Ideally, you should never be able to smell your chimney inside your home, but it does attract an odd smell over time. The creosote byproduct of burning wood will build up on the masonry, leaves can get in and start to decay, leaks can lead to an unpleasant moldy smell, and unfortunately sometimes creatures get trapped up there and might start to rot. None of the smells are good, and once you identify a foul odor, it’s important to identify the root cause right away.
The good news about most chimney smells is that they can be solved quickly. Some issues, like mold as a product of leaking, will require you to address the cause of the leak. However, other issues like creosote, leaves, or dead animals just means that you need a chimney cleaning to solve it.
The real issue from a smelly chimney is if you are catching whiffs of it all the time and when you are further into your home than right next to it. This means that you have a negative pressure issue. It means that air from the outside is being pulled in through the chimney and bringing all those chimney smells with it into the room. This happens in newer homes because they were built to be airtight, whereas the chimney was not. You can correct this issue by having a newer, airtight damper installed, but even still, if your chimney is pungent, it needs to be cleaned.
If you have a smelly chimney, contact us today. Fiddler on the Roof Chimney Services can not only help you get your smelly chimney clean, but we can help you troubleshoot and repair the issues that are causing those terrible smells to seep into your home.
Whether you have a chimney leak or negative pressure in the home, we can help you get it fixed up in time for fireplace season. Contact our team today.
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