The Chimney Liner
the purpose of a chimney liner is to protect the inside of the chimney from heat, corrosion, and other potential hazards. The chimney liner is a protective barrier that lines the inside of the chimney and helps to channel smoke and gases, safely out of the home.
Without a proper chimney liner, the heat can cause damage to the chimney structure, as well as pose a safety hazard to the home and its occupants. Damaged or missing chimney liners can also allow dangerous gases, such as carbon monoxide, to enter the home, which can be extremely hazardous. Therefore, it's important to ensure that your chimney has a properly installed and maintained liner to ensure safety and prevent damage to the chimney and home.
The Chimney Crown
The crown is what rests on top of the chimney, such as the top course of brick, block or stone and protects the chimney and mortar from water damage. It has a strong, slightly slanted framework. Chimneys that have not been correctly crowned are prone to collapse over time. You can install either metal crowns or pour concrete crowns. In Canada, the metal crown outclasses the concrete crown due to its ability to adapt in changing and harsh climates.
The Chimney Cap
The chimney cap is a part of a chimney that can be added for improved protection against debris, rainwater, and animals. The chimney cap is located and attached to the very peak of the flue tile (orange coloured square or rectangle material that is exposed roughly 6 inches thorough your chimney crown). This is also known as a “flue- cap” or “critter guard”. The chimney cap not only functions to keep debris, rainwater, and animals from entering your chimney and ultimately your home, the wire mesh part of the chimney cap also allows smoke to escape while keeping burning particles from exiting and causing potential fires.
The Chimney Flue
This is simply the chimney’s discharge device, the pathway that pulls fumes from the fireplace or furnace and disperses it out into the atmosphere. Metal chimneys have only one flue, while brick chimneys can have several flues. Each flue is an average of 1 ft. or 2 ft. in length and can have different width sizes depending on the purpose of its discharge. Common sizes are 8”/ 8” and 8”/ 12”. Uncommon sizes are 12”/12” and 12”/ 18”.
The Chimney Stack
The chimney stack is an important part of your chimney due to its role of releasing carbon monoxide and preventing risks of fire. The chimney stack allows for a safe, efficient heating system.
The chimney stack helps to create draft, which is the flow of air that draws up and out of the chimney. The draft is created by the difference in temperature between the warm air inside the chimney and the cooler air outside, which creates a pressure difference that causes the air to flow upwards.
The chimney stack is also designed to prevent downdrafts, which are gusts of wind that can blow smoke and gases back down the chimney and into the home. The stack's height, design, and shape all play a role in preventing downdrafts and ensuring that discharged is done safely.
The Chimney Fire Wall
The Chimney firewall is fire brick or block that is installed between 2 or more flue liners. It is designed to prevent the spread of fire, smoke and draft between the flue liners that are adjacent to each other. Flue liners are the pathways within a chimney that exhaust gases from a fire. If a fire were to occur within one flue liner, the firewall would prevent it from spreading to the adjacent flue liner. The chimney fire wall also gives a slight increase of strength to the chimneys structure and durability.
Note: The chimney firewall is not show in photo because this chimney photo only has 1 flue liner. If this chimney had 2 or more flue liners, fire brick or block would be tightly bonded between each flue, starting from where the flue liner begins and ending once it has reached the chimney crown.
The Chimney Flashing
The chimney flashing is the metal that meets between your masonry (brick) and roofline. It is your chimneys base flashing. Chimney flashing is securely tied underneath your roofs shingles and is bonded tightly around and against your masonry (brick) using tap cons and caulking. This protects your chimney from water entering your home.
The Chimney Damper
The damper is a mechanism at the base of the chimney that can be sealed tight while the furnace is not in service but stays open when there is a fire burning. In the summer, having the damper locked, traps cool air inside of the house and in the winter, it helps to keep the cold winter air out. Along with the chimney cap, the damper keeps animals out of the home.
The common use of a damper is to prevent heat loss. While having your fire active, leaving your damper partly closed, the heat circulates and travels downwards and into your home, producing an efficient amount of soothing heat. This allows you to save on large costs that a gas or electric fireplace would produce.
The Chimney Smoke Shelf
The smoke shelf is a ledge located behind the damper and above the firebox of a fireplace. It helps to trap moisture and debris, such as soot and ash. The smoke shelf prevents debris from falling into the firebox or clogging the inner chimney.
The smoke shelf is also designed to help prevent downdrafts, which are gusts of wind that can blow smoke and gases back down the chimney and into the home.
The Chimney Throat:
The throat is the part of a chimney where fire passes in above the firebox and just below the damper.