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byAlma Abell
If we only think traditional chimney stacks; constructed from stone and rising up the wall of a house from ground level to above the rooftop (plus those less dramatic masonry stacks that rise out of the middle of a house’s pitched roof); then, those of us living in the center of Columbus might be excused for thinking that we will never need chimney repair in Columbus, OH. Simply take a look at the city’s imposing skyline – all those high rises and not one chimney stack to be seen.
What About Flue Ducts?
Way, way back in time; we erected some sort of structure to keep us out of nature’s weather and we dug a shallow hole in its earth floor (more or less at the center of the floor area) and, in this shallow pit; we burnt things; either to warm up the inside of our structure; or, over which, we could cook our food. This did leave all inside somewhat blurry eyed from the smoke – even when we cut a hole in the roof and hoped that most of the smoke would escape through the hole.
Then, as we became cleverer; we built a sort of vertical tunnel above and around the fire so that the smoke had little choice but to pass up the tunnel and escape to the outside air at the top. The chimney had been born.
Over more time, we changed the way that we burnt our fuel to provide heat; things like pot bellied stoves, furnaces and fancy, enclosed fireplaces; but, all of these still gave off smoke and none of them seemed very good at extracting this smoke through a basic, old fashioned chimney. Designers found that smaller sized metal pipes and ducting were better smoke removers – a common term for this is flue ducts (which are used to extract the products of combustion from our fires). The flue ducts can be circular, square or rectangular and they are usually made from metal (in many cases the outside of the duct is lagged with an insulation material).
Since we like our houses to look attractive; we do not want an industrial looking; insulated metal duct running up any of our outside walls; therefore, the ducts will be hidden inside the building. Where the house already had a chimney (from days of older open hearth fires); the duct could be positioned inside the chimney. On newer construction and high rise in particular; the ductings can be hidden within interior walls.
Duct Or Chimney; They Still get Damaged
External chimneys can be damaged by lightning strike or strong winds and internal ducts will become corroded from gases within them; there is also a probability of internal duct fires or even explosions; caused by build up of incompletely burnt substances leaving the fire. So, traditional chimney; or modern flue duct; there is still a call for chimney repair in Columbus, OH.
Wherever you need chimney repair around Columbus, OH; whether for emergency call out or planned maintenance; you can confidently contact Whempys Ductwork & Chimney Services. Visit Whempys.com.