Giving Your Chimney New Life

If you have a home built prior to 1970 and have a fireplace, it’s probably not up to code and could be a fire or carbon monoxide hazard. You may have broken, crumbling, or missing bricks on your chimney from your chimney being timeworn. You may have mold growing in your chimney if it’s not sealed properly. So, what does this mean? It’s time to give your chimney new life with inspections, cleaning, and repairs. Let’s take a look at some potential issues that could be wrong with your old masonry fireplace.

Damaged or Missing Chimney Liners

If your house is old enough, the chimney may not have a liner at all, and even if it does, fifty or more years of exposure to high heat has taken its toll. Chimney liners are a vital part of a chimney because they protect from high heat and carbon monoxide entering your home.

Our chimney sweeps know how to spot damaged chimney liners or if there isn’t one present. In most cases, when we replace a chimney liner, we will install a new stainless steel liner that will last for decades.

Repairing and Sealing Brick and Mortar

Older masonry chimneys have bricks exposed to heat, cold, rain, and snow for decades. Years of exposure to the elements can take a toll on bricks, and through repeated baking in the sun, they can become porous and absorb water that expands and contracts in the freeze-thaw cycle, leading to broken and missing bricks. To combat against the elements, we will replace any damaged or missing bricks and coat the chimney with a water-repellent sealer to protect it. Mortar can wear away for the same reasons as bricks breaking down. Mortar can absorb water and break down through the freeze-thaw cycle. If the worn or missing mortar is not repaired, it can lead to your old chimney collapsing. Rebuilding a chimney is a much more expensive prospect than repairing mortar. We will replace your old mortar through a technique called tuckpointing, which uses a toll of the same name to tuck new mortar in-between your chimney’s existing bricks. As with brick replacement, we will coat your chimney with a water repellant sealer when we have finished the job.

Cleaning Out Your Chimney

Another way to bring new life to your chimney is to let us give it a thorough cleaning. If it’s been some time since your chimney was cleaned, if it’s been cleaned at all, then you have a buildup of creosote inside of it; this is a sticky and highly flammable substance. Leaving creosote in your chimney will produce a strong smell in your home and put the chimney at risk of catching fire which could spread to the rest of your house.

Cleaning your chimney also rids it of any mold or mildew inside it, which means that your home won’t be subjected to spores every few months and is especially beneficial to allergy or asthma sufferers.

Let Hudson Valley Chimney Give Your Chimney New Life

The abovementioned repairs are just a few that we can perform to give your chimney new life. If you own a home built before 1970, let us bring your chimney into the 21st century by ensuring it meets code and looks better than it has in years. Call us today or fill out our contact form; one of our chimney specialists will be more than happy to discuss your chimney.