Water in fireplace due to heavy rains (how much, inspection)

[kisp624]

During the past 2-3 heavy rainstorms with 60+ mph winds, rain water manages to leak thru the closed damper and drip all over my fire place. I called a reputable chimney repair service and was told due to the heavy windswept rain falling horizontally, there isn’t much that can be done to stop the rain from getting into the chimney. In fact, the owner claims that he has received over 200 calls since the day after Tuesday’s storm. I had a chimney inspection done in 2022 and no issues were found. While I appreciate his honesty and not doing unnecessary work, is this something that everyone with a fireplace just has to put up with? As far as I can tell, the chimney cap is in place and there doesn’t appear to be any damage to the exterior brick work. Am debating on getting a second opinion even though the company I am dealing with has overwhelming positive reviews on google and yelp.

Thanks.

[hotkarl]

It happens. When the wind is blowing the rain upside down and sideways moisture can show just about anywhere. Even with a good secure cap you can get water down the chimney on occasion.

[S.I.B.]

it happens to my fireplace once every two years or so when there's a bad storm. When it first happened I had someone look at it and was told the same as what you were told.

[trusso11783]

It would be good if there was some sort of cap that can be closed when a storm like this happens. The only problem would be when you forget to open it and light a fire. You might die from carbon monoxide poisoning. Just a thought. I don’t have a fireplace so it doesn’t matter to me.

[94nasupra]

I don’t get any at all. How much water we talking ?

I would have to trust the companies opinion though especially if they are reputable. Maybe small chance there’s an issue with the flashing where the roof and chimney meet that maybe he didn’t check?

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by 94nasupra

I don’t get any at all. How much water we talking ?

I would have to trust the companies opinion though especially if they are reputable. Maybe small chance there’s an issue with the flashing where the roof and chimney meet that maybe he didn’t check?

For me, it's not like there's water pouring down the flue. It's more or less a drip. So we're talking about some fresh water that gets on some brick, stone and firewood at worst.

[kisp624]

Thanks for the advice. It’s not a flood of water but drips enough to soak the rags and towels I put down. I can’t remember having back to back rainstorms with high wind warnings. Regardless, will wait until the spring to have another chimney inspection done just in case.