Building chimney noise troubleshooting: causes & cures.

These articles discuss the causes of noises or sounds traced to building chimneys, flues & vents, ranging from thermal expansion clicks and cracks to wind howling to a dangerous chimney fire that sounds like a roaring freight train.

We include recommendations on how to inspect, diagnose & cure chimney noise or sound problems in homes or commercial buildings.

Chimney noises in or on buildings - Danger Signs?

Chimney noises in or on buildings range from normal to irritating to extremely dangerous.

• Chimneys & Chimney Fires: fireplaces, wood stoves, other heating equipment that are improperly installed or that are not properly maintained can be serious fire hazards.
  
  Watch out: A chimney fire sounds like a roaring freight train.
  
  If you suspect a chimney fire and can do so safely, shut down your wood stove (close all air intakes) or close any chimney dampers as well,
  
  immediately exit the building, and call the fire department from outdoors.
  
  See CHIMNEY FIRE ACTION / PREVENTION
  
  Also see WOOD BURNING HEATERS FIREPLACES STOVES

• Animals in the chimney:
  
  chimneys are often invaded by bats, birds, squirrels, raccoons, and in Australia, cats or wallabes.
  
  We've read that some Australians used to leave a dead cat or a shoe in the chimney flue to ward off evil.
  
  Watch out: any chimney blockage, whether by an old shoe, a dead cat (mean), or a stork's nest is dangerous.
  
  Some animals find it easier to get into the chimney than to get out.
  
  Blocked flues can cause a chimney fire that can in turn set the building afire, or a blocked flue can result in production of fatal carbon monxide gas that, entering the building's occupied space, can kill off more than just a cat or two.

Personal note: I like cats and I vigorously oppose their incarceration in chimneys, septic tanks, or other inappropriate mythological locations, whether dead or alive - DF.

See ANIMAL ENTRY POINTS in BUILDINGS

Keep animals out of the chimney flue by installing a proper chimney top cap and screen - something you may also require for fire safety if the chimney serves a wood-burning appliance.

See CHIMNEY CAP & CROWN DEFINITIONS

• Dripping noises in chimneys:
  
  on occasion leaks at a chimney cap, crown, or elsewhere may drip down a chimney flue and go "splat" on a fireplace damper or "ding" as water drops fall onto a metal flue or damper.
  
  Inspect the chimney flue, fireplace, or heating equipment for leaks from the chimney, including both leaks from exterior sources and leaks from condensation in the flue.
  
  Watch out: water damage to flues or heating equipment may make those components unsafe.
  
  Also see DRIPPING WATER SOUND SOURCES


• Heating equipment noises
  
  may be transmitted up through a building by the chimney, ranging from normal sounds of an oil or gas burner operating to abnormal buzzing, puffing, rumbling, even bangs and booms.
  
  
  Watch out: At least some abnormal chimney noises traced to improper heating equipment operation are unsafe. Examples are sudden explosion of gas vapors at a gas burner (boom) or oil burner puffbacks.
  
  Rumbling at the chimey under windy conditions could indicate draft problems causing malfunction of heating equipment venting into that flue.
  
  See details at OIL BURNER PUFFBACK EXPLOSION for oil fired heating equipmenbt
  
  See details at GAS BURNER FLAME & NOISE DEFECTS for gas fired heating equipment
• Insect noises in chimneys, buzzing, humming, clicking
  
  such as an infestation of bees (sometimes honeybees and sometimes you'll see wax oozing out of a chimney) may manifest as humming or buzzing - look for insects flying around the chimney top or worse, finding their way into the building.
  
  Common buzzing noise sources in chimneys:
  
  

  - unsafe, or improperly-operating heating equipment connected to the chimney
  

  - improperly-run pipes, wires, or something else routed through a chimney flue (unsafe in an active chimney)
  

  - wind-driven movement of chimmey components or air movement through chimney openings
  

  - bees

• Wind Noise
  
  at chimneys may be caused by wind blowing over a chimney that lacks a chimney cap, has a damaged chimney cap in place, or has openings or damage to the chimney itself.
  
  Wind-related noises may manifest as rattling (loose metal chimney cap or brackets), roaring (wind blowing over chimney top), howling, hissing, and other sounds but it's pretty easy to relate a chimney noise to wind alone:
  
  Wind-noise at a chimney will be intermittent and will depend on wind and weather conditions.
  
  See details of diagnosing wind-related noises at buildings
  
  at WIND NOISE

See CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR for a complete guide to chimney and flue inspection, diagnosis & repair

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2020-07-20 - by (mod) - heavy breathing sound coming from the chimney

Dora

A good place to start in curing an air or wind noise at a chimney such as what you described would be to ensure that there's a proper cap on top of the flu. A downdraft for example can cause too many noises.

It would make sense to have a certified Chimney Sweep also run a gym scan camera through the flu to be sure that there are no holes as that would be unsafe, risking fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.

In those conditions are ruled out it's time to inspect the appliances the vent into the flu for improper operation.

On 2020-07-17 by Dora

Theres a heavy breathing sound coming from the chimney every evening. This stated about 2 months ago. We torched the chimney but there was nothing inside. What could it be?

On 2020-05-14 - by (mod) - humming chimney noise, related to wind,

Anon

Re humming chimney noise, related to wind, this should be pretty easy to cure. Assuming for now that there is actually a chimney/flue still in place,

1. does the chimney pass through the roof and appear outside? If so, and if the flue is not in use, have the chimney top covered. A simple heavy piece of slate might suffice, with mechanical fastening if your building is in a high wind or coastal area.

2. if the chimney no longer protrudes up through the roof, where does it end? Find and cover its top, and look for building air leaks that, under windy conditions, are reaching the chimney. Those need to be sealed.

Don't forget to look at the whole course of the chimney including in a basement or crawl space where there may be an old cleanout door that you need to cover or close.

On 2020-05-14 by Anonymous

Going insane with the noise from a wall which used to be a chimney many years ago but now a wall going through centre of house. Is very inconsistent, think is linked to when is windy outside. Please help. Is like humming vibrating sound. Attached a snippet, list to background hum. Any advice please.

On 2020-03-25 - by (mod) -

Thanks Anon. Covid19 may give us more time to answer questions from our spot in quarantine.

On 2020-03-25 by Anonymous

Thank you so much. Don't know how you keep up with so many questions on this incredible site, but very grateful to you.

On 2020-03-23 - by (mod) - ping noise from chimney

Anon

I can't make a confident diagnosis of the ping noise from your text but can offer

- inspect the fireplace for any signs of drips of water coming from the chimney

as possible noise sources include

drips from a lost chimney cap, from condensation or frost that later melts and drips back into the room (closing the flue will help reduce this)

thermal expansion/contaction of metal components

On 2020-03-23 by Anonymous

I have a gas fireplace, but never use it. This evening, while sitting near it, I heard a "ping" noise one time, and then about a half hour later I heard it again. We have a cap on the chimney that's a strong metal screen.

The flu was open, so my husband just closed it. We don't see anything unusual in the fireplace, but am wondering if a critter is dong something and causing a small piece of something (a lot of "something"!) to fall down.

Or if it could be wind related. Or not sure what, which is why I'm posting this here. Got any ideas? We'll call a chimney and/or roof person tomorrow. Your guidance would be much appreciated.

(Of note, we had a general pest inspection in late January this year that include a roof check and all was well on the roof and the chimney at that time, but obviously things can change.) Be well and stay safe.///

On 2019-09-12 by Anonymous - improper heater flue installation: 1 damper, two flues, into same chimney

Yes, the path is to the chimney. The flapper or draft regulator as you call it is on the side of the furnace only. The noise sounds like its coming from behind the upstairs wall behind or near the chimney.

I did get on the roof and look down the chimney with a flashlight. No obstructions and i didn't see any broken clay. I have attached another pic of the oil fired water heater itself. the silver vent coming out of it goes into the cement wall which vents to the chimney.

I will look at the link you sent me on water heater noise. Thank you!

On 2019-09-12 - by (mod) - whenever the water heater goes on i hear a banging popping / clanking sound almost like a flap opening and closing

Anon

I cannot see enough in your photo - what is the path and connection of that flue vent connector at the upper left where the two enter the wall - presumably the chimney - ?

The barometric damper (draft regulator) visible in your photo is connected ONLY to the furnace (at the center right of your photo) - no damper is installed - at least not in view) on the second smaller diameter vent connector that is presumably for your water heater.

Watch out: That's an improper installation: each heating appliance needs its own individual barometric damper / draft regulator. Else it is impossible to properly tune and adjust both appliances.

Aside from the draft regulator question (or the missing draft control for the water heater), what else can make noise?

See WATER HEATER NOISE

Perhaps using a mechanic's stethoscope or just someone with good hearing, we need to track down the location of the noise: is it

- at the oil fired water heater burner

- at or inside the water heater tank itself

- along the length of the flue vent connector for the water heater (by the way this is still a mystery since usually an oil fired water heater is vented off of the TOP of the water heater - I can't see a thing like that in your photo)

- inside the chimney

- at the chimney top

On 2019-09-11 by Anonymous

Thank you, i watched the oil fired water tank fire up and the draft flapper did not move. The draft door is in line with the exhaust side of the oil fired furnace heater. We have not been using the heat because its summer time.

The only part of the system we use is the hot water tank. The oil burner exhaust doesn't have an exhaust directly in line with it. Please see the attached picture. When the oil water tank fires up we hear the noise upstairs in the wall near the fireplace. No noise at the water tank. The clanking noise is continuous. When the hot water tank goes off, the noise stops

On 2019-09-11 - by (mod) - banging popping / clanking sound almost like a flap opening and closing

Let's check this first. Stand by the heater and watch everything during the start of the burner on psycho. Watch the barometric damper or draft regulator. You may see that it's door swings open and shut violently with the initial burst of draft as the burner turns on.

On 2019-09-11 0 by zeagle50@yahoo.com

Hello, and thank you in advance for the help. I have an oil fired hot water tank. / / forced hot air. whenever it goes on i hear a banging popping / clanking sound almost like a flap opening and closing. This ONLY happens when the hot water tank goes on and stops when it goes off.

You can ONLY hear this banging noise in my living room near the chimney / fireplace. You cant hear the noise while standing in front of the water heater while its on. I've had 2 service guys come out and inspect my hot water tank.

They say its good and has good draft. one service guy heard the banging noise while standing in my living room near the chimney / fireplace and did not know what it was . I have the fireplace flew closed as we dont use the fireplace. I climbed up on the roof, looked down both sides of the chimney and no animals, nests, or obstructions were present.

I checked the hot water pipe from the tank and it was not loose or rattling. both pipes go away from the chimney and wall where the noise comes from. I do not have a chimney cap, but its been like that for 20 years with no problems. one side of the chimney at the top has a space between the bricks and clay flew.

i dont know if this has anything to do with it. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANK YOU!

On 2019-04-01 - by (mod) - sucking whooshing noises at chimney

I don't know but it's probably worth having the chimney and flue inspected

Take a look at the noise descriptions in the article above - was the noise heard following a windy day? Has a chimney cap come loose or fallen off?

Could there be an animal in the flue?

What are the chimney materials? Masonry, metal, boxed-in metal flue?

On 2019-03-30 by Gisela

we have never used the wood burning chimney's in the house, since we moved in over 5 years ago.

Today for the 1st. time we heard some art sucking whooshing noises, like the sound, of blowing air in a hallow tub etc. there was no wind blowing outside
. What could cause noise ? Thanks for some answer

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Continue reading at CHIMNEY FIRE ACTION / PREVENTIONor select a topic from closely-related articles below, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see CHIMNEY NOISE FAQs - questions & answers about causes & cures of noises in or around chimneys, posted originally at the end of this page.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR - home
• NOISE / SOUND DIAGNOSIS & CURE - home
• POPPING SNAPPING NOISE DIAGNOSIS

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