Older Gas Flues a Potential Carbon Monoxide Hazard

Furnace flue mortar joint completely deteriorated

Older chimney flues serving gas appliances such as furnaces, boilers, fireplaces, and water heaters are a potential Carbon Monoxide hazard.  The older masonry flues are typically in poor condition unless they've been maintained over the years.  Rain water and condensation from acidic flue gasses can cause mortar joints to deteriorate and wash out over the years, leaving gaps that can allow Carbon Monoxide and other gasses to enter the living space of the home.

A second cause of CO backup is clogs in the flue or connecting pipe caused by deteriorated mortar, falling bricks, bird nests, leaves and other debris, which block the flue.  To avoid this issue, have a professional chimney sweep inspect the flue annually to check for potential problems and have repairs completed by a qualified contractor who specializes in chimney work.

Gene Padgitt, HearthMasters, Inc. 

HVAC contractors do not normally inspect, repair, or replace flue liners and this is not a part of an annual furnace tune-up or checkup.  Professional chimney sweeps are trained in chimney maintenance and repair and are the best persons to call for chimney work.

Gene Padgitt of HearthMasters, Inc. in Independence, Missouri said that he sees several gas flues per week that are in poor condition and need repair.  "CO is not something to ignore, it is a real health hazard, said Gene."  Unfortunately, many homeowners don't know the condition of their gas chimney flues.  Hidden internal damages can be costly to repair.

Padgitt suggests contacting a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep to do inspections and repair.

Stainless steel chimney covers

Carbon Monoxide is odorless, tasteless  and colorless. It is often referred to as the "Silent Killer."   More cases of CO illness and death occur during winter months when heating appliances are in use and houses are closed up.  Symptoms of CO poisoning are unexplained headaches, nausea, dizziness  fatigue, flu-like symptoms, passing out, and death.

A Carbon Monoxide detector can alert occupants to a CO hazard.  If an alarm goes off, don't ignore it, check to see what the problem is or call the gas company immediately.

Installation of a heavy duty stainless steel chimney cover, or a custom-made cover to protect several flues in the same chimney will help prevent damages due to rain.  All flues need chimney covers.

Austrian Stove Builders to Visit the U.S. In April

The Masonry Heater Association of North America is hosting a masonry heater and brick oven workshop April 15-21, 2013 with featured guest instructors from Austria. Participants will learn techniques and priciples of contemporary Grundofen/Kachelofen design and construction in this hands-on workshop held at Wildacres Retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Asheville, North Carolina.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about masonry heater and masonry bake oven technology and building techniques is encouraged to join the MHA and attend this workshop. Masonry heaters are site-built wood-burning appliances that radiantly heat a home with wood. They are very efficient and clean burning, and use relatively small amounts of wood to heat without the use of electricity, gas, fans, or ducts.

Austrian Master Stove Builders Paul Polatschek and Luis Wegscheider and stove designer/project consultant and coordinator Stefan Polatschek are presenting the Austrian stove program. Paul Polatschek and Luis Wegscheider, both 28, are Master Stove Fitters who apprenticed in Lower Austria and Tirol respectively.  Paul founded his company Die Hafnerei at Krems at the age of 21 and has a successful career with 6 employees assisting him in his current operations. Luis Wegscheider is the leader of a stove producer's technical development department, having created his own Austrian UZ37 combustion chamber used in his small Grundofen series. Stefan Polatschek, age 58, runs a consulting, planning and design office, doing work mostly for wood-fire related projects in cooperation with industry players. Stefan grew up in Tirol, where he got first-hand experience with ceramics in his younger days. This is a unique opportunity for builders to see the experts at work.

The annual meeting and workshop will include classroom and hands-on training in masonry heater basics, bricklaying, bake ovens and smokers, the Austrian heater, and other masonry heater designs.

The media is invited to attend and take photos of the event.

For more information or media scheduling contact Richard Smith, MHA Executive Director, at
520-883-0191 or e-mail execdir@mha-net.org or visit www.mha-net.org.

Be prepared with a masonry heater and bake oven

Press Release

November 14, 2012

Masonry heater and bake oven
 by Gene Padgitt of HeartthMasters, Inc.

The Masonry Heater Association of North America encourages homeowners to be prepared for any type of disaster with an alternative source of heating and cooking.  The recent flooding and lack of electricity in the Northeast United States during cold temperatures is a reminder that everyone should be prepared to be self-sufficient in a disaster or power outage.  

Masonry heaters are site-built wood-burning appliances constructed with natural materials that radiantly heat a home with the renewable resource of wood. Masonry heaters are efficient and use relatively small amounts of wood to heat without the use of electricity, gas, fans, or ducts. These appliances heat the home through burning wood in a firebox, which connects to channels inside a large thermal mass. After the fire is out the heater gradually radiates heat to the living space for many hours without causing large temperature fluctuations or drafts. Many homeowners prefer masonry heaters rather than gas, electric, or wood-stove heating methods for regular use, not just during power outages.

Masonry heaters can be built with an oven, which can be used anytime, but is especially important during times of disaster when electricity or gas may not be available.  Stand-alone outdoor brick ovens are another option. These are site-built using a pre-cast oven kit or built with firebrick.

Masonry heaters and bake ovens are appliances that masons should get specialized training in before building. The Masonry Heater Association of North America trains heater masons and oven builders. 

For more information or for a list of builders in the U.S. and Canada contact Richard Smith, Executive Director, at 520-883-0191, e-mail execdir@mha-net.org or visit www.mha-net.org. 

Chimney and Dryer Vent Fire Prevention Classes

The Midwest Chimney Safety Council offers classes to organizations hosting events for at least 40 people. MCSC Educational Director Marge Padgitt is available to speak to homeowner and professional groups about chimney and dryer vent fire prevention, chimney maintenance and fireplace operation, wood purchase and storage, historic chimney restoration, house pressure issues, and methods used to reline and repair chimneys.

There are over 15,000 dryer vent fires and over 14,000 chimney fires each year caused by improper or inadequate maintenance. Lint and creosote are flammable and must be removed in order to avoid fire. The Midwest Chimney Safety Council website has free homeowner tips on chimney, fireplace, and wood-burning stove operation at www.mcsc-net.org.

Marge Padgitt is a 30-year industry veteran, CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep, and National Fireplace Institute Wood-burning Specialist. Padgitt is the author of 12 books including The Chimney and Hearth Pro's Resource Book, and Wood -Fired Heating and Cooking. She is the CEO of HearthMasters, Inc. in Independence, Missouri, and host of Wood-Fired Radio on Global Radio Alliance Network.

Classes are free to small homeowner groups in the greater Kansas City area. Fees are charged for larger groups or associations outside the area. Contact Marge Padgitt at 816-461-3665 or margepadgitt@comcast.net for more information.  

Your house might be making you sick

By Marge Padgitt

As people close up their homes for winter, sealing every open gap, and installing thermal windows and insulation, they may be doing more than making their home energy efficient. They might be doing things that can make their family ill.

Houses need at least six air exchanges per day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. These air exchanges are necessary in order to move out tobacco smoke, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Radon, and a host of other chemicals such as Formaldehyde that off-gas from furniture, carpet and woodwork. These air exchanges bring in fresh air for the occupants to breathe.

Exacerbating the problem are appliances that take air out of the house such as attic fans, range hoods, bathroom fans, clothes dryers, and central vacuums. If the house is tightly constructed replacement air needs to be introduced somehow.

Appliances such as furnaces, hot water heaters, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves need air for combustion, and they take house air for this purpose. Open fireplaces are only -10 - +10% efficient, and use heated air from the home, causing the furnace to work harder. Even if an outside air source is supplied to a fireplace in an attempt to use less house air, this is often inadequate, and is not the best solution. Cold air dumped on a hot fire cools it down, causes it to burn inefficiently, and to produce more CO.

High-efficiency gas fireplace inserts are 75% + efficient and use no indoor air for combustion, and wood-burning fireplace inserts and freestanding stoves are 70%+ efficient and use much less air for combustion than traditional open fireplaces do. These are good choices whether a home has inadequate air for combustion or not. Other methods to improve fireplace efficiency include installation of glass doors, use of a grate heater, and improvement in design. ARumford style fireplace is a better choice than a standard style fireplace because it uses less air and is more efficient. Efficient fireplaces or inserts use less wood than standard fireplaces to produce the same amount of heat, so an added benefit is lower energy cost.

Health effects associated with poor indoor air quality are unexplained flu-like symptoms, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, confusion, eye and nose irritation, and in more serious cases, inability to wake up, asthma, cancer, irreversible brain damage, or death.

Another problem that can occur in larger homes or homes that are tightly constructed is unbalanced house pressure. Symptoms of negative house pressure are moisture condensation on cold surfaces, smoking fireplaces or wood-burning stoves, difficulty lighting a fire in a fireplace, CO backup from gas and wood appliances, back-drafting of appliances (and CO), CO detector alarms frequently, and cold air infiltration through leaks. Children and pets may be more affected than adults. If a person feels ill when at home, but better when outside the home, this is an indication that something is wrong with the house.

A good solution is the PlusAire whole house ventilator, which mixes cool outside air with warm air before sending it on to the furnace and the rest of the house where it is used as combustion air and fresh air for the occupants to breathe. Note: we carry the Plus Aire system as a wholesaler to HVAC and chimney contractors, and will sell and install Plus Aire in the K.C. area. 

Strategies to improve air quality:

1. Install portable air cleaners
2. Maintain humidifiers and dehumidifiers and empty water trays
3. Replace air filters on schedule
4. Turn on whole house fans or bathroom and kitchen fans with doors or windows open occasionally in Spring and Summer (not during cold weather)
5. Install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to the furnace (assists the furnace only)
6. Install a whole-house ventilator such as Plus-Aire to bring in make-up air for appliances and fresh air to breathe
7. Install EPA Certified high-efficiency gas or wood-burning inserts in fireplaces
8. Be sure clothes dryers are properly vented outdoors and vents are cleaned twice per year
9. Use a vented gas space heater or stove rather than an un-vented gas appliance
10. Never use kerosene heaters inside the house
11. Have a trained licensed HVAC contractor clean and tune-up furnaces annually
12. Have a professional CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep inspect and clean furnace, fireplace, masonry heater, and wood stove flues annually
13. Have an energy specialist do a blower door test on the home, which will indicate leaking areas and negative pressure issues

Sources:

www.epa.gov

www.csia.org

www.ncsg.org

www.acca.org

www.plusairplus.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.chimkc.com

www.coheadquarters.com

Drought Can Cause Chimneys to Lean

Stone chimney before

The drought we've been having in the Midwest the past few weeks has caused major problems with a lost of masonry chimneys. As dirt pulls away from the foundation of a chimney it can cause a chimney to lean, which is a problem that needs to be addressed as soon as it is noticed by the homeowner.

We are seeing a lot of leaning chimneys these days. This project is on a 100-year old home Kansas City, Missouri, that required tear down and rebuilding of the stone chimney. We poured a new foundation, rebuilt a frame wall on the house to bring it back into plumb, and are currently rebuilding the the chimney using stone at the base, and a stone/brick combination further up. The chimney had moved 14”out of plumb, was bowed out in the center, and was in severe danger of collapsing. The homeowners were concerned that it was a safety hazard, and indeed it was. 

Chimney 14" out of plumb

Where chimneys are leaning 3” or more, piering should be completed by an experienced professional, however, be sure to contact a company that does piering first, rather than just Mudjacking. Mudjacking is the process by which a mixture of cement, dirt, and water, or lime and water is pumped underneath concrete slabs to restore them to their original position. It is used to stabilize settling concrete such as sidewalks and patios that are non-load bearing structures.

In the case of a chimney, mudjacking should never be used alone because it cannot support the weight. Push piers should be installed first to lift the masonry to a level position, then mudjacking can be done to fill the empty space under the footing. Piering is a permanent repair solution. Excavation is done around the foundation, brackets are installed on the foundation and under it, and the pier is attached to the foundation with bolts. Hydrolic hoses are attached, and sections of pipe are pushed into the ground to solid bedrock. Multiple rams are then lifted in unison to the desired height, then back-filling or mudjacking is completed. We have developed relationships with local piering contractors we feel comfortable recommending to homeowners. These contractors also refer business to us. In fact, they have changed their contracts to include risk of damage to the chimney interior and that it should be inspected by us after their work is completed. 
Watch out for the hidden leaning chimney – one that has trim work on the exterior added to conceal a space between the chimney and the house. We've seen some trim added that was 1” wide at the bottom and 6” wide at the top. Signs of chimney movement can also be found at the flashing area, where you may find flashing pulled out of place or large gaps. The homeowner may also complain of a leak.

Tony Gross and Ricky Cline on the job

Anytime a chimney is moved it is likely to have interior damages that can be a fire hazard, so it is imperative for the homeowner to call a qualified chimney sweep to inspect the interior using an interior camera system. If cracks in flue tiles or shifted flue tiles are found, relining will be necessary. When a chimney pulls away from the house, a gap is usually left behind the facial wall of the fireplace, which is not a structural part of the chimney. This space can allow heat to escape into an area where there are likely combustible framing and headers, so a gap here can be a real fire hazard. It is common for masonry chimneys to shift or settle slightly, so this is an area that needs to be inspected at the time of any chimney evaluation and if gaps of any size are found they should be packed in with mortar.
We've also seen some rare instances where a chimney leans in towards a house, and that presents a more difficult problem because access to the foundation is not as easy. The solution is usually to tear the chimney down and rebuild it.

When a chimney starts to show structural failure with cracks in the masonry or bowing of the masonry, or if the structure has shifted far out of plumb, the chimney needs to be taken down completely and rebuilt. Homeowners should consult with a chimney construction specialist or structural engineer if they are in doubt about what to do, since there is a “gray area” where the solution could be either piering or rebuilding, and is a matter of opinion.



Homeowners can help prevent chimneys from leaning by thoroughly watering the foundation every two or three days during drought in order to keep clay and dirt packed against the foundation.

Prep work involved bracing the chimney so it
didn't collapse during the tear-down process

For the safety of our crew (and to protect the neighbor's house), Gene set up special supports using the neighbor's stone porch as a counter support during the tear down process. The supports were constructed using $250 worth of 4” x 6” x 16' lumber (see photo). This is usually not required, but it is a useful technique to know. The lumber can be reused. The crew set up roof protection and scaffold with safety rails and walk-boards installed, and removed all of the stones from the chimney one at a time from the top down. This is the only way to safely tear down a chimney. A commercial dumpster was placed on site for debris removal, however, most of the stones were still in good condition so they were saved and reused.

Ricky Cline pointing in the new stones

Next, the footing was poured using high strength cement with rebar crisis-crossed 6” apart in the cement. This is tied into the existing foundation of the house. A block foundation was next, then the fireplace, which the homeowner wanted a certain size fireplace measuring 24” x 36”. 

The finished chimney is below:

Spalling brick a sign of severe moisture damage

When chimneys spall, it is a sign of severe moisture penetration of the masonry bricks or stone. Spalling is the flaking off of a brick or stone surface, and is evident when the face of the masonry is missing. Pieces of bricks or stones may be found on the ground or on the roof, which is an indication that there is a problem. This is a common issue in the Kansas City and Midwest area.

Spalling is caused when the masonry absorbs too much moisture from rain and is subjected to freeze/thaw cycles. Damages can be exacerbated by condensation of flue gasses in improperly sized flue liners and gaps or cracks in mortar joints on the interior of the chimney, and by moisture entering the interior of the chimney chase from the top at the cement crown area where cracks or gaps allow water to enter.   If the cement crown is not built with a poured crown with 2” overhand and drip edge per code, damages to the top of the chimney structure will occur more quickly. However, builders seldom build poured crowns due to the added time and expense involved.

Soft type brick is more susceptible to moisture penetration than hard type bricks, but builders often use soft brick because they are less expensive. When building a new home, homeowners should request that hard bricks be used in all construction so they will last many years.

Chimneys usually show damages more extensively because they are more exposed to the elements than the rest of the house. The top portion of the chimney will show the first signs of moisture problems. By the time bricks or stones spall, the damage is done. Spalled bricks or stones cannot be repaired and must be replaced. It may be tempting to save money by replacing spalled bricks and doing partial rebuilding of a chimney, but keep in mind that the entire chimney will need to be rebuilt at some point, so any partial repair is a temporary fix.

Painting chimneys is never a good idea. This servies to temporarily cover up the problem, but will speed up the deterioration process since the bricks can't breathe.  Buyer beware if you see a painted chimney.

The application of masonry water repellant sealer can help stop further penetration of moisture, but bricks that already have interior damage will continue to spall. Masonry water repellant should be applied every year to every five years, depending on when it loses its ability to shed water off the bricks. Professional chimney contractors prefer to use Chimney Saver brand water repellant.

To find a qualified chimney restoration contractor in the greater Kansas City area visit the Midwest Chimney Safety Council or the Masonry Heater Association of North America website.