there was nothing wrong from the ground? And btw ladders still work fine in the snow. We work all winter long.

 

[brickie]

The cap has nothing to do with the flues being flush with the wash or extending 4 inches or so above the wash.

There is a masonry cap over the top

To reply to both, due to the snow pack on the ground, they could not go up with a ladder. Inspection was by ground only. It would appear from the ground, that the flues are flush with the base under the cap. We have had some serious non-wind driven storms and 0 water in the chimney. Nor'Easter and water....

 

[bholler]

The cap has nothing to do with the flues being flush with the wash or extending 4 inches or so above the wash.

No it doesnt is it 4" i was pretty sure it was 2 but either way you are right it should extend up. But with that cap i dont see how that much water could come down the flue flush or not.

 

[RobbieB]

I do. Whole gale with a lot of water?

If the flue doesn't extend above the wash it's gonna get a lot of water over the side even with a good roof over it.

Although, from the chimney pic, I don't see a good roof over it, no roof at all. They think rain won't go down the flue?

 

[bholler]

I do. Whole gale with a lot of water?

If the flue doesn't extend above the wash it's gonna get a lot of water over the side even with a good roof over it.

Although, from the chimney pic, I don't see a good roof over it, no roof at all. They think rain won't go down the flue?

There is a masonry cap over the top. And it is rare we see issues from rain blowing under a cap like that. And certainly not 15 gallons.

 

[edyit]

i'm not a masonry expert, but usually it's hard to tell whats wrong with something thats 15 feet plus in the air by staring at it from the ground. i do know that if you're getting water seepage like that on an external chimney when it cools to below 32F its going to freeze, expand, and completely ruin the chimney

 

[brickie]

It is rare, but so was the heavy weather.
If you go the sealer route, which I don't think had anything
to do with your water, use something like this; https://www.prosoco.com/products/sure-klean-weather-seal-siloxane-pd
My local got 4 inches of rain driven by 75+ mph winds.
That water was all coming down the flu in my opinion.

 

[armanidog]

If the flue is flush with the top of the chimney, perhaps a single row of brick around the flue opening would help keep water from going down the flue lining.

 

[bholler]

It is rare, but so was the heavy weather.
If you go the sealer route, which I don't think had anything
to do with your water, use something like this; https://www.prosoco.com/products/sure-klean-weather-seal-siloxane-pd
My local got 4 inches of rain driven by 75+ mph winds.
That water was all coming down the flu in my opinion.

There is no way at all for us to have any clue where it is coming from. We simply dont have enough info. But i can tell you that even on chimneys with a flush liner and no cap at all we dont see that ammount of water coming down the flue. I a m not about to say it isnt possible but from years of experince dealing with chimney i will say it would be very untypical if all that water did come down the flue.

 

[brickie]

I agree. Our weather has been pretty "untypical" lately!!

 

[Happy Stacker]

I would ask a couple of your neighbours if they experienced any water infiltration in their chimneys during the bad storm. At least this would let you know if its just you or not...

 

[Tek20]

The builder believes it was a combination of water down the chimney and ground water. The footing of the chimney is outside the French drain system in the basement.


1. They want to seal the bricks as a courtesy and also agree that is not where the water is coming from. Should I allow them to do this? The Mason that built the chimney would be applying the sealer.

2. They want to apply clear caulking between the chimney and the siding (they said J Channel) as I had water seeped through the drop wall next to the chimney.

3. They changed the gutter drainage to drain the roof water further away from the house to eliminate the possibility of ground water.


They are attempting to go up and inspect the cap, but due to weather conditions have not been able to get up there. Ironically, just had a very heavy snow storm and no moisture at all in the chimney.

 

[prezes13]

I know for a fact because of a friend who does costraction there is some contractors out there who use cheap bricks which will sponge water. Solution is reapplying sealer once a year or rebuild the chimney, but that's if the bricks themselves are the culprit. Second suspect for me would be the crown.

 

[bholler]

1. Again sealing the brick should be completly unessecary if it was built correctly. And if sealed incorrectly it can cause lots of problems

2. No that absolutly should not be caulked

3. That is a good idea but water from downspouts is not ground water.