Chimney Care Company's Blog

How to avoid a stinky chimney

As winter’s chill gives way to warm spring days, we tend to forget about our fireplaces and chimneys. But warmer days, especially mixed with spring’s rains or summer’s humidity, can bring on an unpleasant problem: A stinky chimney that can draft odors into your home. Fortunately, there are ways you can prevent a smelly chimney.

Schedule a spring chimney cleaning.

While most people schedule their annual chimney sweepings for the fall, a spring chimney sweeping can be one of the most effective ways to prevent a stinky chimney. Creosote, the primary target of chimney sweepings, can emit a foul, burnt-asphalt odor on hot and humid days, especially if any moisture has leaked into the chimney and come into contact with the creosote. Other common causes of bad chimney odors include animal nests, trapped or dead animals, and rotting leaves or organic debris. A spring chimney cleaning removes the root cause of chimney odors before they can be exacerbated by summer’s hot temperatures.

A spring chimney sweeping brings other advantages. It is easier to schedule appointments during the spring, when sweeps’ schedules are less busy; a spring inspection gives you time to schedule any needed repairs before you are ready to light your first fall fire; and a spring cleaning removes acidic creosote, soot and ash from your fireplace and chimney before it can do harm.

Install a top-sealing damper.

You are probably familiar with your chimney’s damper; you open it each time a you light a fire to allow smoke to exit the firebox, and you close it when the fireplace isn’t in use to block drafts. You might not be familiar with a superior damper option, the top-sealing damper. As the name implies, top-sealing dampers are installed at your chimney’s crown, and form a perfect seal around your chimney top when the damper is closed. Top-sealing dampers prevent animals, debris and moisture from entering your chimney, and when those odor-causing materials can’t get in, you drastically cut your risk of dealing with a stinky chimney each summer.

Consider a chimney exhaust fan.

Another reason unpleasant smells could be entering your home through your chimney is a faulty draft. Typically, warm air flows up your chimney and out of your house. However, negative pressure can draw air downward through the chimney and into the home, bringing with it any unpleasant smells that might otherwise stay contained within the chimney. Improper drafting can be caused by a variety of factors, but it can be solved with a chimney exhaust fan. Chimney exhaust fans are motorized fans installed atop the chimney to help pull air upward and out of the chimney. They can be used to keep smoke from flowing backward into your home, or they can be used as a vent to pull unpleasant smells, whether from your chimney or from your home, out of your home’s living spaces.

Call The Chimney Care Co!

If spring’s warmer temperatures are bringing unpleasant odors from your chimney into your home, or if you’ve dealt with a stinky chimney in the past, call The Chimney Care Co. to schedule an appointment today. We can help prevent the frustration and embarrassment of a stinky chimney!

Does your chimney need masonry repairs? We can help!

Spring is the time of year when we begin to notice and address home repairs. Especially after the harsh conditions of winter, weaknesses in our home’s structures can become evident.

That includes chimneys. While masonry fireplaces and chimneys are incredibly durable, they also put up with a lot of abuse during winter months. Internally, they must cope with the extreme heat of your winter fires. Externally, they have to endure rain, ice, snow, sleet and freezing temperatures. If you start to notice damage to your chimney’s masonry this spring, The Chimney Care Co. can help repair your chimney in time for next season’s fires.

Common masonry repairs

The need for most chimney masonry repairs is obvious. There are telltale signs of damage, so you’ll know when your masonry fireplace or chimney is in need of professional attention. Some of the most common masonry repairs include:

•  Crumbling mortar. Over time, your chimney’s mortar absorbs moisture, which can lead it to degrade and crumble away, leaving cracks in your chimney’s structure that can expose it to moisture damage and weaken the structure. Crumbling mortar can be easily fixed with tuckpointing, which involves removing the damaged mortar and replacing it with new mortar.
•  Spalling bricks. Another common chimney problem caused by moisture is spalling, or crumbling bricks. These bricks can be replaced to prevent your chimney from losing its structural integrity.
• Cracked or crumbling chimney crown. Many chimney crowns, the masonry structure that surrounds the top of chimney, were improperly constructed from the wrong materials, causing them to crack and crumble quickly. Even well-built chimney crowns can fail over time and require repair or rebuilding.
• Cracked masonry. Masonry can crack for a variety of reasons. Flue tiles and firebox masonry can crack if they are “shocked” by the extreme heat of your fire or a chimney fire. We can repair cracked tiles or bricks, or rebuild entire fireboxes, if needed.
•  Structural weaknesses. Water damage, settling foundations and seismic events can cause chimney structures to become weak. Those weaknesses can be revealed in a leaning chimney or in large chimney cracks. If your chimney structure is failing, The Chimney Care Co. can rebuild it quickly and effectively.

Protecting your chimney

By and large, the majority of chimney masonry damage is caused by water. Masonry materials are porous and can draw water in over time. When temperatures drop, water inside the masonry freezes and expands, causing some of the cracking, crumbling and structural weaknesses we’ve described. As such, it’s important to take measures to ensure your chimney is as protected as possible from water. That means making sure you have a secure chimney cap and a chimney crown that is in good repair. We can apply ChimneySaver’s waterproofing product to your chimney, which keeps moisture out while still allowing your chimney’s masonry to breathe as it needs to.

Most importantly, if you’ve noticed any of the common masonry problems we’ve described above, or if you have concerns about your chimney’s masonry, call The Chimney Care Co. today. We can provide you with a host of masonry repairs to keep your chimney safe, structurally sound and looking good.