Chimney Clean Melbourne

Chimney Repair

"STREWTH. IS THAT EVEN SAFE?!"

Following a thorough clean, potential defects in the chimney are identified and itemised for our Clients. Repairs in the chimney may be required to improve efficiency of the fire, reduce risk of hazardous gases recirculating back into the house, or even help weather-proof your house against the elements. Such defects may exist from the original construction of the house or may have developed as a result of settlement or general wear-and-tear. Failure to address these defects may lead to an unsafe structure, therefore an inspection at time of cleaning can be a life-saver!

"WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE CAN HURT YOU"

A common area for defects is where the chimney penetrates the roof, and the flashing surrounding this area. The flashing provides a weather-tight seal around the chimney column, directing water onto roof tiles and into roof gutters. Above the chimney / roof interface, at the top of the visible chimney, the ‘chimney crown’ is another important area to be inspected. Mortar is used to plaster around the chimney and ensure a weather seal, and after decades of exposure to the elements, this brittle seal can fracture and cause damage to the chimney mass, firebox, roof cavity and smoke chamber.
Once we finish our fireplace cleaning, we can also look into the chimney from the base and ensure there is no cracking immediately above the fireplace. Where the chimney reduces in size from the fireplace width to the chimney width, there are sometimes minor cracks that occur due to slight flexing. In some cases, mortar sealing these connections is up to 100 years old, and is expected to decay and break out. Again, this will be obvious to us and our inspection from the base should be able to identify these issues. From there, we can break out degraded material and replace it with new mortar to ensure a complete seal.​

REPAIRING BRICKWORK

Once moisture finds its way into the areas between bricks, it causes degradation of the mortar. Once mortar begins to break up / break out, it causses voids for more moisture to infiltrate, and accelerates the issues. In the worst of case, this spalling of the original mortar an lead to structural compromises of the chimney column itself. Nobody wants to have to worry about their chimney coming down in a string wind!
When we undertake a chimney repair, we ensure we break out all degraded mortar and replace with a fresh amount. This is called ‘tuck-pointing’, and is just like you’d expect – squeezing a toothpaste-like mortar in-between the bricks to seal it right back up . This will increase the life of the original masonry, increase the efficiency of the fireplace itself and reduce the likelihood of future major repairs.

LOCATION & HOURS

We’ll come to you, so let us know when you aren’t planning to light up the fire and we’ll be in and out before you know it. Cleaning can take between 1.5 to 3 hours, so please consider this when booking.

CHIMNEY CLEAN MELBOURNE
Unit 5
​192 Argyle St
Fitzroy VIC 3065
  • ​MONDAY - SATURDAY
  • Monday               08:00–17:00​
  • Tuesday              08:00–17:00
  • Wednesday         08:00–17:00
  • Thursday             08:00–17:00
  • Friday                   08:00–17:00
SUNDAY
Closed