Chimney Definition
Commonly a chimney is described as a vertical structure incorporated into a building and enclosing a flue or flues that extends above the roof and carries smoke and/or fumes to the exterior. Defective chimneys are the cause of most failed WETT Inspections.
Common Types of Chimneys
The masonry chimney is probably the most common form of chimney that I have inspected in the past ten years. Many older homes had one or multiple masonry chimneys installed. The problem with masonry chimneys is water penetration. All masonry chimney materials, except stone, will suffer premature deterioration as a result of extended contact with water. Masonry materials deteriorate rapidly when exposed to the freeze/thaw process, in which moisture that has penetrated the materials periodically freezes and expands causing damage. Water in the chimney also causes rust in steel and cast iron, weakening or destroying the metal parts. In Ontario you are required to use a one piece concrete cap with drip edge rather than old style mortar caps which were the cause of most water related problems. Adding a rain cap to your chimney can also greatly extend life of masonry and metal products.
Chimney Liners can consist of clay, ceramic or metal vent installed inside your chimney and are designed to keep products of combustion contained and directed to the exterior of building. The liner has three main functions, which are:
(1) The liner protects the house components from heat transfer, protecting combustibles.
(2) The liner protects masonry components from corrosive products of combustion.
(3) Liners provide the optimum flue for efficiency of fireplace or wood stove.
Clay tiles are the most common types of liner found in masonry chimneys. Clay liners are susceptible to cracking from heat or water intrusion and must be repaired prior to using chimney.
Cast in Place liners are light weight, castable, cement like product that provide a smooth, seamless passage for products of combustion in your chimney.
Metal Chimney Liners are the most common type of addition to aging or damaged masonry chimneys. For wood burning stainless steel liners are required and must be installed in accordance with manufactures instructions. Liner systems are tested and rated by UL or ULC and may not be modified beyond scope of installation instructions.
Chimneys and your homes Neutral Pressure Plane
Homes that have been renovated or newly constructed are made more airtight. This prevents makeup air from entering the home. This is common described as, “hot air rises”, and so does the warm air in your home.
When the warm air rises to the upper areas it’s creates a stack effect. That trapped air creates a pressurized area and forces its way out – through even very small openings such as recessed light fixtures and window frames. At the same time replacement air is trying to enter in the lower part of the building to make up for the escaping air.
Somewhere in your house is an area called the Neutral Pressure Plane (NPP). Above this theoretical plane, the air pressure is slightly positive compared to the outdoor air pressure and is trying to force its way out of the house. Below the plane, it is slightly negative and the house is trying to draw air in. The location of the NPP can constantly change in response to changing tempertures and openings in your home.
All of the factors that affect airflow in the house also influence the level of the Neutral Pressure Plane. Some affects are using dryers, cooking exhaust fans and bathroom fans.
Anytime a fireplace or fuel-fired heating appliance (except direct vent) is below the plane, air will tend to flow into the house through the chimney or vent. A common example of this is found in homes with two fireplaces, one below the other. As the upper level fireplace uses air for combustion and chimney flow, it depressurizes that level slightly causing air to flow upwards from the lower level. Since the lower level fireplace is below the NPP, it draws air into the basement through the chimney. Unfortunately, since those two flues generally exit the chimney close to each other, the makeup air can contain some smoke from the fireplace above and it can pick up unpleasant chimney odors as it passes down the chimney flue.
Call the Alliston WETT Inspection service for your Fireplace, Wood Stove or Pellet Stove certified inspection. WETT Certified for over 15 years. Call Roger at 705-795-8255
When buying a home with a wood stove, pellet stove or fireplace you can receive a $75.00 WETT Inspection in Alliston as part of home inspection package.
Concrete and Your Home by the Barrie Building Inspector
Tarion reports that each year a significant percent of basements are constructed with serious defects. At the same time, home buyers are demanding a higher standard of quality workmanship and moisture control than ever before. Part of this is due to consumer education by Home Inspections, TV Programs and articles on poor workmanship.
Concrete is basically a mixture of cement, water and aggregates. The paste, formed by cement and water, coats the surface of sand and stone, binding them together, to form concrete.
ASTM’s cement and concrete standards are instrumental in the evaluation and testing of concrete, cement, and aggregates. Concrete can have different properties depending upon the mixture that is used in creating it, which contains cement, chemical admixtures, and aggregates. These ingredients are mixed with water to create concrete which is used as a primary construction material in buildings.
One simple on site test typically performed in the concrete slump test. The slump test measures the consistency of the concrete in that specific batch. This test is performed to check the consistency of freshly made concrete. It is used to indicate the degree of wetness. Workability of concrete is mainly affected by consistency i.e. wetter mixes will be more workable than drier mixes, but concrete of the same consistency may vary in workability. It is also used to determine consistency between individual batches.
Regular concrete, such as used in residential construction, has a compressive strength rating, varying from 10 MPa (megapascal) to 40 MPa (5800 psi). Concrete cures for a period of 28 days when it will reach approximately 90% of its final strength. Controlling the moisture during the first three days is critical to preventing cracking and shrinkage. Allowing the moisture to evaporate too quickly can cause tensile stresses which can result in more shrinkage cracks. Keeping concrete damp during the curing process minimizes cracking. Spraying water over concrete and covering with plastic sheeting are two common methods used for residential construction. Concrete can continue curing and increasing in strength for up to 3 years.
Air entrainment is recommended for nearly all concretes, principally to improve resistance to freezing when exposed to water and deicing chemicals. Air-entrained concrete contains billions of microscopic air cells per cubic foot. These air pockets relieve internal pressure on the concrete by providing tiny chambers for water to expand into when it freezes. Air-entrained concrete is produced through the use of air-entraining portland cement, or by the introduction of air-entraining agents, under careful engineering supervision as the concrete is mixed on the job. The amount of entrained air is usually between 4 percent and 7 percent of the volume of the concrete, but may be varied as required by special conditions. Entrained Concrete
Chemical admixtures are the ingredients in concrete other than portland cement, water, and aggregate that are added to the mix immediately before or during mixing. Producers use admixtures primarily to reduce the cost of concrete construction; to modify the properties of hardened concrete; to ensure the quality of concrete during mixing, transporting, placing, and curing; and to overcome certain emergencies during concrete operations.
Your finish of the exterior of your basement determines the amount of MPa required by the Ontario Building Code. Most modern homes have a damp-proof coating, which was installed to meet local building code requirements as the home was being constructed. This is usually a tar or asphalt based product applied to the exterior or your home. This product is not to be confused with water proofing, which is a completely different process. Damp proofing allows the concrete to cure without moisture entering during this process. Many damp proofing will fail after a couple of years and if basement is subjected to high water table, will most likely leak in some form.
Many new home buyers confuse the dimple wrap placed around most basements as a water proof membrane. The dimple design of the wrap creates an air gap between the membrane and foundation wall so exterior drainage water or damp/wet earth is never in contact with the poured concrete or cement block foundation wall. Instead water will be drained to the weeping or drain tiles, leaving the foundation walls dry.
Many new home builders will repair any significant cracks by injection of foam or epoxy. Having a Pre-Delivery Inspection can identify these issues that you may miss and usually once that window of opportunity is missed, your on your own. Tarion will not require builder to repair crack unless it is wider than 1/2 inch or water is entering home. If you are in the Barrie area, call the Barrie Home Inspector, to accompany you on your Pre-Delivery inspection. It’s your Peace of Mind that is at stake.
Many custom home are using ICF building process to construct their foundations Insulated Concrete Forms may use polystyrene blocks or panels as the formwork into which reinforcing steel and concrete are placed. These polystyrene forms are left in place to give your home an exceptional R-value. Their history dates back to the period after World War II, when blocks of treated wood fibers held together by cement were used in Switzerland. Some of the benefits of ICF construction is the strength, disaster resistant, mold and rot resistant, sound deadening and energy efficient. Some companies refer to the lack of chemicals used compared to wood framing where there may be VOC’s present from glues etc.
Building with Masonry Blocks. Every block wall-regardless of height or length-should be placed on a secure footing of poured concrete. A block barbecue grill or outdoor fireplace requires a large concrete pad as a footing. The footing must extend down beyond the frost line to prevent heaving in the winter. Part of the home inspection is checking for support footings for any added structures.
For a footing poured in an area where drainage is a problem, lay a drain line along the outer edge of the form. Allow for a drop of about 1″ for each 20′ of drain line. Backfill over the drain line with about 12″ of crushed stone or gravel. In Ontario this is mandatory and must be installed for any building of 100 square feet in size.
Building exact corners is the most important construction of a masonry wall as corners will guide the building of the rest of the wall. A corner pole will make the job easier. A corner pole is any type of post which can be braced into a true vertical position and which will hold a taut mason’s line without bending. Two such poles are set up, one on each corner, with the mason’s line stretched between them. Corner poles for block walls should be marked every 4 to 8 inches, depending on how high the material is with which you are building the wall. Such marks must be absolutely level when the mason’s line is stretched between them.
Before starting to lay the blocks, drive stakes into the ground and build a form at each corner. These stakes and forms can be made from scrap pieces of wood used on the job. Locate the exact corner by stretching lines from one corner form to the other. The exact corner will be the point at which the two lines cross. Drop a plumb bob down from each line, both at the corner point where the lines cross and at positions about 2′ out in each direction.
Make sure the mason’s line is stretched taut and attached to the line holder at each corner. The line should be no further away than 1/8″ from the face of the wall, and when the block is set into the mortar to form a 3/8″ mortar joint, the top of the block should be even with top of the mason’s line. Allowing the block to touch the mason’s line is called “crowding the line” and could cause a bulge in the wall.
Probably nothing is more confusing to the lay mason than mortar mixes. And it’s not hard to see why: There are three different kinds of mortar available for brick- and block-work: cement-lime mortar, masonry cement mortar, and the awkwardly named mortar cement mortar.
One of the main advantages to using mortar and masonry block is you can build in areas where cement trucks can no access. Whether on an island or back in the woods masonry blocks can be hauled in and your project completed.
- Foundation. All concrete block walls must rest on a sturdy foundation of poured concrete. The depth and size of the foundation will vary depending on the size of the concrete block wall and the weight it must support, but a typical freestanding wall requires a foundation that is about twice as wide as the wall itself and which extends about 1 foot down below the frost line.
- Concrete block. Block shapes and sizes are chosen to match the function of the wall and the configuration of the wall. Most cement block walls will use several different types of blocks, especially stretchers and corner units.
- Mortar joints. Each row of blocks is joined to the adjoining blocks with either type N (above grade) or type S (below grade) mortar. For greatest strength, most concrete block walls are assembled so the vertical joints are offset (staggered) from one course to the next.
- Reinforcement. Freestanding block walls can be subject to stresses that can crack joints and destroy walls, so both vertical and horizontal reinforcement is common. Vertical reinforcement is provided by lengths of steel rebar embedded in wet concrete that is poured into block cavities at prescribed intervals. Horizontal reinforcement is provided by metal reinforcement strips laid into the wet mortar after every third or fourth course of block.
Learn more about Certified WETT Inspections in Barrie, Orillia and Alliston for guaranteed Peace of Mind. For a Professional Certified WETT Inspections in Barrie, Orillia and Alliston to protect your home.
Masonry and Your Home’s Construction. Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar, and the term also refers to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone (such as marble, granite, travertine and limestone), concrete block, glass block, and tile. Masonry is generally a highly durable form of construction. However, the materials used, the quality of the mortar, the workmanship, and the pattern the units are assembled in can strongly affect the durability of the overall masonry construction.
Masonry is commonly used for the walls of houses, but its popularity depends sometimes on the geographical area. Brick and concrete block are common types of masonry. They may be either load-bearing (structural) or used as a veneer. Blocks of cinder concrete (cinder blocks or breezeblocks), ordinary concrete (concrete blocks), or hollow tile are generically known as Concrete Masonry Units (CMUs). They usually are much larger than ordinary bricks and so are much faster to lay for a wall of a given size. Furthermore, cinder and concrete blocks typically have much lower water absorption rates than brick. They often are used as the structural core for veneered brick masonry, or are used alone for the walls of factories, garages and other industrial style buildings where such appearance is acceptable or desirable.
Polymer cement mortars (PCM) are the materials which are made by partially replacing the cement hydrate binders of conventional cement mortar with polymers. The polymeric admixtures include latexes or emulsions, redispersible polymer powders, water-soluble polymers, liquid resins and monomers. It has low permeability, and it reduces the incidence of drying shrinkage cracking, mainly designed for repairing concrete structures.
Most insulated buildings that utilize concrete block, brick, adobe, stone, veneers or some combination thereof feature interior insulation in the form of fiberglass batts between wooden wall studs or in the form of rigid insulation boards covered with plaster or drywall. In most climates this insulation is much more effective on the exterior of the wall, allowing the building interior to take advantage of the aforementioned thermal mass of the masonry. This technique does, however, require some sort of weather-resistant exterior surface over the insulation and, consequently, is generally more expensive.
Concrete block, when reinforced with concrete columns and tie beams, is a very common building material for the load-bearing walls of buildings, in what is termed “concrete block structure” (CBS) construction. American suburban houses typically employ a concrete foundation and slab with a concrete block wall on the perimeter. Large buildings typically use copious amounts of concrete block; for even larger buildings, concrete block supplements steel I-beams.
Masonry deterioration may happen by spalling, which is mechanical weathering that can be caused by freezing, thawing, thermal expansion and contraction, and salt deposition. Direct spraying of water onto masonry can cause mechanical damage and spalling. Spalling can be described as crumbling or flaking at the masonry’s surface.
Salt spalling is a specific type of weathering that can occur in brick, natural stone, tiles and concrete. Dissolved salt is carried through the material in water and then crystallizes inside the material near the surface as the water evaporates. As the salt crystals expand, this builds up shear stresses that break away and create spalling at the surface.
The Barrie Home Inspector has the training and experience to properly identify masonry deficiencies in your home. Some of the issues with masonry includes settlement and shrinkage cracks. Cracks are commonly found at lintels. When a lintel develops rust, the steel expands and pushes up on the masonry units of the wall. A rusting lintel can cause horizontal and step cracks in the masonry. The cracks then expand outward from the top corners of door and window openings. When choosing your home inspector remember that experience can not be learned.
Find out more about The Barrie Home Inspector, then visit Construction Inspection’s site on how to choose the best Construction Inspection Pricing Overview for all your On Site Inspections.
How To Choose Concrete Cleaning Products. Without a doubt, stained surfaces just like driveway can certainly make the exterior of you home less attractive. For this reason, you should find means in order to keep your homes concrete clean. You should keep in mind that concrete as well as cement are different. Many people are often confused with such.
The latter is powder component of the first that is grayish in color. This mixed with other materials such as water and sand. It is advisable to clean the material on a regular basis regardless if homeowners want to do the work themselves or use a high-pressure cleaning service.
Cleaning the material is possible by utilizing a mixture the is composed of phosphorous as well as water or one that is composed or detergent as well as water. Medium dirt build-up can be eliminated by applying this. Phosphoric acid is composed of elements of hydrogen, phosphorous, and oxygen. Rust as well as mineral deposits from floors can be eliminated so it is often utilized in a number of detergents.
.Utilizing hydrochloric acid-based product is highly recommended for heavy dirt build-up Still, you should take caution when utilizing hydrochloric acid. This is due to the fact that this acid is extremely strong. Although it can be utilized to eliminate rust, for some reason, such cleaning product can result to rust-colored satins.
Homeowners should try the cleaner first in an unnoticeable area. It is advisable test it before using. Greasy dirt on this material can be removed by using cleaners that are alkaline-based. For instance, an alkaline-based floor cleaner can be used to clean large build-up of grease on this material.
Eliminating staining just like oil can be carried out by using a solution that is known as trisodium. These fluid ingredients are used as better as well. This is because this can melt other components. However, nutrient mood can be employed to fresh the content too. These adhesives are naphtha chemicals. After its program, it should be remaining to dry. Then, it must be washed with water. Several uses are essential for the dirt to vanish absolutely.
Sealing can minimize the time required to clean the material. Dirt build-up can be prevented by means of utilizing clear sealers just like acrylic or methacrylate. Moss can be eliminated by utilizing a home concrete cleaner that has ammonium sulfamate. Moss tends to grow in materials that are damp. This cleaner is capable of killing weed.
<img class=”alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1152″ style=”border: 2px solid black; margin: 8px;” alt=”damaged chimney Barrie WETT inspections” src=”http://www.napoleon.cc/articles/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/damaged-chimney1-150×150.jpg” width=”150″Chimney Repairs Are Important. Never underestimate the value of excellent chimney repairs. The structural integrity of both the inner and outer chambers is incredibly important when you are talking about overall safety and the integrity of your home. Fire safety is a big part of the picture, naturally, as is the importance of the role of a smoke stack in keeping your home strong.
There are professional fireplace contractors that can help you learn everything you need to know about your smoke stack and the exterior portion of the chimney. By getting real information you can make a sound choice about repairing any damaged or weakening areas to prevent disaster. There will be an evaluation of the outer and inner chambers with special tools. The knowledge of the contractor will also help find any potential hazards. For contractors in your area masonry jobs often include chimneys for wood burning stoves. However, there is just as much of a need for maintenance when it comes to gas or electric fireplaces.
During the burning process or heating process the smoke stack serves as a way to allow waste product to leave the building. It is important to have all chimneys checked for integrity. Cracking can be a serious problem. Any kind of separation in the seams can potentially become a fire hazard and allows waste gasses to seep into the home. By dealing with them quickly you not only set up a much safer environment but you also seal in the heat that the stack generates. It is never a good idea to allow these things to go untended.
The external structure needs to be just as sound. Missing bricks or falling masonry can lead to serious structural issues that can become problematic at the worst times. Storms, ice, and snow can weaken the surrounding areas. Eventual collapse can happen if the integrity is compromised. It is much easier to handle maintenance than it is to rebuild from serious damage.
Once a year everyone with a fireplace should include a good cleaning and inspection of the interior and exterior chambers. Usually, once the cleaning is complete an inspection will often reveal that everything is looking sound. If there are any potential or existing problems you have likely minimized the expense of repair by catching it early. Catching problems in the first stages is much less costly than waiting until the problems are growing out of control. Chimney repairs that are needed will be much cheaper if they are caught early.
By scheduling a check up annually you know you are ready for the upcoming winter season. In order to make sure all is well, you need an annual cleaning and dual chamber inspection. It could protect your home and family. Call the Barrie Home Inspector for all your WETT Inspection needs.
