Chimney Services in Manville, NJ

What the numbers suggest for chimneys in Manville

Census estimates place about 18% of Manville's 4,639 housing units before 1940 and another 43% between 1940 and 1959, so roughly six in ten homes predate 1960. Masonry chimneys from those decades may have clay tile flues, and some older ones were built without a liner at all; the difference is unpacked in flue vs. liner.

About 88% of occupied homes heat with utility gas, and electricity accounts for 7%. In many houses of this age, the gas furnace or boiler and the water heater sit in the basement and vent into the chimney through a connector pipe, which puts the bottom of the venting system at the level floodwater reaches first.

About 26% of units are in buildings with two to four units, a high share. Where two households share a building, their furnaces and water heaters can end up venting into the same chimney, sometimes through separate flues; see chimneys with more than one flue. These figures describe Manville as a whole and cannot speak to an individual chimney.

Flood records and rules from official sources

The National Weather Service gauge on the Raritan River at Manville has a flood stage of 14 feet, with moderate flooding at 17 feet and major flooding at 20 feet. Its published list of top crests is led by 27.1 feet on September 16, 1999 and 26.24 feet on August 28, 2011.

The borough's Ordinance 2023-1293 describes Tropical Storm Ida leaving homeowners with damaged electrical, plumbing, hot water, HVAC and furnace equipment, and it extended a waiver of construction permit fees for qualifying Ida repairs done from September 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023. Manville's floodplain management chapter requires a permit from the Floodplain Administrator for development in a flood hazard area and calls for heating and other service equipment to be elevated under its standards. The borough's guidance on substantially damaged homes says that a house elevated after such damage must have its basement filled in and its utilities relocated. The building department can tell you how these rules apply to your address.

When the heating equipment changes, the chimney question changes

New Jersey's construction code has a form for exactly this moment: DCA Form F370, titled "Chimney Verification for Replacement of Fuel-Fired Equipment." The person verifying must confirm the chimney or vent is "in good repair and clear of obstruction" and "appropriately lined and sized" for the new equipment. Timing depends on the permit: with minor and emergency work it accompanies the application, and under a full permit the code official must have it before the final inspection. The form also states that a homeowner may not submit it in place of the required inspection.

After a flood, the old chimney can end up in one of three situations:

• It keeps its job. A new furnace or water heater vents into the same flue. The flue has to suit the new unit, which may mean a properly sized chimney liner.
• It loses part of its job. A high-efficiency furnace vents out through the wall, and the water heater ends up as the only appliance in a flue built for two. That is the orphaned water heater problem.
• It loses its job entirely. Equipment moves upstairs or to sidewall venting and nothing uses the flue. An idle chimney still needs a cap and a decision about its future; see should you remove an unused chimney?

When a house is elevated and the basement filled, the chimney's base, cleanout and connector openings are affected as well. A masonry chimney rests on its own footing, as our guide to chimney foundations explains, so the elevation plan should say what happens to it. That decision belongs to the project's engineer and the construction official; a chimney inspection documents the existing condition for them.

Local questions

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25040, B25024), via Census Reporter
2. National Weather Service MARFC: Raritan River at Manville, flood categories (PDF)
3. National Weather Service MARFC: Raritan River at Manville, top crests (PDF)
4. Borough of Manville Ordinance 2023-1293: extending the waiver of construction permit fees for Tropical Storm Ida damage (PDF)
5. Borough of Manville Code, Chapter 26, Floodplain Management (eCode360)
6. Borough of Manville: What Is a Substantially Damaged Home (PDF)
7. NJ Department of Community Affairs, Form F370: Chimney Verification for Replacement of Fuel-Fired Equipment (PDF)