|
 |
Our Services |
|
|
|
|
|
Smoke Chamber Repair
The smoke chamber is the transition area in a masonry chimney that starts directly above the damper
and continues to where the first flue tile is installed. Shaped like an up-side-down funnel, smoke and
hot gasses are in direct contact with the tapered smoke chamber walls as you burn your fires. The smoke
chamber is a hot oven where much of the creosote accumulates and many chimney fires start. For this
reason, NFPA 211 standards require that the smoke chamber walls be at least 8" thick and "parged" smooth.
Parging is where the inside surfaces of the smoke chamber are sealed with a layer of mortar in order to
close off any holes or gaps where heated flue gasses or carbon monoxide might escape, possibly causing a
fire or physical harm to the occupants. In some cases, the smoke chamber has not been parged, or holes
in the parging may be present. In addition, sometimes the bottom flue tile is not sealed properly to the
smoke chamber. To correct these problems, we use a specialized insulating, high-temperature refractory
mortar (Chamber-Tech 2000) specifically designed to address smoke chamber deficiencies. Able to
stick to vertical and inverted surfaces, the mortar can be applied and smoothed
on the smoke chamber walls to seal off and insulate this critical area of your fireplace system, helping
to insulate, reduce conduction to combustible materials, add needed structural strength, and help establish
a strong draft.
|
|
|
|
|
