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Found 35 results for the keyword(s) ‘Chimney’

  • Article

    Can I cut into the furnace chimney raceway to gain storage space?

    Mario from Vancouver, B.C. writes: "I want to make a cabinet in the wall of the bathroom and the best area is between the vent stack and the furnace exhaust. They are separated by a piece of drywall inside the wall. Can I remove the drywall in order to make more space?"Mario sent a photo of a h...
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    Flue pipes for sealed combustion fire place inserts.

    One of our viewers caught our cameras in the renovation centre and asked a really good question. He has a sealed combustion gas fire place insert and has been told that both the fresh air coming in and the exhaust gasses going out have to go all the way up the chimney and out. He wanted to know...
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    A look at a bad roofing job and how to hire a roofing contractor.

    Annie has three roofs on her house, a shingled roof in the front part followed by an asphalt and gravel flat roof and then an elastomeric membrane flat roof over her back porch. They all seem to leak. The asphalt roof is only six years old, installed by someone who advertised in the local paper...
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    The fireplace stinks a sooty smell.

    Brenda from Port Hardy, B.C. says that her wood burning insert smells of soot when it is not in use.The problem is obviously one of air coming down the chimney. Either the exhaust fans in the house are drawing air when there is no fire to maintain an upward draft, or the wind is twisted around on...
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    Should cold air returns be on the ceiling or on the floor?

    Pham from Hamilton asked why he sees air returns on the ceiling sometimes and on the floor in other houses, and what effect this placement has on air quality in the house.If you are in the far north, or in the Southern US, the answer is simple. In an air conditioning climate the return duct goes...
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    Can I box in and insulate my pre-fab chimney to stop the downdraft?

    A prefabricated chimney always has insulation in the chimney itself. Yet, when it is on the outside of the house, and when there is no fire burning, it gets as cold as outdoors. That?s when all that cold air wants to drop into the basement, giving you that downdraft every time you try to st...
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    Replacing one section of an old pre-fab chimney.

    Glenn has a 26 year old prefabricated chimney and the top section is rusted out. He can't find anyone who has a replacement section for the chimney. So he asked if I could find it, and if not, whether he could screw something else to the top of his chimney.It turns out that his particular ch...
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    Materials for repointing brick.

    Special "mortar chisels" fit perfectly between the bricks, allowing you to get rid of loose or poor mortar without disturbing the brick. Whenever you are going to add mortar to existing brickwork, you must make sure that the layer of new mortar will go as deep as it is wide. That is because it ...
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    WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR APPLYING INSULATION IN THE ATTIC?

    -- Take care of air barriers, ventilation and vapour barriers before insulating. Check out these three topics in the Search Tab above.-- Don't block the eave vents with insulation.-- Do cover the top of the outside wall.-- Don't put plastic foam on top of porous insulations (batts, loose fill) a...
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    The combustion air duct for my furnace freezes the basement. What to do?

    When the contractor installed a new furnace, he put in a great big air duct from outdoors right into the furnace room. This tends to freeze the basement floor. Can I close it off?Response:This duct is necessary in most modern homes and even in well sealed renovations to assure adequate air f...
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