That old clay flue in a 1920s house taught me a lesson last week

Got a call about a slow draft in a house over in Oak Park. Owner said they had it swept two months ago. I ran my camera up and saw the clay liner was cracked in three spots. Mortar joints were crumbling bad. Took me a full afternoon to explain why a simple sweep wasn't gonna fix it. They went with a stainless steel reline. Anyone else deal with old clay liners that look fine but are totally shot?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_kim1mo ago

That old clay is basically a ticking time bomb once it starts going. Sounds like you saved them from a chimney fire or worse down the line. Pretty wild how they can look solid from the outside but be completely crumbly inside once you get a camera in there. Was the liner all jagged and flaky when you pulled the camera back down?

pat_perry1mo ago

Yeah "ticking time bomb" is about right. I half expected it to just crumble into dust the second I touched it with the brush. You're right on the money about the outside looking fine, that's the sneaky part.