Chimney Services in Rockaway Township, NJ

What the numbers suggest for chimneys in Rockaway Township

Census estimates show a fairly even spread of building eras among Rockaway Township's 10,024 housing units: about 27% from 1940 to 1959, 27% from the 1960s and 1970s, 21% from 1980 to 1999 and 20% from 2000 on. The older groups are where masonry chimneys with clay flues are more likely; the newer groups add factory-built fireplaces and metal chimneys to the picture.

About 61% of occupied homes heat with utility gas, 24% with fuel oil, 9% with electricity and 5% with propane. An oil boiler flue and a gas fireplace flue can sit in the same township, and sometimes in the same house, each with its own upkeep.

Roughly 69% of units are detached, 8% attached, and 18% sit in larger buildings of five units or more. Those figures describe the township; they say nothing about the chimney on your house.

Start by knowing which system you have

A chimney built in the last twenty-five years may be traditional masonry, or it may be a factory-built system: a metal fireplace and metal chimney pipe, usually enclosed in a framed chase finished with siding, stucco or stone veneer. Each is maintained differently, and the Academy comparison of masonry and factory-built chimneys lists the clues that tell them apart.

For a factory-built fireplace, the manufacturer's manual is the rulebook. One manufacturer's installation manual, for example, says that only parts made by that manufacturer and labeled for the fireplace should be used, and warns against modifications the manual itself does not call for. That matters before anyone swaps the chimney top, fits glass doors or adds a gas kit. When the manual has gone missing, the listing label on the fireplace usually gives the maker and model so a copy can be found. Keep the manual with the house papers; the next owner, and anyone servicing the fireplace, will need it too.

What a newer chimney still needs checked

In CSIA's summary, NFPA 211 asks for a yearly inspection of chimneys, fireplaces and vents covering their soundness, deposits and clearances. A young system gets the same yearly look as an old one. On a newer house, the yearly look tends to cover:

• The top. On a factory-built system, the chase cover and chimney cap; on masonry, the crown and cap. Both shed water away from the flue.
• The roof line. Flashing where the chimney or chase meets the shingles, one of the places a leak can begin on a chimney of any age.
• The flue. Deposits from wood or oil, and the condition of the liner or metal pipe, seen by camera when the flue allows.
• The firebox. On factory-built units, the refractory panels and metal parts listed in the manual.

CSIA also names a sale or transfer of the property among its Level 2 triggers, and that applies to a five-year-old house as much as to a sixty-year-old one.

Condos and attached homes

With roughly a quarter of the township's units in attached homes or larger buildings, it helps to know who is responsible for which part of a chimney before booking work. In some communities the owner answers for the fireplace inside the unit and the association for the roof, chase and exterior; in others the line falls elsewhere. Your governing documents settle the split, and an inspection report with photos gives both sides the same information.

Local questions

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25040, B25024), via Census Reporter
2. CSIA: Frequently Asked Questions
3. CSIA: The Three Levels of Chimney Inspections
4. Majestic SSTB11 wood-burning fireplace installation and owner's manual (example manufacturer manual)