Why a Santa Monica fireplace can smell worse in early summer than in winter
Creosote is porous and absorbs water vapour. When the marine layer keeps the air damp, deposits in the flue release a sour, smoky odour, and air-conditioned or closed-up houses pull that air down the chimney into the room.
Cleaning the deposits out is the fix. A damper that seals properly helps too, but steel damper plates near the ocean rust at the edges and stop sealing, which is why the odour often returns in a house with an old damper even after the flue is clean.
How much buildup justifies a cleaning
CSIA's standard of practice says to sweep, or recommend sweeping, any chimney with 1/8 inch or more of buildup. That is a thin layer, and it is measured on the flue wall.
Loose soot and flaky deposits brush away. Glazed creosote, which looks like shiny black tar, does not, and it needs a separate chemical treatment and removal process. A cleaning visit should say which of the two it found.
Tell us whether the complaint is a smell, smoke in the room, or simply that it has been a while, and whether the fireplace is in a house or a multi-unit building. Describe the problem and request an estimate.
Fireplaces in Santa Monica condos and apartment buildings
In a multi-unit building, a fireplace may vent through a flue that is part of a shared chimney stack, or through a factory-built chimney inside a chase that reaches the roof. Roof access is usually controlled by the building or HOA, and it is worth arranging before a visit rather than during it.
Where the unit's fireplace is factory-built, the flue is metal and is cleaned with brushes suited to it. A wire brush made for clay tile can scratch a metal liner.
The variables in a Santa Monica chimney cleaning estimate
Most cleaning estimates turn on the deposits and the access.
- 1How heavy the buildup is, and whether any of it is glazed.
- 2Number of flues and fireplaces.
- 3Roof access, including building permission in a multi-unit property.
- 4Debris or nesting material that has to be cleared first.
- 5Odour work beyond cleaning, such as a deodorising treatment or a damper that needs repair.