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How does cold weather affect your chimney?
The majority of masonry damage can occur during periods of freezing temperatures. This damage can become even worse as the cold accelerates the deterioration of the bricks and mortar joints.
How does cold weather affect my chimney?
Because masonry materials are porous, the bricks and mortar joints of your chimney absorb a lot of water. As the temperatures start to drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, any moisture that is absorbed in those masonry materials will freeze and expand within the bricks and mortar joints. The real damage occurs when the weather warms up. The force of the water thawing out can cause the masonry materials to crack, break apart, and even become loose from the chimney structure. After a long, cold winter with multiple freeze/thaw cycles, there can be quite a bit of masonry damage.
To ensure you are taking the precautions and doing everything you can to prevent any further damage, here are ways the cold can negatively affect your chimney.
THE STACK EFFECT
For those of you who are not aware, the stack effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy. The stack impact can will cause smoke to back-draft into your home. once the temperature outside is considerably colder than the air temperature within, the cooler outside air can rush down the chimney shaft to interchange the rising warm air.
HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR VENTS?
During the winter season, we advise you to make sure your chimneys and vents as well as gas appliances must be cleared of any snow or ice to have proper venting and avoid any carbon monoxide accumulation within your home, as both are very dangerous for your home and residents. As a result of a potential issue being prolonged, symptoms of low-level carbon monoxide poisoning include the following: headaches, nausea, dizziness fatigue, damage to the brain, heart and other organs have occurred.
ANIMAL ENTRY
With the polar vortex temperatures, many individuals have wanted to stay indoors to avoid embracing the chilling temperatures outside. However, animals have the same mindset and do the same. Animals such as raccoons and squirrels often look to chimneys as shelter during the winter and you may not even know they are there. If you have found that there are animals entering your chimney, call a professional to have them safely removed. This could cause smoke and carbon dioxide build up in your house if the chimney is closed and there is no way for the smoke to release.
After the animals are removed, it’s necessary to hire a licensed chimney sweep to inspect your chimney. These professionals can make the necessary masonry repairs in order to stop animals from returning in addition to removing any blockages left behind within the chimney to avoid any damage to the flue linking or gas and smoke to back up in your house.
MASONRY CHIMNEY DAMAGE
The weather throughout the season can be particularly damaging to your home’s chimney because of moisture build up and major temperature fluctuations. Moisture damage may not be a noticeable issue right away but will result in homeowners finding damage to the masonry, chimney crown and/or the chimney liner.
During the winter season, in order to prevent winter masonry damage, we suggest protecting your chimney from water and moisture as a number one priority. In order to do so, you can start by making sure your chimney cap is in place and in good shape. A chimney cap helps prevent water from running down your chimney flue and causing damage. Another thing to note is your chimney’s crown deflects water away from the chimney flue and should provide some protection to the exterior sides of your chimney. During an annual inspection with a licensed professional, confirm that your chimney crown has been properly assembled and free from any harm or future damage.
SNOW DAMAGE
Snow harm to masonry chimneys is sometimes a slow, refined process. The issues it could cause are typically not evident until they’ve become quite serious and worsened. Due to the severity of potential problems to your chimney, you want to make sure you seek out a licensed professional who you can trust to take care of the issue and move forward with a strong chimney with no further issues.
WATER DAMAGE
The main reason for your chimney to deteriorate throughout the winter is due to water damage. Any bricks on your chimney that are cracked or broken will absorb water from precipitation then freeze if the temperature drastically drops. Cold weather can result in damage to your chimney’s masonry and once water becomes trapped inside, the moisture will freeze and expand. When the water starts to melt, that only exceeds the amount of water entering the brick. This causes your chimney’s masonry to crack and crumble as a result.
Most masonry materials can absorb massive amounts of water. Common brick is similar to a sponge by absorbing water and wicking moisture to your chimney’s interior. Defective mortar joints or the utilizing improper mortar or brick can increase the tendency to soak up and convey water to the inside of the masonry chimney structure. Another thing to note is when water mixes with the creosote that’s usually in a wood-burning home, it will most likely generate an odor that may disperse throughout the home. These factors all have the capability of compromising the structure of the chimney. We suggest acting upon any of these issues as soon as possible if you are experiencing them in your home. The sooner the better to prevent further water damage to the chimney flue, or other fireplace parts.
SUMMARY
Winters can be harsh not only on your, but for your chimney. Ice, snow and sleet and frigid temperatures can be a damaging factor to your chimney especially during this time of the year. Generally small cracks and mortar deterioration are considered to be a maintenance issue and can easily be repaired. It is a good practice to keep cracks sealed so that moisture does not penetrate into them, especially in cold climates where the water penetrates into a crack and then freezes. This is because when water freezes, it expands and this will cause the brick or stone to spall or to have additional cracks.
Vines growing on chimneys have small roots that will penetrate cracks. This penetration cause the brick or mortar to become damaged and over time can create significant damage. Although people may like the look of vines on a chimney and think that they add charm; in reality the vines may be damaging their chimney.
CALL OR EMAIL US TODAY FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE – 202-276-5004 FAMILY.ROOFING@YAHOO.COM
Because masonry materials are porous, the bricks and mortar joints of your chimney absorb a lot of water. As the temperatures start to drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, any moisture that is absorbed in those masonry materials will freeze and expand within the bricks and mortar joints. The real damage occurs when the weather warms up. The force of the water thawing out can cause the masonry materials to crack, break apart, and even become loose from the chimney structure. After a long, cold winter with multiple freeze/thaw cycles, there can be quite a bit of masonry damage.
The weather throughout the season can be particularly damaging to your home’s chimney because of moisture build up and major temperature fluctuations. Moisture damage may not be a noticeable issue right away but will result in homeowners finding damage to the masonry, chimney crown and/or the chimney liner.