Chimney Crisis - Please help!

[J Ray]

I am thinking there has got to me more in there than dead birds. If you can't punch through it with a pole, I suspect there is something else, perhaps a piece of old cap, or a collapsed liner. I would keep banging the crap out of it until it broke through, then try to clear it out with a chain. If that doesn't do it, sounds like a pro might have to be budgeted in.

I think you are right. The first owners/builders were pretty meticulous about keeping things in order and they would have kept a cap on it. My dad and I have talked about maybe a cap falling down the chimney and dead birds on top of it.

But we are already pulling dead birds from the bottom - no more soot. A cap could be blocking portions of the thing.

 

[Osage]

Build an extension for a 6" Ice auger. I have made one out of 1/2" galv. pipe.

 

[J Ray]

Get yourself some respiratory protection (masks) or a professional chimney sweep. Neighbor cleaned out a chimney full of pigeon poop, and came down with respiratory infection that caused him problems the rest of his life.

That is my biggest concern. We have clothes lying all around the basement from the recent move. My wife is pregnant. I do not want the CDC coming to my house investigating some unheard of bird flu fungus.

 

[J Ray]

Build an extension for a 6" Ice auger. I have made one out of 1/2" galv. pipe.

That is a good idea. I think I could put together something that I could use as a hand auger.

 

[saladdin]

BBQ?

Or a huge air cannon like they use to shoot hotdogs out of at ballgames.

 

[DAKSY]

If you've got an 8" well casing in there, is it steel? If so, I wouldn't hesitate with the steel drain snake. I have one that comes in 1.5" diameter x 8' sections that detach with the push of a pin & a twist of the wrist. Driven with a 1/2" heavy duty drill. Pretty heavy...You can mount what ever diameter cutting blade you need on there. I will say that in order to do it safely, you're gonna need a manlift or scaffolding...

 

[dmmoss51]

WOW

 

[cableman]

What about hammering some threaded rod lengths down to see if it makes it all the way through.then attach hole saw and drill!

 

[joescho]

Thanks. That made me laugh out loud. Nearest pro is probably 100 miles away. If the pro gets a call from someone out in the sticks, then they probably know there is a real problem.

I just keep hearing the 3 stooges saying "we're gonna hafta blast"

 

[Ashful]

I like the auger ideas, which sort of forces you to work from above, perhaps the better option for keeping your basement clean. Whether working from above or below, your objective should be pulling, not pushing.

You still haven't clarified the flue material. Something about well casing... so 1/4" wall steel?

 

[joescho]

I think you are right. The first owners/builders were pretty meticulous about keeping things in order and they would have kept a cap on it. My dad and I have talked about maybe a cap falling down the chimney and dead birds on top of it.

But we are already pulling dead birds from the bottom - no more soot. A cap could be blocking portions of the thing.

It might be worth it to get a pro out there just to get a camera down there. If you have a solid piece of something like a cap, then it might be a whole different story.

 

[J Ray]

Update on my chimney!

I want to say thanks to all you all who gave input. We do have a fire burning in our basement now.

After reading several of your posts, I became most concerned about disease from the dead birds. I started pouring 35% peroxide (not the stuff you buy in stores - the heavy duty stuff) down the chimney. I poured at least 1/2 a gallon down the chimney. I also poured bleach down the chimney.

That "disinfecting" process took a couple of weeks because I wanted it to soak and I did not want to flood the basement. The birds did lose that "dead bird" smell and did not have a smell after it.

The peroxide was like a chemistry project as white steam came flowing up the chimney. The peroxide totally changed the make-up of the bird remains. It made it look more like dead bird mulch.

My dad and I then took a 21 foot long 1.5 inch metal pipe that was used for a well pump. It was long enough and heavy enough to punch through the birds.

In total, there was over 10 gallons of dead birds.

 

[firebroad]

HOLY SMOKE!!

Seriously, Glad everything worked out and you didn't asphyxiate yourselves with all that chemical warfare.

 

[begreen]

Wow, that is epic. Wonder what drove the birds in there. They were not so swift.

Good to hear that you are cleaned out now and burning.

 

[granpajohn]

Congratulations J Ray. Your persistence is admirable
I've decided that this story has to be true. It's too crazy to make up.

 

[BrotherBart]

Where is Alfred Hitchcock when we need him?

 

[firebroad]

Heck with Hitchcock...where is Ripley's?

 

[Hoozie]

I am thinking there has got to me more in there than dead birds. If you can't punch through it with a pole, I suspect there is something else, perhaps a piece of old cap, or a collapsed liner.

Not necessarily. A fun experiment for kids is to take a paper towel tube, loosely rubber band a coffee filter on one end, then fill the tube with sugar or salt. Then, use a dowel to try to push the filter off through the sugar. Won't happen.

Some of the down force translates to side force against the liner, and the overall friction is too high to overcome.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Wow, that is epic. Wonder what drove the birds in there. They were not so swift.

Good to hear that you are cleaned out now and burning.

Almost certainly these were chimney swifts (small swallow-like black birds), which pile into tall chimneys to roost for the night. Then the previous owners did something-- turned on the furnace or lit a fire-- and the fumes killed them all.

 

[gerry100]

If you could poke a hole all the way thru you might be able to start a hot fire in the bottom.

Maybe you could burn it out enough to brush

 

[Ashful]

Almost certainly these were chimney swifts (small swallow-like black birds), which pile into tall chimneys to roost for the night. Then the previous owners did something-- turned on the furnace or lit a fire-- and the fumes killed them all.

I used to find a few birds in the space below the thimble on my oil boiler's chimney every year, until I installed a liner and cap. The boiler service tech's theory was, they'd hang around the top of the chimney all day, then get stoned from the exhaust and fall in. Never looked myself into whether this was likely, or not.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I used to find a few birds in the space below the thimble on my oil boiler's chimney every year, until I installed a liner and cap. The boiler service tech's theory was, they'd hang around the top of the chimney all day, then get stoned from the exhaust and fall in. Never looked myself into whether this was likely, or not.

I would think if that was happening, those of us with chimney caps would find dead birds on the lawn next to the chimney, no? I think the birds that end up getting stuck in chimneys more likely went in there on purpose to roost or to nest or in pursuit of a large insect, whatever, then panic and smack themselves to death beating against the chimney walls trying to get out again. Starlings, a very common bird around houses, do nest in cavities. But who knows. Anything is possible.

I do think a big, huge stack of birds like the OP had in his chimney is likely swifts, though. If you've never seen it, it's astonishing to watch them swirl around a chimney in a cloud around dusk and then just whoosh, all disappear into it in a split second.

 

[Ashful]

You mean like this? I wonder what Darwin would have to say about a species with a self-destruct function.

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[firebroad]

You mean like this? I wonder what Darwin would have to say about a species with a self-destruct function.

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Un-flippin' BELIEVABLE!!
They must have thought JRay's chimney was the Chapman School.

Yep, screens and caps--a good thing.

 

[granpajohn]

I used to find a few birds in the space below the thimble on my oil boiler's chimney every year, until I installed a liner and cap. The boiler service tech's theory was, they'd hang around the top of the chimney all day, then get stoned from the exhaust and fall in. Never looked myself into whether this was likely, or not.

There's a large house near here that has 4 chimneys. I imagine most of them have been sealed off. On a cold morning, you can see about 6 or 8 birds perched on the edge of one chimney...always the same one. My guess is that's the one with heat still coming out. Them birds may be dumb, but they know free heat when they find it.