A brick liner collapse in a 1920s house in Portland changed my whole inspection routine

I was doing a standard sweep on a chimney in an old Portland home last fall. The homeowner said it had been fine, but when I ran my camera up, I saw a section of the clay tile liner had completely fallen in, blocking about a foot of the flue. It was hidden behind soot and looked okay from below. Now I always do a full video scan before I even start cleaning, no matter what the customer says. Has anyone else found a hidden problem that made you add a step to your process?

3 comments

3 Comments

corap219d ago

Remember reading about a guy who found a whole bird's nest packed behind what looked like a clean fireplace damper. Makes you wonder what else we're missing on the outside of these old flues. I started checking the exterior masonry with binoculars from the yard first, looking for new cracks or leaning, before I even bring my gear inside. It's crazy how a problem on the outside can tell you something is wrong on the inside before you ever send a camera up.

blake7928d ago

Checking the outside first is smart, it's like seeing the big picture before the details.

the_rowan8d ago

Yeah, that outside-in check you mentioned is honestly how I fix my own car now. Small cracks outside always mean bigger trouble hiding.