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A Guide to Chimney chimney Cleanout Doors InspectAPedia®  -     A guide to chimney cleanout doors and access ports What to look for at the chimney cleanout door to detect problems with a chimney flue interior Masonry fragments in the chimney cleanout can indicate flue damage Specification of requirements for chimney cleanouts & cleanout doors Chimney cleanout fire hazards of open cleanout doors, lost cleanout doors, and chimney draft problems caused by an open chimney cleanout

This article describes chimney cleanout access doors or ports. We explain that in addition to using the chimney cleanout as a service port to remove debris that has fallen to the bottom of a masonry chimney, the cleanout door and the type of debris found inside can tell us something about the condition of the chimney flue even though we cannot see most of it.

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.

Chimney Flue View by Cleanout Door

Masonry Fragments and Debris at the Chimney Cleanout May Indicate an Unsafe Chimney

Masonry Flues & Clay Tile Lined Flues: If you open a chimney cleanout-door or pull the flue vent connector from a dead end chimney flue, in either case you are looking at the very bottom of the chimney flue. If you are inspecting a masonry chimney, be alert for discovery of masonry fragments when inspecting or cleaning the bottom of the flue. If a piece of brick, masonry block, concrete, or clay flue tile liner is pulled out of your chimney, ask "where do you suppose this came from?" If the masonry scrap fell during construction of the chimney it may mean nothing. But if it fell because the chimney has been damaged, perhaps by water, frost, or during cleaning, then you probably have an unsafe chimney flue - more investigation is in order, promptly. Certainly if you believe that the masonry scrap found at the bottom of a flue fell during original construction, and if you remove it during cleaning, you should never find another piece in the flue bottom. If you do, the flue has been damaged anew and it is unsafe Our photo shows normal chimney creosote and debris at the bottom of a flue. When removing this material be alert for surprises such as fragments of clay flue tile liner.

Chimney Cleanout Door Inspection & Hazards

Chimney Cleanouts Required

All chimneys must have a cleanout at least 12" below the lowest appliance inlet opening. A fireplace is considered as access for cleaning. Cleanouts must have metal or pre cast concrete doors that can be secured tightly

In the photo at above left, the chimney cleanout is easy to find and the door is in place and closed; look inside for clues of flue damage and also for the presence of a flue liner if this is a single-brick wythe flue.

In the photo at above right the home made cleanout door was a metal scrap propped against the chimney. It has fallen open, and we see some masonry debris that has fallen down the flue.

Chimney Cleanout Door Must be Accessible

Missing Chimney Cleanout Door & Chimney Opening Hazards

In this photo (left) the chimney cleanout is easy to find but isn't that door missing? No not in the first photo at left of this pair of photographs of chimney cleanout doors. But look carefully at the second photo. Even though a cleanout door is installed, masonry has fallen out above the door, giving an opening right into the flue. A missing chimney cleanout door or any other hole in the flue means that there is a fire safety hazard (sparks or ashes falling out onto the basement floor) and also that it is impossible to control the draft in the flue. Where the hole in a chimney is lower than or below the flue vent connector joining the heating appliance to the flue, there is also a serious problem with draft control. Where you can find a chimney cleanout or can remove a flue vent connector to look into a flue, use of a mirror inside the flue to view the flue from below. This is by no means a thorough and accurate view of all of the chimney flue interior. But if the chimney was constructed as a straight flue up through the building roof, you should see daylight - otherwise the flue has become blocked, perhaps with nesting animals or collapsing debris.

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• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

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CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR
CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIR GUIDE
Abandoned Chimneys
Backdrafting Appliances
Chimneys Cleaning Advice, Procedures
Chimney Cleanout Doors
  Chimney Cleanout Combustible Clearance
  Chimney Cleanouts Required
  ChimScan: Inspecting Flues by Cameras
  Masonry Fragments & Debris at the Cleanout
  Missing Chimney Cleanout Door
Chimney Crack & Collapse Risks, Repairs
Chimney Crack Detection & Diagnosis
Chimney Draft & Performance
Chimney Height & Clearance
Chimney Inspection Checklist
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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