Earthquakes and Chimneys / How do I Know if My Chimney was Damaged by the Recent Earthquake?
The recent Earthquakes in Virginia have damaged chimneys throughout ht e DC, MD, VA , area. All chimneys should be inspected internally and externally as soon as posible.
Earthquakes seem to readily damage tall thin structures . They cause chimneys to vibrate and sway and the taller the structure the greater the movement. I”ve seen chimneys split vertically with half of the chimney laying on the ground while the other half stood precariuosly ready to fall at any time. Other chimneys fell, breaking off at the roof line where they lost the support of the adjoining house. Some stood but had actually twisted several feet below the top and some shed cement from the mortar joints, or bulged out in places. Any combination of these problems and others can occur during an earthquake.
Though it is not typical oc chimney construction in the Northeast, there are additional structural supports in many chimney design drawings. One such feature is the placement of a steel rods inserted vertically inside each corner of the chimney between the flue liner and the brick surrounding it.
A typical support found in the northeast is a chimney stabalizer or a steel rod bolted to a roof framing member and extendeng to and embeded within the masonry chimney. These chimney stabalizers reduce sway from high winds and are only place on chimneys that extend long distances above the roof. Though this form os stabalizer may help reduce sway a little during an earth quake, they are not a sole substitute for internal reinforcement methods. Steel reinforcement rods and poured cement can sometimes be added to chimneys that are in need of repair with out much additional expense.
The scariest situations I witnessed are chimneys that showed no external damage, giving a false sense that no damage has occured, yet dozens of brick had fallen inside the chimney blocking the furnace and fireplace flues and cracking the flue liners. These chimneys can, and often do, allow Carbon Monoxide fumes into the house! Thousands of homes in the Washington Dc, Maryland and Virginia tristate area have been damaged in this manner. Luckily many modern furnaces shut down when the chimney malfunctions, but water heaters generally do not shut down and neither do fireplaces.
Fireplaces and furnaces with cracked liners frequently continue to function, yet are very dangerous or even lethal in some cases. Because an untrained eye cannot pick up cracked liners, it is important to have an experienced chimney technition examine the chimney inside and out.
Dave Myers
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The primary job of a chimney service professional
is to aid in the prevention of fires related to fireplaces, woodstoves, gas, oil and coal heating systems and the chimneys that serve them. Wood burning heating systems, in particular, require careful monitoring
and skillful operation.
Chimney sweeps install, clean and maintain these systems, evaluate their performance, prescribe changes to improve their performance, and educate the consumer about their safe and efficient operation. The basic task of a chimney sweep is to clean chimneys. Cleaning means removing the hazard of accumulated and highly combustible creosote produced by burning wood and wood products.
It means eliminating the build-up of soot in coal-
and oil-fired systems, it means getting rid of bird and animal nests, leaves and other debris that may create a hazard by blocking the flow of emissions from a home heating appliance. In doing their primary job,
sweeps also function as on-the-job fire prevention specialists. They are constantly on the lookout for unsafe conditions that can cause home fires or threaten residents with dangerous or unhealthy indoor air quality.
