Common Blockages to Your Chimney
- By George Elias
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- 21 Mar, 2014
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What can cause a blockage inside of your chimney?

Creosote Buildup
Animals Inside the Chimney
Natural Causes
What can happen if a chimney becomes blocked?
When your chimney becomes blocked air will not be able to pass through properly. This will cause a draft problem, keeping heat and smoke inside of the home. When the heat become trapped and combines with the blockage it can make sparks to start the chimney or flue fire. This also allows harmful gasses like carbon monoxide to be trapped inside of your home.
Since CO is odorless and colorless; you will not be able to tell how much is actually surrounding you until you begin to feel the symptoms. When you breathe it in, it will start to fight oxygen levels in the blood stream. Doctors compare CO poisoning symptoms to symptoms from the flu without having a fever. If you only ingest a small amount, you will feel headaches, nausea, and balance and vision problems. If you breathe in too much it can affect your breathing and cause you to need an oxygen mask and short hospital stay. If you feel that the area that you are in is having this problem, evacuate immediately. Do not worry about turning off the unit. Even if you are able to do so, the room will still need a considerable amount of time to air out.
Homeowners now have the chance to install CO alarms inside of their homes to alert them of when levels are getting too high. These should not be used as smoked detectors, but in conjunction with them. They should be spread throughout the whole floor plan and on multiple levels if the home includes more than one floor.
Also most chimney technicians will suggest that you have a chimney cap installed to prevent having the open hole at the top. A chimney cap will serve you many purposes. Chimneys are highly susceptible to mold so keeping water out of them is a must. In the unfortunate event that your chimney does catch fire, a chimney cap will help keep as many sparks as possible from spreading to anything nearby.
How do you properly remove a chimney blockage?






