Mt. Tabor Chimney Company

FAQ’s for Chimneys & Fireplaces

Q. How do I find a chimney sweep to clean my chimney? I’ve looked in the phone book and on line and there are lots of ads. How do I find the right one for me?
A. Great question. Hiring a chimney sweep is a lot like finding a good contractor or plumber or other professional tradesperson. Ask your friends and neighbors who they use and would recommend. There is no substitute for a recommendation by someone who has used a sweep service and is happy with the results.
Check with the Chimney Safety Institute of America, CSIA web site. CSIA is the only national organization that trains and certifies chimney sweeps to a national standard. They have a search engine that allows you to find all certified sweeps in your area. Find out if chimney sweeps are required to be licensed by your local or state government. Here in Oregon, chimney sweeps are regulated the Oregon Construction Contractor’s Board, ORCCB. You can visit their web site, ORCCB and find out if the company is registered, licensed, insured, and bonded as required and find out if there have been any complaints. Pick up the phone and make some calls. If the company is Oregon based, ask for their CCB number. They should be more than willing to provide it to you. Ask the same set of questions of each service and then decide after that. Ask for customer references. Do not let price alone make your decision for you.

Q. I’ve called three different sweep services for prices and the prices have been really cheap to what I think seems really expensive. How do I know what I should be paying for the service?
A. No one can tell you what the exact right price is for sweeping a chimney. Every sweep company charges according to their business approach. A lot depends upon the level of value you place on the service. If you place a lower value on the service, then you will be unwilling to pay more than you think it is worth. If you place a higher value, then you may be willing to pay a higher fee. Ask specifically what the sweep will do for that price. Ask exactly how they will set up, protect your home and personal property, clean the chimney, and then clean up after completion. Ask how long they will take to complete the work. Ask if they are also performing an inspection during the cleaning and whether or not they will be providing a written report to you showing any problems that may have been observed. Ask how many workers there will be. Many services send only one sweep to do a cleaning while others send two person teams.
It all comes down to the level of value you place on the service and your level of comfort with the fee being charged for the services provided.

Q. We’ve owned our home for 6 years. We’ve only had about 10 fires in that time. Since we use it so infrequently, how often should we have the chimney and fireplace cleaned?
A. Regardless of the amount of use, the Chimney Safety Institute of America, CSIA and the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA recommend that a chimney and fireplace should be cleaned and inspected annually.

Q. I want to install a wood stove insert into my brick fireplace so I can heat my family room. My neighbor says I can buy his really cheap and I see prices in stores for $1500 and up. What should I do?
A. Before you buy a woodstove or other heating appliance to be used in an existing chimney/fireplace, hire a chimney sweep to inspect and clean the chimney and fireplace. Make sure that the sweep you hire is licensed, bonded and insured as required by your local or state government. In addition, it is always helpful to check to see if the sweep is certified through CSIA. You can check by going to CSIA to see a list of all certified sweeps in your area. The sweep should be able to tell you if the chimney and fireplace can support the installation of the heating appliance without any repairs or whether it will require a metal liner. If possible, have the sweep inspect the neighbor’s stove to see if it is in good condition and meets all current standards for your area. Finally, check with local building officials to see if a building permit is required to install any heating appliance in a fireplace. This is a substantial investment you are making so take your time and do not rush into buying the first heating appliance you come across.

Q. I am looking for a wood stove to install in my home for additional heat because the cost of fuel oil and natural gas seems really expensive. What do I look for when shopping for a wood stove?
A. There are several things to consider when buying a wood stove.
First, determine your heating needs. How much area do you want to heat? Do you have the room not only to install the wood stove but to store the firewood? A cord of firewood is 4 ft high by 4 ft wide by 8 ft long. It takes up a lot more room than you might think. Second, consult a local reputable wood stove dealer. Your best bet is to work with a dealer that sells wood stoves and other fireplace heating appliances all year round. The technology used in wood stoves has greatly advanced in the last 20 years and a full time dealer is more likely to be trained on the most recent advances in technology and how they can be used in your home. Find out if the dealer not only sells the stoves but installs and services them. Most dealers have either an installation crew or can recommend a service to install the stove.
Third, check with local building officials to see if a building permit is required before a wood stove can be installed.
Fourth, are you buying new or used? If you are looking at used wood stoves, you must understand that in Oregon, all wood stoves that are to be installed in a home must meet DEQ and EPA emission standards. All wood stoves meeting the requirements will have a sticker or plate attached indicating that the stove meets all emission standards. If you have any questions, get the make and model of the wood stove and go to the DEQ web site and check under the wood stove section to see if the stove is listed. If it is not, it cannot be legally installed in your home.

Q. I tried to build a fire the other night and ended up with more smoke inside the house than going up the chimney. What did I do wrong?
A. There are several possibilities that could be causing this to occur.
The first, and most basic is the damper. The damper is the control that opens and closes the chimney flue. It is normally found just above the fireplace hearth. There is normally a metal handle that extends down that is used to open and close it. Is it open? Does it remain open? Is it open far enough? Debris can accumulate behind the damper preventing it from opening far enough and remaining open. If there appears to be debris build up, hire a chimney sweep to clean and inspect the chimney and fireplace. He should be able to get the damper to open adequately to work as designed. Again, be sure the sweep is licensed, bonded and insured as required by local and state government. A great source to find a quality sweep is visiting the CSIA web site and searching for certified sweeps in your area.
It could be that the smoke chamber, the open area inside your chimney just above the fireplace hearth, is full of cold air. Cold air is heavy and wants to sink. Hot air and smoke from the fire is light and wants to rise. When the two collide, the cold air will prevent the smoke from rising until that area has warmed. A way around this is to take newspaper, roll it up like a torch and light one end. Then extend the torch up through the throat, that area where the damper is located, and allow the heat from the torch to pre-heat the smoke chamber. Do this 3 or 4 times, and then start your fire. Certainly there are more possibilities as to why the smoke came back into the house instead of up the chimney and those can be explained to you by your local, certified chimney sweep.

Q. How do I know what type of firewood to buy and where to buy it?
A. There are many different companies and individuals who sell firewood. Ask questions. Ask what type of wood they have available. Soft woods such as pine and fir burn quickly with lots of pops, cracks and ambiance but provide relatively little heat value. Hard woods such as oak and maple burn hotter, more slowly and do not provide as much ambiance but do provide more heat.
Ask how long the wood has seasoned. For firewood to dry adequately, it must age for a minimum of one year. Any firewood that has not aged for at least a year is likely to be green. Green means that it still has pitch and a high amount of moisture. This can lead to smoky fires that can create large amounts of ash, soot and can lead to creosote build up inside your fireplace and chimney.
Ask anyone you know who uses a fireplace or wood stove on a regular basis where they get their wood.

Q. I build a big fire in my fireplace and the heat only extends out a few feet. How come I can’t heat the entire family room with my fireplace?
A. Fireplaces are inherently inefficient. They are not designed to act as a heat source in your home. It is quite normal for 50% of the heat to go up the chimney. Fireplaces are intended to add ambiance. They are not intended to replace your furnace. If you want to use the fireplace as a heat source, explore your options for installing a wood stove or pellet stove.

Q. I feel a cold draft around the fireplace during the winter when it is not being used. Why is that?
A. That cold draft is most likely due to having the damper open in your chimney. Leaving the damper open allows the warm air to escape up the chimney. The chimney can be the biggest source of heat escaping from your home next to leaving all the doors and windows open. When the fireplace is not in use, always keep the damper closed. The damper is not airtight, but it will slow the escape of warm air considerably. Adding glass doors to the front of the fireplace can also slow the escape of warm air.

Q. I am buying a home and the home inspector suggested I have a chimney sweep come out and inspect the chimney and fireplace. Is this necessary and how much will it cost?
A. Your home inspector is doing the prudent thing. He has recognized that there are conditions that may exist within the chimney and fireplace that he is not an expert in and is referring to an expert to review.
A separate chimney and fireplace inspection is recommended whenever a home is sold. This recommendation has been made by the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA. The details can be reviewed in their publication NFPA 211, Rev. 2006. According to their recommendations, a Level 2 inspection is to be performed each time a home is sold that has a fireplace or chimney that vents combustion byproducts from your home. This would include the venting for your furnace, wood stove, pellet stove, wood burning fireplace, gas fireplace, and gas water heater.
There are 3 levels of inspections for chimneys. Level 1 is a sight only inspection on what can be readily observed. This is normally the type of inspection that a home inspector may provide. Level 2 inspections include all the criteria for a Level 1 inspection as well as using a special camera that can be used inside the chimney flue to examine for any cracks, deterioration or failure that may have occurred. Level 3 inspections require all the criteria for a Level 1 and Level 2 inspection and require the dismantling of the chimney or framing around the chimney structure to find any problems.
Level 1 is the most basic and Level 3 the most advanced. An experienced chimney sweep is capable of all levels of inspections but may choose not to offer one or more of the levels of inspections. If you need a specific type of inspection, be sure to ask if they offer it, the cost and how long it will take to complete the report.
The cost varies with each type of inspection. It is not possible to give you an exact amount that may be charged. As with hiring a chimney sweep to clean your chimney, it is necessary for you to call a number of sweep services and find out what they offer, the price, and then make an informed decision.

Q. There is no cover on the top of our chimney and I’ve seen birds go in and out. What can I do to prevent birds or other animals from getting into the chimney and possibly into my home?
A. A chimney cap will prevent all animals from entering the chimney and potentially into your home. A chimney cap is a relatively inexpensive option and can be done by most chimney sweep companies. There are a broad variety of caps that can be used so your best solution is to contact a sweep company, ask them to come out and have them show you the different types available and what they recommend as a solution.
Now, to go one step further, if the sweep observes that the birds are nesting and living in the chimney, here in Oregon he cannot remove them. The removal of living animals from a chimney must be performed by a company licensed to conduct such removals. Your chimney sweep can recommend a service to you.
There are 3 reasons why a chimney cap is important. Keeping animals out is one. Another is to prevent live, hot embers from escaping and possibly causing a fire on your roof, the neighbor’s roof, yard, or any structure in the area. The final reason is to keep moisture from entering the chimney. Preventing moisture entry is really the most important reason. Moisture is an enemy to a masonry chimney. Moisture is readily absorbed by the brick, mortar and lining material. This moisture during the winter becomes very cold. When a fire is started and the hot smoke rises it meets the extreme cold of the lining. This causes a stress to occur. This stress is called thermal shock. The lining will twist as much as it can within the chimney and will crack before warming up and returning to a normal position. Every time a fire is started, this process repeats. The more time it repeats the more the stress causes a crack to occur. Over time, this will result in failure of the lining. Once the lining has failed, it must be removed and replaced. This is a labor intensive repair and can be very expensive. Moisture entry into a metal chimney can also be a problem. It will cause rusting and eventually the metal can rust through and fail.


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FAQ’s for Chimneys & Fireplaces Q. How do I find a chimney sweep to clean my chimney? I’ve looked in the phone book and on line and there are lots of ads. How do I find the right one for me? A. Great question. Hiring a chimney sweep is a lot like finding a good contractor or plumber or other professional tradesperson. Ask your friends and neighbors who they use and would recommend. There is no substitute for a recommendation by someone who has used a sweep service and is happy with the results. Check with the Chimney Safety Institute of America, CSIA web site. CSIA is the only national organization that trains and certifies chimney sweeps to a national standard. They have a search engine that allows you to find all certified sweeps in your area. Find out if chimney sweeps are required to be licensed by your local or state government. Here in Oregon, chimney sweeps are regulated the Oregon Construction Contractor’s Board, ORCCB. You can visit their web site, ORCCB and find out if the company is registered, licensed, insured, and bonded as required and find out if there have been any complaints. Pick up the phone and make some calls. If the company is Oregon based, ask for their CCB number. They should be more than willing to provide it to you. Ask the same set of questions of each service and then decide after that. Ask for customer references. Do not let price alone make your decision for you. Q. I’ve called three different sweep services for prices and the prices have been really cheap to what I think seems really expensive. How do I know what I should be paying for the service? A. No one can tell you what the exact right price is for sweeping a chimney. Every sweep company charges according to their business approach. A lot depends upon the level of value you place on the service. If you place a lower value on the service, then you will be unwilling to pay more than you think it is worth. If you place a higher value, then you may be willing to pay a higher fee. Ask specifically what the sweep will do for that price. Ask exactly how they will set up, protect your home and personal property, clean the chimney, and then clean up after completion. Ask how long they will take to complete the work. Ask if they are also performing an inspection during the cleaning and whether or not they will be providing a written report to you showing any problems that may have been observed. Ask how many workers there will be. Many services send only one sweep to do a cleaning while others send two person teams. It all comes down to the level of value you place on the service and your level of comfort with the fee being charged for the services provided. Q. We’ve owned our home for 6 years. We’ve only had about 10 fires in that time. Since we use it so infrequently, how often should we have the chimney and fireplace cleaned? A. Regardless of the amount of use, the Chimney Safety Institute of America, CSIA and the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA recommend that a chimney and fireplace should be cleaned and inspected annually. Q. I want to install a wood stove insert into my brick fireplace so I can heat my family room. My neighbor says I can buy his really cheap and I see prices in stores for $1500 and up. What should I do? A. Before you buy a woodstove or other heating appliance to be used in an existing chimney/fireplace, hire a chimney sweep to inspect and clean the chimney and fireplace. Make sure that the sweep you hire is licensed, bonded and insured as required by your local or state government. In addition, it is always helpful to check to see if the sweep is certified through CSIA. You can check by going to CSIA to see a list of all certified sweeps in your area. The sweep should be able to tell you if the chimney and fireplace can support the installation of the heating appliance without any repairs or whether it will require a metal liner. If possible, have the sweep inspect the neighbor’s stove to see if it is in good condition and meets all current standards for your area. Finally, check with local building officials to see if a building permit is required to install any heating appliance in a fireplace. This is a substantial investment you are making so take your time and do not rush into buying the first heating appliance you come across. Q. I am looking for a wood stove to install in my home for additional heat because the cost of fuel oil and natural gas seems really expensive. What do I look for when shopping for a wood stove? A. There are several things to consider when buying a wood stove. First, determine your heating needs. How much area do you want to heat? Do you have the room not only to install the wood stove but to store the firewood? A cord of firewood is 4 ft high by 4 ft wide by 8 ft long. It takes up a lot more room than you might think. Second, consult a local reputable wood stove dealer. Your best bet is to work with a dealer that sells wood stoves and other fireplace heating appliances all year round. The technology used in wood stoves has greatly advanced in the last 20 years and a full time dealer is more likely to be trained on the most recent advances in technology and how they can be used in your home. Find out if the dealer not only sells the stoves but installs and services them. Most dealers have either an installation crew or can recommend a service to install the stove. Third, check with local building officials to see if a building permit is required before a wood stove can be installed. Fourth, are you buying new or used? If you are looking at used wood stoves, you must understand that in Oregon, all wood stoves that are to be installed in a home must meet DEQ and EPA emission standards. All wood stoves meeting the requirements will have a sticker or plate attached indicating that the stove meets all emission standards. If you have any questions, get the make and model of the wood stove and go to the DEQ web site and check under the wood stove section to see if the stove is listed. If it is not, it cannot be legally installed in your home. Q. I tried to build a fire the other night and ended up with more smoke inside the house than going up the chimney. What did I do wrong? A. There are several possibilities that could be causing this to occur. The first, and most basic is the damper. The damper is the control that opens and closes the chimney flue. It is normally found just above the fireplace hearth. There is normally a metal handle that extends down that is used to open and close it. Is it open? Does it remain open? Is it open far enough? Debris can accumulate behind the damper preventing it from opening far enough and remaining open. If there appears to be debris build up, hire a chimney sweep to clean and inspect the chimney and fireplace. He should be able to get the damper to open adequately to work as designed. Again, be sure the sweep is licensed, bonded and insured as required by local and state government. A great source to find a quality sweep is visiting the CSIA web site and searching for certified sweeps in your area. It could be that the smoke chamber, the open area inside your chimney just above the fireplace hearth, is full of cold air. Cold air is heavy and wants to sink. Hot air and smoke from the fire is light and wants to rise. When the two collide, the cold air will prevent the smoke from rising until that area has warmed. A way around this is to take newspaper, roll it up like a torch and light one end. Then extend the torch up through the throat, that area where the damper is located, and allow the heat from the torch to pre-heat the smoke chamber. Do this 3 or 4 times, and then start your fire. Certainly there are more possibilities as to why the smoke came back into the house instead of up the chimney and those can be explained to you by your local, certified chimney sweep. Q. How do I know what type of firewood to buy and where to buy it? A. There are many different companies and individuals who sell firewood. Ask questions. Ask what type of wood they have available. Soft woods such as pine and fir burn quickly with lots of pops, cracks and ambiance but provide relatively little heat value. Hard woods such as oak and maple burn hotter, more slowly and do not provide as much ambiance but do provide more heat. Ask how long the wood has seasoned. For firewood to dry adequately, it must age for a minimum of one year. Any firewood that has not aged for at least a year is likely to be green. Green means that it still has pitch and a high amount of moisture. This can lead to smoky fires that can create large amounts of ash, soot and can lead to creosote build up inside your fireplace and chimney. Ask anyone you know who uses a fireplace or wood stove on a regular basis where they get their wood. Q. I build a big fire in my fireplace and the heat only extends out a few feet. How come I can’t heat the entire family room with my fireplace? A. Fireplaces are inherently inefficient. They are not designed to act as a heat source in your home. It is quite normal for 50% of the heat to go up the chimney. Fireplaces are intended to add ambiance. They are not intended to replace your furnace. If you want to use the fireplace as a heat source, explore your options for installing a wood stove or pellet stove. Q. I feel a cold draft around the fireplace during the winter when it is not being used. Why is that? A. That cold draft is most likely due to having the damper open in your chimney. Leaving the damper open allows the warm air to escape up the chimney. The chimney can be the biggest source of heat escaping from your home next to leaving all the doors and windows open. When the fireplace is not in use, always keep the damper closed. The damper is not airtight, but it will slow the escape of warm air considerably. Adding glass doors to the front of the fireplace can also slow the escape of warm air. Q. I am buying a home and the home inspector suggested I have a chimney sweep come out and inspect the chimney and fireplace. Is this necessary and how much will it cost? A. Your home inspector is doing the prudent thing. He has recognized that there are conditions that may exist within the chimney and fireplace that he is not an expert in and is referring to an expert to review. A separate chimney and fireplace inspection is recommended whenever a home is sold. This recommendation has been made by the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA. The details can be reviewed in their publication NFPA 211, Rev. 2006. According to their recommendations, a Level 2 inspection is to be performed each time a home is sold that has a fireplace or chimney that vents combustion byproducts from your home. This would include the venting for your furnace, wood stove, pellet stove, wood burning fireplace, gas fireplace, and gas water heater. There are 3 levels of inspections for chimneys. Level 1 is a sight only inspection on what can be readily observed. This is normally the type of inspection that a home inspector may provide. Level 2 inspections include all the criteria for a Level 1 inspection as well as using a special camera that can be used inside the chimney flue to examine for any cracks, deterioration or failure that may have occurred. Level 3 inspections require all the criteria for a Level 1 and Level 2 inspection and require the dismantling of the chimney or framing around the chimney structure to find any problems. Level 1 is the most basic and Level 3 the most advanced. An experienced chimney sweep is capable of all levels of inspections but may choose not to offer one or more of the levels of inspections. If you need a specific type of inspection, be sure to ask if they offer it, the cost and how long it will take to complete the report. The cost varies with each type of inspection. It is not possible to give you an exact amount that may be charged. As with hiring a chimney sweep to clean your chimney, it is necessary for you to call a number of sweep services and find out what they offer, the price, and then make an informed decision. Q. There is no cover on the top of our chimney and I’ve seen birds go in and out. What can I do to prevent birds or other animals from getting into the chimney and possibly into my home? A. A chimney cap will prevent all animals from entering the chimney and potentially into your home. A chimney cap is a relatively inexpensive option and can be done by most chimney sweep companies. There are a broad variety of caps that can be used so your best solution is to contact a sweep company, ask them to come out and have them show you the different types available and what they recommend as a solution. Now, to go one step further, if the sweep observes that the birds are nesting and living in the chimney, here in Oregon he cannot remove them. The removal of living animals from a chimney must be performed by a company licensed to conduct such removals. Your chimney sweep can recommend a service to you. There are 3 reasons why a chimney cap is important. Keeping animals out is one. Another is to prevent live, hot embers from escaping and possibly causing a fire on your roof, the neighbor’s roof, yard, or any structure in the area. The final reason is to keep moisture from entering the chimney. Preventing moisture entry is really the most important reason. Moisture is an enemy to a masonry chimney. Moisture is readily absorbed by the brick, mortar and lining material. This moisture during the winter becomes very cold. When a fire is started and the hot smoke rises it meets the extreme cold of the lining. This causes a stress to occur. This stress is called thermal shock. The lining will twist as much as it can within the chimney and will crack before warming up and returning to a normal position. Every time a fire is started, this process repeats. The more time it repeats the more the stress causes a crack to occur. Over time, this will result in failure of the lining. Once the lining has failed, it must be removed and replaced. This is a labor intensive repair and can be very expensive. Moisture entry into a metal chimney can also be a problem. It will cause rusting and eventually the metal can rust through and fail.