Video Highlights:
0:16 Cleaning and Inspecting the Chimney
0:24 Results of the Professional Inspection
0:40 Importance of a Chimney Cap
0:50 Damper rusted shut
1:04 Exterior Inspection
1:23 Options for fixing the cracked chimney crown
1:41 Selecting the chimney cap
2:06 Sweeping the Chimney
2:11 Installing the Chimney Cap
Hello I am Melissa from northlineexpress.com and I am here on site for a DIY fireplace revamp. It is going to be a complete DIY experience with products from northlineexpress.com. This will be a 4 part series and I will start this series off with our first video, cleaning and inspecting the chimney. This will be the part of the process that we are going to bring in a professional to make sure that we are good to go and the chimney is safe for use.
We had a professional out to inspect the chimneys flue for cracks or damage, which could require the chimney to be relined. This chimney checked out okay but was missing a chimney cap so while we were up on the roof we also took some measurement so that we could order a properly sized cap. The chimney obviously never had a cap on it which is not a good idea because that allows all of the elements to enter the chimney and make their way into the home. This was actually the cause of some of the fireplaces damage. Because the chimney never had a cap, years of moisture entering the chimney caused the damper to eventually rust shut. If the damper is not able to open the fireplace cannot be used so we had the professionals take care of that for us and get the damper back in working order.
While the chimney inspector was still here he also inspected the exterior of the chimney. He told us that the main structure of the chimney was sound and had no damage but the crown of the chimney did have some cracks that should be repaired or sealed. If the cracks were left unsealed they potentially could allow moisture to seep down into the chimney and crack the clay flue tile. Our options were to have an entire new chimney crown made or to use a product like Chimney RX Brushable Crown Repair to repair cracks in the chimney crown. We had to hold off on repairing the crown cracks because the temperatures had dropped too low for the product to work properly but we are planning on addressing that issue in the spring.
With this in mind when we selected a chimney cap we made sure that we chose a chimney cap that had a top that was large enough to cover the entire chimney crown. They told us this was the best way to help the situation through the winter months because it will help keep the snow and excess moisture off the crown.
We ordered the 8” x 13” Homesaver Pro Stainless Steel flue mount chimney cap. It has a 14 5/8″ x 19 1/2″ Lid dimension which is plenty to cover the crown. While we were waiting for the chimney cap to arrive we also had the chimney swept. When the cap arrived we got back up on the roof and installed out selves. The cap used pressure mount style set screws that made installation very easy. Literally set in into place and tighten the set screws. One thing that we did have to pay attention to was that we were not over tightening the screws and causing damage to the flue. Once the cap was installed the fireplace is ready and safe to be used.
This leads us up to our second video in the 4 video series where we will be inspecting and cleaning out the firebox. Keep watching to see how easy it is to bring an old fireplace from drab to fab with products from northlineexpress.com