Chimney Services in Bellmawr, NJ

What the numbers suggest for chimneys in Bellmawr

Bellmawr is largely a post-war borough. Census estimates date about 44% of its 5,016 housing units to 1940 through 1959 and 38% to the 1960s and 1970s, with only 8% older. Masonry chimneys from those years often carry a heating flue for a basement furnace or water heater, with or without a fireplace flue beside it. When a furnace is upgraded and the water heater is left venting alone into the old flue, that flue may now be too large for it, the orphaned water heater problem.

About 80% of occupied homes heat with utility gas and 16% with electricity. Oil accounts for about 2%, and wood is near zero.

About 60% of units are detached houses, 17% are single-family attached homes such as twins and rows, and 17% are in apartment buildings with five or more units. The figures cover the whole borough and cannot tell you how a specific chimney is holding up.

One chimney, two households

In a twin or a row, a chimney can sit in the shared wall and take several forms: one flue serving one unit, a flue for each unit side by side, or flues for a furnace and a fireplace belonging to different owners. From inside your house you usually see only your own fireplace or vent pipe, so the first job is mapping which flue goes where. A camera, used when the flue allows, and a look from the roof answer that. See chimneys with more than one flue.

Work above the roof affects both sides. A cracked crown, missing cap or loose mortar at the top of a shared stack usually cannot be repaired for one half only. Findings come with photos, which gives both owners the same picture to decide on. Who pays is for the owners, their deeds or an association to settle, not something a chimney inspection decides.

When the house next door gets taller

The model residential code text sets a familiar height rule: a chimney should rise at least two feet above any part of a building within ten feet, and at least three feet above where it passes through the roof. In attached housing, a neighbor's second-story addition or raised roof can land inside that ten-foot circle and leave your chimney shorter than the rule calls for. A flue that suddenly smokes or draws poorly after work next door is worth checking for this. Our guide on chimney height explains the reasoning, and the local construction office can confirm which code edition applies.

Carbon monoxide alarms in attached homes

New Jersey's fire code rule on carbon monoxide alarms, N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.19, applies to homes in one- and two-family buildings and to attached single-family homes, with an exemption for buildings that contain no fuel-burning device and have no attached garage. It requires alarms near the sleeping areas and allows battery, hard-wired or plug-in units. If a CO alarm sounds, the CPSC advice is to get outside to fresh air and then call 911. Our CO alarm guide covers placement and testing.

Local questions

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25040, B25024), via Census Reporter
2. 2003 International Residential Code, Chapter 10, Chimneys and Fireplaces (text reproduced by Buckley Rumford Fireplaces)
3. N.J.A.C. 5:70-4.19, Carbon monoxide alarms (Legal Information Institute)
4. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Carbon Monoxide Information Center