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Detailed Chimney Inspection Checklist for Indoors InspectAPedia®  -     Inspection checklist for chimney defects on building Interiors, attics, living space, basements, crawl spaces & utility areas that contain chimney components Home inspector responsibilities during building chimney inspections Limits of view in chimney flues, external signs of serious internal or hidden problems Critical chimney life safety or fire defects How to inspect building chimneys from indoors

This article provides a Detailed Chimney Inspection Checklist for use when inspecting a building chimney from inside a building. Watch out: no checklist can be complete, and you should never rely only on a checklist to perform a building inspection. A checklist is useful to help avoid forgetting certain key steps, but it is always possible that other defects are present that are not on your checklist. Readers of this outdoor chimney inspection checklist should be sure to review the illustrated chimney defect and inspection procedures at Chimney Inspection Indoor Procedures.

This website provides 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. As with most inspection and safety topics, this material may be incomplete. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links 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.

Detailed Indoors Chimney Inspection Checklist

Here is a chimney inspection checklist built from multiple contributors. Contact Us if you have corrections or additions for this chimney inspection checklist.

We list these observations in a order (not the only possible order) that might be followed by a visual inspection beginning outdoors and continuing indoors throughout the building, basement to attic, and including appliances or devices that vent through a chimney.

Inside Chimney Observations

• Chimney construction on excessive angle (more than 30 deg) (typically viewed inside an attic)
• Combustible clearances inadequate - between metal or other flues and nearby combustibles;
• Fire stopping missing or inadequate
• Chimney not continuous through roof (metal flues, fire-rated roof passage thimble)
• Chimney cleanout not provided
• Chimney cleanout too close to combustibles
• Chimney cleanout door missing, ajar, not closed, not openable
• Dead end flue, high risk of blockage
• Flue vent connector not sealed at point of entry into chimney
• Flue vent connector or thimble extending too far into chimney interior (disassembly may be required)
• Multiple appliances vented into single flue: too many, inadequate draft, back-drafting, CO hazards, operating defects

Responsibility of an ASHI Home Inspectors Regarding Chimney Inspections

The ASHI Standards require reporting on the exterior condition of a chimney, the cap, the flue, the roof flashings and the vent connectors from the appliances.

Some indoor clues (photo at left) might indicate such serious safety hazards (blocked flue, carbon monoxide poisoning) as to deserve immediate professional attention and appropriate warnings to building occupants.

This basic visual inspection can be expanded to provide a more complete understanding of the components with concurrent recommendations to the client for the necessary repairs. The chimney inspection links at page left provide an encyclopedia of chimney functional and safety defects. A starting-point indoor check list for a chimney inspection includes the following items:

1. Exterior chimney surface materials examined indoors and outdoors for the full height - signs of leaks, cracks, damage, improperly sealed openings
2. Chimney Cap & top seal - if missing, leaky, or damaged, you may have spotted this from outside; inside you may see leak stains and brown or black bleed-through marks on the chimney, or bubbled, damaged plaster or drywall covering the chimney
3. Flue - view is normally limited unless using professional chimscan type equipment, but views into the chimney from barometric dampers, draft regulators, or cleanouts can indicate chimney damage (such as pieces of chimney liner) or blockage (debris). Look for evidence of shared flues among appliances on different floors, dead end flues, etc. (See links at page left)
4. Roof Flashings - inspected outside, from inside leak stains may be visible
5. Interior materials in attic and basement, with careful attention to movement, cracks, leaks, gas and fire hazards
6. Cleanout Doors missing, not shut, blocked, close to combustibles
7. Vent Connectors, rust, holes, leaks, improper slope, too long, dead end flues - see Flue Vent Connectors - Boilers, Furnaces
8. Abandoned vent closures such as where a woodstove or coal stove was previously connected to the flue
9. Clearance to combustibles especially at flue vent connectors and with metal chimneys
10. Mirror view inside flue when possible, via openings listed above
11. Inspect heating systems for evidence of inadequate combustion air such as soot on or around gas-fired equipment (photo above) (WARNING: this is a very dangerous sign and merits immediate attention to avoid potentially fatal carbon monoxide poisoning). Also see BOILER OPERATING PROBLEMS and also Flue Sizing of Chimneys (undersized flue means backpressure or inadequate draft, but an over-sized flue can spell draft problems too, especially with gas-fired equipment).

Appropriate repairs are recommended based upon the items presented in this paper. The inspector has to be very careful about how he/she states the reason for the recommendation since we are seldom code authorities or trades people and do not want to open the door to a liability action if an improper or delayed repair is made.

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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.

CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR
CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIR GUIDE
Abandoned Chimneys
Backdrafting Appliances
Chimneys Cleaning Advice, Procedures
Chimney Cleanout Doors
Chimney Crack & Collapse Risks, Repairs
Chimney Crack Detection & Diagnosis
Chimney Draft & Performance
Chimney Height & Clearance
Chimney Inspection Checklist
Most Frequent Chimney Defects
Chimney Inspection Checklist - Outdoors
Chimney Inspection Checklist - Indoors
Responsibility of an ASHI Home Inspectors
Chimney Inspection: Flue Interiors
Chimney Inspection Indoor Procedures
  Attic Chimney Inspection
  Chimney Inspection Outdoors From Ground
  Chimney Inspection Outdoors at Rooftop
  Chimney Cap & Crown Inspection
Chimney Leaning, Separation, Movement
Chimney Repair Methods
Chimney Types & Materials
Definitions of Chimney Types & Parts
ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
Fire Clearances for Masonry Chimneys
Fire Clearances for Metal Chimneys
Fire Clearances, Single-Wall Metal Flues
Fireplace Damage & Unsafe Hearths - Settlement
Flue Sizing of Chimneys
Flue Vent Connectors - Boilers, Furnaces
HEATING INSPECTIONS
Metal Chimneys & Flues
Moisture Problems Damage Chimneys
Shared Chimney & Shared Flue Hazards
Transite Pipe Chimneys & Flues
Wood Burning Heaters Fireplaces Stoves

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, 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 #211-3.1 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 Chimney Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Books, Complete List of Fireplace & Chimney Design, Inspection, Repair Books at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• 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
• Principles of Home Inspection: Chimneys & Wood Heating (Principles of Home Inspection), Carson Dunlop
• Woodstove & Fireplace Maintenance & Safety, L. L. Helwig

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• 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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