This chimney services both a wood-burning fireplace and a gas furnace and water heater. The damage, as shown in the photo) was caused by two things.
- The gas flue is lined with clay tile, which is not water-tight. Moisture venting up the flue is able to escape into the masonry structure and freeze/thaw cycles throughout the winter will damage the brick and mortar joints.
- The mortar used when the chimney was originally built is portland cement based and is too hard. It will not compress, and therefore the brick itself must give during expansion and contraction cycles with occur as the chimney heats up and cools down.
We rebuilt the chimney from the roof up and installed a stainless steel liner in the gas flue to contain the moisture from the gas appliances.
