Why Chimneys Fail

There aren't many days when North Texas home owners actually get to build a fire in their fireplaces. This translates into well over 300 days out of the year where the fireplace gets as much respect as last year's treadmill — used to hold lots of stuff but mainly ignored.

But, when we do get 'a Blue Norther' blowing through, many home owners are thwarted in their efforts to enjoy the charm and warmth of a nice crackling fire. Now that they are ready to use their fireplace, many are stopped in their tracks when they notice daylight coming through the firebox or they can feel a cold draft coming in from outside. As their investigation leads them to bundle up and go outside, they are shocked to find that the chimney is falling away from their house and headed toward their neighbor's living room! It is at that moment that they are REALLY GLAD they didn't get to build a fire and risk burning down their whole house.

The bad news is that this happens to many North Texas fireplaces. The good news is that the majority of them can be saved to warm another day. Of course everybody wants to know: "WHY does my chimney not want to play well with the rest of the house?!"

I have seen many different fireplace scenarios over the years, such as the home owner who heard a very loud noise and discovered his entire chimney lying in his yard — it had been struck by lightning. Or the ones that were built inside of the house and were sitting on nothing but the floor for support-- those are not fun. But the majority of them are your standard fireplaces, built on the outer wall and bricked to match the house. In my years of experience I have reached the opinion that there are four primary reasons our fireplaces fail.

First of all, they are built tall, with a lot of weight and sitting on a very small concrete base. It is just a matter of time before the base gives way to the weight.

Second of all, the clay soil under the concrete base is always lifting and sinking as we go through the seasons and this works the chimney up and down and slowly gets it moving away from the adjoining wall.

Third of all, the tops of our fireplaces are constantly being impacted by strong winds which force outward directional movement.

And last but not least, they are almost never built with deep support piers under the base to help counter the other reasons.

Remember the good news: most failing fireplaces can be repaired and saved to "warm another day". What to do,what to do,what to do? You could call several foundation repair companies, but you risk going with a contractor whose enthusiasm exceeds their skill and it is too important of a problem to risk that. Your best bet would be to consult a structural engineer and proceed from there.

Get more information by visiting www.AceFoundation.com.