How do I know if my fireplace is safe to use?

Question

my house was built in 1963, there are two fire places each with its own flue, contained in the same brick chimney. short of having an inspection, what can i do to determine if its fire worthy?

Answer 1

I worked for my dad in masonry construction and we did fire place inspections. first thing, look at the brick in the box. they should not be broken or loose, make sure to look all the way up the chimney as far as the brick goes. look at the grout joint between the bricks. vacuum out fireplace....are the joints full or is the mortar broken, chipped or missing? check the damper...the thing inside the flue that controls air flow. it should be within easy reach from inside and has a handle to open/close. make sure it is working properly, open/close it several times. next...get on the roof and look down the chimney with a flashlight. you are looking to see that the chimney is complete, the clay pipe or brick should be intact with good joints in brick. and you should be able to see light from inside when the flue is open. have someone inside and shine the flashlight down to make sure flue it not blocked in any way. birds and squirrils can build nest in there. remove any blockage. last step is to build a small fire and watch it closely. make sure the chimney 'draws' smoke and that it does not come back into the house.

you can help keep your chimney cleaner by saving your citrus fruit peelings and putting them into the fire when you have a hot fire burning. it helps break down the build up in the chimney.

Answer 2

You say "The same brick" chimney, this is the giveaway. "Brick if this is what you mean, or are you just using the terminology? If indeed it's a brick chimney then it's unsafe even if I haven't seen it. You also say "1963" another "giveaway" if indeed the chimney was built and used since 1963 and it's brick, I can only guess it's in bad shape.

The mortar between the brick has probably rotted and, is crumbling so, what you have to do is put a liner in. This isn't really hard.

The brick has probably got holes that will let in fumes, smoke and possibly fire, this is where house fires come from.
A liner will stop this. If your handy you can do this your self. Or a handyman in the area that's really good at this without charging ou too much.

I wouldn't use the chimney without putting in a liner.

Answer 3

Check if there is anything that is capable of catching on fire. If there is no suspicious stuff that is going to get on fire. Clean the chimney with a broom if it is dirty. After that inspect the chimney for yourself if thats ok then just put some logs in there and light them up. Sit and watch the logs burn, if you see any lots of smoke coming into the room put the out the burning logs. If that doesn't happen in two or three hours past put it out. If that goes well then try it couple of times a week.

An inspector might miss something and will charge very expensive, so examine every bit of the fireplace and chimney looking for cracks and broken bricks.

Answer 4

Without a scope you really cannot tell. The chimney sweeps have a scope they send down the chimney to determine whether the bricks are all mortared in properly, none are loose or missing or cracked. You can go up on the roof to see whether the spark arrestor is properly attached and there are no animals nesting up there. You can inspect the bricks in the firebox yourself. But, having had a chimney fire earlier this year at my home, I highly advise paying the $150 to have the chimney inspected and cleaned by a professional for your own safety.

Answer 5

if you mean a real fire, just set fire to a sheet of newspaper in the fireplace whilst a friend checks outside that the smoke exits via the chimney.
if you're talking about installing a gas fire the same method would apply, but whoever installs the gas fire will have to install a new flue liner to the back of the gas fire to go right through the original brick flue. must be corgi registered.....

Answer 6

Can I Use My Fireplace

Answer 7

Have an inspector look at it , it's worth the money to be on the safe side ,you don't want your house to burn down because of a few bucks Really better safe than sorry,,besides you can have a piece of mind about it ,, that alone for me would be worth the money,,,( Be Safe )

Answer 8

use CO2 detection

if the chimney is not long enough or being blocked by the nest of bird. the CO2 will blow back into the living room.

CO2 exposured
5,000 ppm = no effect
40,000 ppm = headache
90,000 ppm = death in 4 hr
120,000 ppm = death in 1 min

Answer 9

Their is nothing short of an inspection

Answer 10

an inspection is the safest way. will end up being better than someone losing their life.