The Smoke Chamber
The traditional masonry fireplace has what is called a smoke chamber. That is the area of the chimney system just above the fireplace, which the customer is unable to see, that tapers up to the flue passage. It is the transition between the fireplace and the flue, and if properly designed is supposed to smoothly evacuate the smoke and products of combustion out of the fireplace to the flue, and eventually out of the house to the outdoors. Virtually all chimney professionals agree that the smoke chamber is the most vulnerable and neglected part of a fireplace system. The “Blow-N-Go” sweep companies usually don’t even sweep this area, let alone inspect it.
Quite a few house fires are caused by problems in the smoke chamber area. And what most people call a “chimney fire” actually begins right there in the smoke chamber. During a chimney fire, this chamber area is like a hot oven, and can reach temperatures well over 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. The smoke chamber must be carefully examined at every inspection. During the inspection process, we inspectors often find that the smoke chamber was poorly constructed when the home was built, which often results in safety and drafting problems for the homeowner. Unfortunately, though many brick masons are very good at laying bricks, they are not so good at fireplace design, and numerous fireplaces in the Minneapolis and St Paul area fall into this category. There are many safety codes and inspection points concerning the smoke chamber. This is a great reason to call SmartSweep to have a closed circuit video investigation done on your chimney system, including the smoke chamber.
So please make sure you call a qualified fireplace inspector to inspect this important hidden area of your fireplace system, because deficiencies in the smoke chamber are critical and can destroy your home! House fires have occurred in the Twin Cities this past year that began right in the smoke chamber area. Call SmartSweep. If your smoke chamber does need repair, we can recommend the repair options that are right for your situation. SmartSweep primarily uses two products for smoke chamber repairs, Chamber Tech 2000® and SmokTite®. The one we use depends on the repair needs of your fireplace system. We will recommend the appropriate repair based on your chimney needs.
Here is an example of a corbeled brick smoke chamber. When parged with Chamber Tech 2000®, this system will draft twice as efficiently and be thermally protected.
Photo during the smoke chamber parging process.
Here is
another unparged, unprotected smoke chamber.