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CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR

Abandoned Chimneys - Indoor Inspection
  Abandoned Flue Openings
  List of Abandoned Chimney Hazards
Abandoned Chimneys: Outdoors
Angled Chimney Flues
Attic Chimney Inspection

BACKDRAFTING HEATING EQUIPMENT
BAROMETRIC DAMPERS
Blocked Chimney Flues
Bracket Chimney Collapse & Fire Risks
B-Vent Chimneys
B-Vent Clearances Table

CARBON DIOXIDE - CO2
CARBON MONOXIDE - CO

CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIR GUIDE

Chimney Cap & Crown Inspection
CHIMNEY CHASE Construction & Defects
Chimney Cleaning Advice, Procedures
Chimney Cleaning Fraud Warning
Chimney Cleanout Doors
Chimney Components Definitions
Chimney Crack & Collapse Risks, Repairs
Chimney Crack Detection & Diagnosis

Chimney Draft & Performance

CHIMNEY FIRE ACTION / PREVENTION
Chimney Flashing Mistakes & Leaks

CHIMNEY HEIGHT & CLEARANCE CODE
Chimney Height Extensions

Chimney Inspection Checklist
Chimney Inspection: Flue Interiors
ChimScan: Inspecting Flues by Cameras
Chimney Inspection Indoor Procedures
Chimney Inspection Outdoors From Ground
Chimney Inspection Outdoors at Rooftop

Chimney Leaning, Separation, Movement

Chimney Repair Fraud Warning
Chimney Repair Methods

Chimney Safety - CPSC Alert
Chimney Shoulder Leaks
Chimney Spalling, Exterior
Chimney Sweeps

Chimney Types & Materials

CO2 TOXICITY
COALSTOVE SAFETY
COMBUSTION AIR DEFECTS
COMBUSTION AIR for TIGHT buildings
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
COMPLETE COMBUSTION, Stoichiometric
CREOSOTE FIRE HAZARDS

Dead End Chimney Flue Hazards
Definitions of Chimney Types & Parts
DIRECT VENTS / SIDE WALL VENTS
DRAFT HOODS - gas fired
DRAFT MEASUREMENT, CHIMNEYS & FLUES
DRAFT REGULATORS, DAMPERS, BOOSTERS

EFFLORESCENCE, Salts & White / Brown Deposits
EMERGENCY RESPONSE, IAQ, GAS, MOLD

FIRE CLEARANCES INDOORS
Fire Clearances for Masonry Chimneys
Fire Clearances for Metal Chimneys
FIRE CLEARANCES, Single-Wall Metal Flues
Fire Clearance Wood & Coal Stove Flues
FIREPLACES & HEARTHS
Fire stopping at Chimney Passage Through Floors
FLAME COLOR, BLUE vs YELLOW COMBUSTION
FLUE SIZE SPECIFICATIONS
Flue Separation Requirements
Flue Tile Damage in Chimneys
Flue Vent Connectors - Boilers, Furnaces
Fuel Changes for Heating Appliances

HEATING COST FUEL & BTU Cost Table
HEATING INSPECTIONS
HOME HEATING SAFETY
HEATING SYSTEMS

INDOOR AIR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Lennox SAFETY WARNING

Metal Chimneys & Flues
Moisture / Frost Damaged Chimney

Nanomaterials Hazards
NOISE / SOUND DIAGNOSIS & CURE

ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE
ODORS FROM HEATING SYSTEMS
OIL HEAT SAFETY INSPECTIONS

PLASTIC HEATER VENTS

Safety Recalls, Chimneys, Vents, Heaters
Shared Chimney & Shared Flue Hazards
STAIN DIAGNOSIS on BUILDING EXTERIORS
STAINS on/near CHIMNEYS

Three-Sided Chimneys: Problems
Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues

UNLINED FLUE INSPECTIONS

WOOD, COAL STOVES & FIREPLACES
WOOD STOVE SAFETY

More Information

Abandoned chimney clues outside (C) Daniel Friedman

How to spot Abandoned Chimneys from Outside
InspectAPedia®  -      

  • Abandoned chimneys - outdoor clues can help spot a building where a chimney was partly removed
  • Questions & answers about how to spot & assess safety hazards where chimneys have been abandoned and partly removed from buildings

This article describes visual clues that you can find on the building exterior and that can indicate the current or previous presence of abandoned chimneys and unsafe three-sided chimneys at a building.

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers nor with topics or services discussed at this website.

© Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website.

Readers should also see Abandoned Chimneys - Indoor Inspection and its two sub-sections,  Abandoned Flue Openings and our List of Abandoned Chimney Hazards. These articles on chimneys and chimney safety provide detailed suggestions describing how to perform a thorough visual inspection of chimneys for safety and other defects. Chimney inspection methods and chimney repair methods are also discussed.

Definition of abandoned chimney: any chimney of any material (masonry, metal, transite pipe, other) that is no longer in use (or should not be in use) but has been only partially removed from a building.

Abandoned chimneys in buildings may be unsafe, risking collapse, falling masonry, water and air leaks, fire passage, or worse, sometimes one may even be connected to a stove or fireplace, risking setting the building on fire.

Abandoned chimney clues outside (C) Daniel Friedman


Notice that newer metal corrugated roofing patch at the right end of the metal roof in our photograph?

If outside the building you see roofing details such as shown in our photo, you should be alert for an incompletely removed abandoned chimney indoors.

Check the attic, the intermediate floors, and the basement for the remains of the chimney - it may have left a fire spread risk through the building or other hazards.

See details about how to find abandoned chimneys and what the hazards and repairs are at Abandoned Chimneys.

Most-likely found on older homes, a partially-removed abandoned chimney leaves these problems and hazards in the building:

  • An improperly abandoned chimney risks collapsing masonry - falling through ceilings below, damaging the structure and injuring building occupants
  • An improperly abandoned chimney forms a natural chaseway creating up-drafts in the structure, moving air by natural convection from lower building areas (even a crawl space or basement) up through the structure. This air movement can contribute to or even be a root cause of indoor air quality problems and mold contamination, and it certainly contributes to un-wanted building heat loss and thus higher heating costs.
  • An improperly or incompletely-abandoned chimney or flue presents two potential fire dangers:
    • the chaseway provided by the partially-abandoned chimney increases the spread of fire through the structure, often between floors
    • on occasion we have found that a later building occupant connects a heating appliance to the unsafe "abandoned" chimney, leading to a building fire or potentially fatal carbon monoxide poisoning
Collapsing brick chimney top - Brooklyn NY (C) Daniel Friedman


In cities and on larger multi-family buildings we often find old, single-wythe brick chimneys (photo at left) which have been abandoned but which continue to serve as an air and water pathway through the building.

If this Brooklyn, NY chimney were still in use we would be very worried about its safety.

The chimney top is collapsing, risking a dangerously blocked flue, carbon monoxide gas poisoning, as well as risking dropping a brick onto a passerby.

Chimneys of this size are large enough that a person could fall into and become trapped in the structure, as happened to Catherine Murphy.

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Technical Reviewers & References

  • InspectAPedia.com® - Daniel Friedman - Publisher & Editor.
  • InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also include a list of recommended books for the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
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  • Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Abandoned Chimneys - Indoor Inspection
  Abandoned Flue Openings
  List of Abandoned Chimney Hazards
Abandoned Chimneys: Outdoors

  • Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education including the ASHI-adopted Home Inspection Training Program (home study course), publications such as the Home Reference Book, report writing materials including the Horizon report writer, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
  • Thanks to Luke Barnes for suggesting that we add text regarding the hazards of shared chimney flues. USMA - Sept. 2008.
  • Arlene Puentes, an ASHI member and a licensed home inspector in Kingston, NY, and has served on ASHI national committees as well as HVASHI Chapter President. Ms. Puentes can be contacted at ap@octoberhome.com
  • Roger Hankey is principal of Hankey and Brown home inspectors, Eden Prairie, MN, technical review by Roger Hankey, prior chairman, Standards Committee, American Society of Home Inspectors - ASHI. 952 829-0044 - hankeyandbrown.com
  • Chimney Building Codes and Chimney, Flue, and Appliance Venting Standards
    • NFPA 211 - Standards for Chimneys & Fireplaces, NFPA 211: Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances, 2006 Edition (older editions and standards are found at the same bookstore)
    • NFPA #211-3.1 1988 - Specific to chimneys, fireplaces, vents and solid fuel burning appliances.
    • NFPA # 54-7.1 1992 - Specific to venting of equipment with fan-assisted combustion systems.
    • GAMA - Gas Appliance Manufacturers' Association has prepared venting tables for Category I draft hood equipped central furnaces as well as fan-assisted combustion system central furnaces.
    • National Fuel Gas Code, an American National Standard, 4th ed. 1988 (newer edition is available) Secretariats, American Gas Association (AGA), 1515 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA22209, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Batterymarch Park, Quincy MA 02269. ANSI Z223.1-1988 - NFPA 54-1988. WARNING: be sure to check clearances and other safety guidelines in the latest edition of these standards.
    • Fire Inspector Guidebook, A Correlation of Fire Safety Requirements Contained in the 1987 BOCA National Codes, (newer edition available), Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), Country Club HIlls, IL 60478 312-799-2300 4th ed. Note: this document is reissued every four years. Be sure to obtain the latest edition.
    • Uniform Mechanical Code - UMC 1991, Sec 913 (a.) Masonry Chimneys, refers to Chapters 23, 29, and 37 of the Building Code.
    • New York 1984 Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, Article 10, Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Requirements
    • New York 1979 Uniform Fire Prevention & Building Code, The "requirement" for 8" of solid masonry OR for use of a flue liner was listed in the One and Two Family Dwelling Code for New York, in 1979, in Chapter 9, Chimneys and Fireplaces, New York 1979 Building and Fire Prevention Code:
  • "Top Ten Chimney (and related) Problems Encountered by One Chimney Sweep," Hudson Valley ASHI education seminar, 3 January 2000, contributed by Bob Hansen, ASHI
  • Chimney Inspection Checklist, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, Ontario
  • "Rooftop View Turns to Darkness," Martine Costello, Josh Kovner, New Haven Register, 12 May 1992 p. 11: Catherine Murphy was sunning on a building roof when a chimney collapsed; she fell into and was trapped inside the chimney until rescued by emergency workers.
  • "Chimneys and Vents," Mark J. Reinmiller, P.E., ASHI Technical Journal, Vol. 1 No. 2 July 1991 p. 34-38.
  • "Chimney Inspection Procedures & Codes," Donald V. Cohen was to be published in the first volume of the 1994 ASHI Technical Journal by D. Friedman, then editor/publisher of that publication. The production of the ASHI Technical Journal and future editions was cancelled by ASHI President Patrick Porzio. Some of the content of Mr. Cohen's original submission has been included in this more complete chimney inspection article: InspectAPedia.com/chimneys/Chimney_Inspection.htm. Copies of earlier editions of the ASHI Technical Journal are available from ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
  • Natural Gas Weekly Update: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government
  • US Energy Administration: Electrical Energy Costs http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelelectric.html

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

  • Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
  • Fireplace & Chimney Design, Repair Books - Fireplaces, Chimneys: design, repair
  • Fireplace & Chimney Inspection Books - Inspecting and diagnosing chimney problems, fireplace problems, chimney & fireplace standards
  • Ceramic Roofware, Hans Van Lemmen, Shire Library, 2008, ISBN-13: 978-0747805694 - Brick chimneys, chimney-pots and roof and ridge tiles have been a feature of the roofs of a wide range of buildings since the late Middle Ages. In the first instance this ceramic roofware was functional - to make the roof weatherproof and to provide an outlet for smoke - but it could also be very decorative.
    The practical and ornamental aspects of ceramic roofware can still be seen throughout Britain, particularly on buildings of the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Not only do these often have ornate chimneys and roof tiles but they may also feature ornamental sculptures or highly decorative gable ends. This book charts the history of ceramic roofware from the Middle Ages to the present day, highlighting both practical and decorative applications, and giving information about manufacturers and on the styles and techniques of production and decoration.
    Hans van Lemmen is an established author on the history of tiles and has lectured on the subject in Britain and elsewhere. He is founder member and presently publications editor of the British Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society. Available at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
  • Chimney Inspection Checklist, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, Ontario
  • Chimney & Stack Inspection Guidelines, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2003 - These guidelines address the inspection of chimneys and stacks. Each guideline assists owners in determining what level of inspection is appropriate to a particular chimney and provides common criteria so that all parties involved have a clear understanding of the scope of the inspection and the end product required. Each chimney or stack is a unique structure, subject to both aggressive operating and natural environments, and degradation over time. Such degradation may be managed via a prudent inspection program followed by maintenance work on any equipment or structure determined to be in need of attention. Sample inspection report specifications, sample field inspection data forms, and an example of a developed plan of a concrete chimney are included in the guidelines. This book provides a valuable guidance tool for chimney and stack inspections and also offers a set of references for these particular inspections.
  • Fireplaces, a Practical Design Guide, Jane Gitlin
  • Fireplaces, Friend or Foe, Robert D. Mayo
  • NFPA 211 - Standards for Chimneys & Fireplaces, NFPA 211: Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances, 2006 Edition (older editions and standards are found at the same bookstore)
  • Principles of Home Inspection: Chimneys & Wood Heating (Principles of Home Inspection), Carson Dunlop
  • NFPA 211 - 3-1.10 - Relining guide for chimneys
  • NFPA 211 - 3-2 - Construction of Masonry Chimneys
  • NFPA 211 - 3-3 - Termination Height for chimneys
  • NFPA 211 - 3-4 - Clearance from Combustible Material
  • NFPA 54 - 7-1 - Venting of Equipment into chimneys
  • Brick Institute of America - Flashing Chimneys
    Brick Institute of America - Proper Chimney Crowns
    Brick Institute of America - Moisture Resistance of Brick
  • American Gas Association - New Vent Sizing Tables
  • Chimney Safety Institute of America - Chimney Fires: Causes, Effects, Evaluation
  • National Chimney Sweep Guild - Yellow Pages of Suppliers

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