Chimney Flue Liner Repairs
There are many components involved in a chimney that work together to funnel fumes and combustibles out of your home, but few are more important than the chimney liner. The liner protects the walls of your chimney from damage from water and heat while helping smoke and toxic gases to pass through the chimney smoothly. This is a critical component to your chimney, and therefore its upkeep needs to be taken care of. Mercer County Chimney Services’ trained, insured, and certified technicians examine the state of the chimney liner in any inspection. This is the only way to know for sure that your liner is in working order. If the liner is damaged, we can repair it, or a new one can be installed, as in some cases where an older chimney never even had a liner.
A chimney liner serves as the non-combustible covering of the inside of the chimney, allowing toxic gases, particles, and smoke to pass through. The lining needs to be free of cracks, holes, or deterioration to protect the chimney from the heat and gases that come from a fireplace, furnace or stove. Any breaches can affect the entire system, and there could be a danger of combustible materials escaping into ceilings, adjacent walls or attics. A defective chimney liner can lead to the deterioration of the chimney structure, causing more expensive problems. Older liners are sometimes made of clay tiles or other inferior materials, but we install heavy steel liners to ensure your chimney is protected.
There are a few signs that indicate that you may have a damaged liner. Some of these symptoms include chimney drafting problems, a smell coming from your fireplace and broken pieces of clay in your firebox. Whenever a chimney is not effectively ventilating smoke and combustibles, but is instead letting them back up into the house, this is a good indicator that there is a problem with the chimney lining. A stench emanating from the fireplace could be an indicator that creosote is building up in the chimney liner. There also could be a problem with sulfur in the smoke mixing with moisture, creating a corrosive reaction that can eat through metal liners over and create small holes. Broken pieces of clay appearing in the fireplace is a sign that you have a clay liner that has deteriorated and cracked over the years, which clay tile liners are susceptible to. A chimney sweep should be performed annually, and our chimney sweep technicians will be able to detect lining problems that exist when they perform their task that may not be discovered by any other easy indicators.
You May Need To Replace Your Liner
A lining also may need to be replaced if the homeowner converts to a new type of heating system. Liners do not always work for every type of heating system, and it is important to ensure that your chimney liner is compatible with the venting output requirements of the new system. The chimney system is a complex machine, and it is important to ensure that all elements of the system are working together efficiently.
If your chimney needs relining or liner repair, call us at 609-802-5288. Mercer County Chimney Services operate in cities across the county, including Hamilton NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, West Windsor NJ and East Windsor NJ.