Designed to channel the smoke from your fireplace into your chimney’s flue and out of your home, your fireplace’s smoke chamber is a vital part of the drafting process. However, especially in older homes or homes that have had damage from very hot fires or chimney fires, smoke chamber parging may be needed. Let’s take a look at what smoke chamber parging for chimneys is, and what Indianapolis residents should know about the situations in which it may be necessary.
What is Smoke Chamber Parging and When is it Needed?
Smoke chamber parging is the process of applying a masonry compound over rough surfaces to the smoke chamber to ensure that it will draft efficiently. The smoke chamber can be rough due to damage or due to corbelling. But what is corbelling?
Used in older smoke chambers, corbelling was a historic building technique that reduced the size of the top of the fireplace to the chimney flue. In situations where corbelling was used in smoke chambers, there can be corners and exposed joints that can collect creosote. This can impact how well your fireplace drafts and can lead to a fire hazard if not kept up.
To fix this problem, both in corbelled and damaged smoke chambers, the smoke chamber will have a cast-in-place masonry mix applied to the interior over the rough surfaces. In some situations, a coating may be sprayed over areas that have had corbelling used to build up the fireplace’s smoke chamber.
But why is it important to fix a damaged or corbelled smoke chamber? Rough surfaces cause two serious safety issues, chimney fires and drafting issues. As a difficult area to clean properly, the smoke chamber can build up extensive creosote, which is very flammable and causes the bulk of chimney fires annually. Drafting problems can cause smoke to back up into your home, causing carbon monoxide to build up and cause a potentially fatal hazard to your loved ones.
By having a better understanding of what smoke chamber parging is, Indianapolis residents will have a better idea of when it is needed in their fireplaces and chimneys. This will help ensure many years of quality performance and improved drafting. If you’re ready to find out if your smoke chamber or chimney needs parging or repairs, the experienced professionals at Clean Sweep 317 can help. Please feel free to reach out today with any questions or to schedule a consultation.