Smoke chamber repair for Gainesville homes, family run

Above your damper sits a funnel of brick called the smoke chamber. When it was built in rough steps or has cracked open, smoke stalls there and tar builds on every ledge. Our local, family-run pros clean it out, repair the smoke shelf and trowel refractory mortar over the walls until they're smooth, starting with a free look so you know what's up there before anything gets priced.

• Stepped chamber brick parged smooth with refractory mortar
• Smoke shelf repair where the ledge has cracked or crumbled
• Open joints above the damper filled and sealed
• Smoke chamber rebuild when the walls have lost their shape
• Tar and soot scraped away before any mortar goes on

1. Cold fireplace, covered hearth

   Skip fires for a day beforehand. We cover the hearth and floor, open the damper and close off the room side.

   01

2. Scrape every ledge clean

   Tar and loose mortar come off the chamber walls with scrapers and wire brushes, down to sound brick.

   02

3. Trowel on refractory parging

   Open joints get filled, the shelf is rebuilt where needed, then refractory mortar goes over the walls in smooth, sloped coats.

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4. Cure time, then your fire

   The mortar maker's cure time decides when you can light up again, and you'll have that date before we leave.

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What we find above the damper picks the repair, starting with the least work that will hold up.

Refractory mortar

Refractory mortar to ASTM C199, medium duty, the heat-rated material the Florida Building Code names for parging a smoke chamber smooth.

Solid masonry for rebuilt walls

Solid brick, stone or grouted block for any section we rebuild, as the code's smoke chamber section calls for.

Firebrick lining where it fits

Firebrick meeting ASTM C1261, laid in refractory mortar, for chambers the design lets us line instead of parge.

1. 01

   How rough the chamber is

   Corbelled, stepped brick takes more mortar and more coats than walls that were sloped when the fireplace was built.

2. 02

   Shelf and joint damage

   A crumbling smoke shelf or open joints add repair time before the parging can start.

3. 03

   Tar on the walls

   Heavy deposits take longer to scrape off, and no parging goes on until the brick underneath is clean.

4. 04

   Getting to the chamber

   A tight damper opening can mean lifting out the damper plate to work, which adds a step to the visit.

• The chamber walls, lit from below with the damper wide open
• Every ledge where tar and soot have built up
• The smoke shelf at the chamber's base, checked for cracks and debris
• Joints between chamber bricks, probed for gaps
• Where the chamber narrows into the first flue tile
• The damper frame and how well its plate seats

• Smoke rolls out under the mantel

  Rough, stepped walls above the damper slow the smoke and break up the draft. Our pros smooth them with refractory parging so the fire pulls cleanly up the flue.

• A tarry smell after the fire's out

  Deposits cling to each brick ledge in the chamber. We scrape them off and parge the ledges away, leaving far less surface for tar to grab.

• Chunks of mortar on the smoke shelf

  The level ledge at the base of the chamber is breaking up. We rebuild the damaged part and seal it so debris and rainwater stop pooling there.

• Cracks you can spot past the damper

  Heat has opened joints or split the chamber walls. Hairline gaps get filled and parged, and wider damage means rebuilding that section in solid masonry.

• Chimney Repair Damage anywhere on the chimney traced to its cause and repaired.
• Hurricane and Storm Damage Chimney Repair Caps, chase covers, flashing and top brick damaged by wind or falling limbs.

• Why does my fireplace smoke? Read when it happens The timing of smoke helps describe the problem, but several causes can produce the same pattern. Stop using a fireplace that spills smoke and arrange an assessment.

Chimney Guides