How to fix a damp chimney breast damp chimney breast. Chimney flue liners can crack over time with small chimney fires or poor building techniques leading to serious problems with the draw in the fireplace. I could potentially engage a structural engineer another. I had a log burner fitted, and a plate installed just above it. Youll notice that it takes up room in a home, which is one of the main reasons homeowners remove it. Stove and false chimney breast installation youtube. So youve been enjoying your stove for some time now, but you start to notice something odd.
What causes the plasterwork on a chimney breast to crack. Help with tv on chimney breast over multi fuel stove. Dealing with cracked or damaged brickwork or render. A recent example of why you should use the stove box installation, was a client who had recently built a false chimney breast using blockwork and plaster. Exposed chimney masonry can erode, sometimes resulting in small patches of the brickwork outer face dropping off. Opening up a fireplace the stove fitters warehouse.
Normally in old houses, there would be a supporting brick arch holding up the chimney breast ive dashed where it should have been in the picture below. Common problems with wood burning and multifuel stoves. It is not uncommon for brick chimneys to crumble with age. However it is warmer near the downstairs ceiling, then warmer throughout upstairs chimney breast. Cracked chimney masonry such as shown in the photo of cracks in a brick chimney exterior at left, may a safety concern if the flue liner or chimney are not intact and firegas safe. How to repair a cracked brick chimney home guides sf gate. When mortar cracks and crumbles, moisture can get into the masonry. If you have a wood burning or gas stove in use you have to ensure that the. If you notice damp on your chimney breast, you need to treat it as soon as. Cassette woodburner and cracking plaster diynot forums. We know how important it is to keep your family warm in winter and how dangerous it can be to leave. Tar and water leaking where stove connects to chimney.
Some people love the idea of a wood burning stove but are often left confused as to whether they need to be installed into a new or existing fireplace. Lining a fireplace recess with smooth board the stove. You can see that the very purpose of the chimney crown is to keep rain out. Lining a fireplace recess with smooth board the stove fitters.
In this guide, we look at the signs of chimney damp, potential causes and fixes of a. Cracked plaster around a wood burning stove do it properly. This article deals with the smooth lining of a fireplace recess. We all know that papering over the cracks is not a good solution to a problem. Fireplace insulating plug stop your chimney from stealing heat fireplace dampers cant stop heat loss as well as a tightfitting chimney insulating plug. The closure plate the roof above the stove is an important part of this process. Wed planned on removing all of the brickwork that had been installed around the old gas fireplace and wanted to open up the chimney breast back to the original edwardian opening.
This can be fixed by rebuilding your chimney, replacing your flu liners, or relining your chimney with a flexible steel liner. See more ideas about repair, home repair, brick repair. This refers to the portion which constitutes and encases the actual fireplace. Rigid, closedcell polyethylene is unaffected by moisture. Look closely for frost damage at both the exterior and interior of this chimney. I burn briquettes in a multifuel stove, but i have recently noticed sand. If you are building a new fireplace or opening a chimney breast to create one, you can line the opening with fire bricks set in place with. Brick offers a durable exterior finish that protects a home from the elements. How to fix a crumbling brick chimney home guides sf gate. The obvious symptom of cracked flu liners is the sand that is used to protect against fire falling on your fireplace. Staining and damp patches have started to appear on your chimney breast never a good sign. We show you how to fix a damp chimney breast including details on how to find. Behind the stove is victas heat resistant plasterboard, and then victas heat resistant plaster.
Hi, the chimney breast should be rendered not plastered. More often than not, its very easy to solve whatever difficulty youre encountering. General chimney stack problems damaged chimney stacks can allow water penetration resulting in dampness on the chimney breast internally and wet rot in the roof timbers. Cracks in the chimney crown can occur from shifting of the.
The older your chimney is, the more likely it is that cracks will form inside. The stove replaced an open fire which needed chimney repointing i think. Rendered stacks are especially at risk as small cracks tend to develop as the masonry repeatedly heats and cools, allowing water to penetrate and freeze, loosening the render. Common problems with wood burning and multifuel stoves and how to solve them. Many feel that they look more aesthetically pleasing when fitted into a fireplace but worry about the chimney being in good condition to take away the fumes safely. The brick chimney crack type shown here is more often caused by thermal expansion and improper chimney construction than by frost frost cracking is often more.
The addition and upkeep of a breast liner is also integral in protecting the structural integrity of your chimney. The chimney crown is the cement part on top of the chimney. The chimney flue is short, the chimney cap is thin and cracked, and of course there is no rain cap. Replacing it with a more environmentally conscious system can actually raise the value of your home. Fixing chimney issues in newly built houses the irish times. Photos of soot at a metal chimney cap and on the roof below were provided courtesy of ashi inspector roger hankey. A properly functioning chimney has enough draft to pull smoke out of your home and provide enough oxygen for hot, complete burning of wood to occur.
Upstairs chimney breast getting warm hot mybuilder. Faqs cyril johnston stoves, wood burning and multi fuel stove. Chimney thimbles are designed to accept single walled black stove pipe from a wood stove. Does my log burner need a liner inserting in the chimney. We show you how to fix a damp chimney breast including details on how to find the cause of the damp such as damaged guttering, cracked lead flashing or cracked chimney stack mortar and then how to repair the source of the damp and also the damage that has been caused to internal decoration. Hole in chimney breast after removing electric or gas fire breaking out started in this. A crack has appeared in the chimney breast,it was there before i had my wood burner installed,but i raked it out and filled it and had the chimney breast replastered along with some other walls but i see it has opened up again, it is a thin crack which runs up the middle of the chimney breast and then about two foot across the top about three or four inches below the coveing,can this be. Cracking plaster on chimney breast above wood burner the.
The fitting of the stove and closure plate is outlined in more detail in a separate article that you should read a. The cracks in the chimney breast do not look normal. A chimney thimble is a circular ceramic fixture that protrudes from the side of a chimney, usually about 6 feet above floor level. Safely widen chimney breast screwfix community forum. Certainly a lot better than the old open fire in which the heat was sucked out of the chimney. It is important that your chimney is the right type and style for your firebox or stove. How to build a false chimney breast mrs rackley home. We had no chimney breast so it was installed in front of a plaster wall, with a length of uninsulated pipe, followed by twin wall pipe which runs through the ceiling. Q can you provide advice on how best to deal with cracked chimney liners. These can let in rain or other moisture from inside the. How to install a fireplace or stove without a chimney.
Cracking plaster behind new 5kw woodburner diy doctor uk. If youre not an expert in using wood burning or multifuel stoves, sometimes the problems or little quirks that happen from time to time can seem quite daunting. The bricks go up around the tile flue liners, but at the top you need something to stop the rain and snow from just falling in around the tiles. Opening up a fireplace to the builders opening note. Yes, it was a concern but in practice the stove is awesome and makes the room very cosy. Chimney stains, discoloration, leak, diagnosis, cleaning. After 10 days the plaster had cracked due to heat loss through the blockwork and breast.
Home improvements is a roofing company based in dublin that has been working hard to bring excellent quality chimney repairs to homes and businesses since 1997. Is there is an external chimney breast that has plaster board over the original fireplace opening. How to diagnose and fix a damp chimney breast diy doctor. Keeping up with structural crack and leak repair can lengthen the life of your fireplace. If cracked but otherwise solid, repair it with a brushapplied crown repair that stays permanently flexible to prevent water damage and leaks. Although chimney masonry can last a century or longer, the mortar that binds it together may last 25 years tops. About 2 years ago we had a 5kw wood burning stove installed in our living room. Fire place cracked plaster moneysavingexpert forum. I put a 20mm vermiculite back to it so that most of the heat goes into the bricks or the room and thermal mass of the brick helps keep the room warm for some hours. Paint directly onto these unplastered hardiebackerreturns same as the rest of the chimney breast. Do i need heat resistant plaster around a woodburner.
If the crown becomes cracked or chipped, rain can seep in between the flue and the masonry exterior. Stainless steel flex liner being used to reline an existing clay flue stove installation. Because chimney thimbles are made of ceramic and are essentially pottery, they. Damaged chimney stack liners can inhibit the flow of smoke exiting the flue terminal, resulting in down draughts and leaks of harmful dangerous fumes into your house. The chimney crown is the cement at the top of the chimney. Wood burner cracked chimney breast moneysavingexpert forum. A cracked chimney on the outside is most likely representative of damage. This would not have happened if they had used the stove box, as explained previously, it confines the.