I have a weird question.... We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). The top has a cap. The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
| |
| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
| |
| |
| xxxx xxxx | ---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
| |
------------------------------------- ----- chimney
footing







--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor



I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:54:19 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Dec 12, 4:39?pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:
....

you cant seal out water, your far better off installing a underground
french drain with sump pump to dry the area.............


I agree.

"grodenhiATgmailDOTcom" wrote in message
...
I have a weird question.... We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). The top has a cap. The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
| |
| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
| |
| |
| xxxx xxxx | ---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
| |
------------------------------------- ----- chimney
footing







--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor



I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

Is there a chimney cap to keep the rain from pouring sown the chimney?

On Dec 12, 7:57�pm, "Bob F" wrote:
"grodenhiATgmailDOTcom" wrote in message

...





I have a weird question.... �We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. �In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). �The top has a cap. �The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. �I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. �This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. �We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. �The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. �I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. �The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. �So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. �My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? �There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. �Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
� � � � � | � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � |
� � � � � | � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
� � � � � | � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � |
� � � � � | � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � |
� � � � � | � � �xxxx � � � � � � �xxxx � � � � � | �---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
� � � � � | � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � |
� � � � � ------------------------------------- �----- chimney
footing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor

I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

Is there a chimney cap to keep the rain from pouring sown the chimney?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
OP says theres is in openinmg post

wrote in message
...
On Dec 12, 7:57?pm, "Bob F" wrote:
"grodenhiATgmailDOTcom" wrote in message

...





I have a weird question.... ?We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. ?In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). ?The top has a cap. ?The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. ?I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. ?This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. ?We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. ?The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. ?I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. ?The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. ?So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. ?My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? ?There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. ?Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ?xxxx ? ? ? ? ? ? ?xxxx ? ? ? ? ? | ?---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
? ? ? ? ? | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? |
? ? ? ? ? ------------------------------------- ?----- chimney
footing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor

I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

Is there a chimney cap to keep the rain from pouring sown the chimney?- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
OP says theres is in openinmg post

************************************************** ******************

Oops. Missed that.

On Dec 12, 4:54*pm, " wrote:
On Dec 12, 4:39 pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:



I have a weird question.... We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). The top has a cap. The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
| |
| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
| |
| |
| xxxx xxxx | ---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
| |
------------------------------------- ----- chimney
footing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor

I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

you cant seal out water, your far better off installing a underground
french drain with sump pump to dry the area.............

I've pondered doing that but the thought of a second sump pump (we
have a sump/french drain in basement), just seems too much. A local
mason recommended filling the underground portion of the chimney
(again, it's not too the footings of the house, only about 2 feet deep
tops) with cement and moving the internal clean out doors to be on the
outside. This way if there's nothing underground to fill with water
than the problem is gone. Just weird that water had enough upward
pressure to make it up and into the chimney base which is 3-4 feet
higher than the basement floor, but the basement floor is fine.

On Dec 13, 11:18�pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:
On Dec 12, 4:54�pm, " wrote:





On Dec 12, 4:39 pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:

I have a weird question.... We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). The top has a cap. The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
| |
| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
| |
| |
| xxxx xxxx | ---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
| |
------------------------------------- ----- chimney
footing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor

I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

you cant seal out water, your far better off installing a underground
french drain with sump pump to dry the area.............

I've pondered doing that but the thought of a second sump pump (we
have a sump/french drain in basement), just seems too much. A local
mason recommended filling the underground portion of the chimney
(again, it's not too the footings of the house, only about 2 feet deep
tops) with cement and moving the internal clean out doors to be on the
outside. �This way if there's nothing underground to fill with water
than the problem is gone. �Just weird that water had enough upward
pressure to make it up and into the chimney base which is 3-4 feet
higher than the basement floor, but the basement floor is fine.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

install the interior french drain.

otherwise you can fill the cavatity and find water on floor, as next
problem.

you can probably tie the drain to the existing sump pump, but 2
seperate pumps and exit lines add redundancy.....

On Dec 13, 11:32*pm, " wrote:
On Dec 13, 11:18 pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:



On Dec 12, 4:54 pm, " wrote:

On Dec 12, 4:39 pm, grodenhiATgmailDOTcom wrote:

I have a weird question.... We have a brick dual ceramic flue chimney
(maybe 1 ft x 3 ft) running up the side of our house. In the basement
the footing for this chimney is less than two feet below ground (it
does NOT go to the basement floor). The top has a cap. The part that
is underground was brick, but two years ago I had a cement wall built
around this underground brick, maybe 2 or three inches think,
basically a foundation wall built around the underground portion of
the chimney. I had this done because anytime we got a huge rainstorm
(3+ inches in a day), the underground portion of the chimney would
fill with water. This worked for over two years and many big storms
until the storm we just got in New England. We got about 5 inches of
rain in 24 hours. The chimney stayed dry until we hit the 4 inch mark
in rain, then started to slowly fill with water. I pulled about 10
gallons from it using a wet vac. The outside is sloped away from the
chimney and there no standing water. So my thoughts a

Water must be coming up from bottom. My thought (and probably dead
wrong), was to buy floor leveler and pour in a new base ("floor")
inside the chimney cleanout maybe an inch or so thick? There can't be
that much pressure pushing up as these cleanouts sit maybe 3-4 feet
above the basement floor and no water is coming in through basement
floor. Below is very crude diagram.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement ceiling
| |
| |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ground level
| |
| |
| xxxx xxxx | ---- this box
is the chimney (x's are the two cleanout doors)
| |
------------------------------------- ----- chimney
footing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
basement floor

I'm also going to price out having the entire undergorund portion of
chimnet filled in with cement and clean out doors moved outside.

you cant seal out water, your far better off installing a underground
french drain with sump pump to dry the area.............

I've pondered doing that but the thought of a second sump pump (we
have a sump/french drain in basement), just seems too much. A local
mason recommended filling the underground portion of the chimney
(again, it's not too the footings of the house, only about 2 feet deep
tops) with cement and moving the internal clean out doors to be on the
outside. This way if there's nothing underground to fill with water
than the problem is gone. Just weird that water had enough upward
pressure to make it up and into the chimney base which is 3-4 feet
higher than the basement floor, but the basement floor is fine.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

install the interior french drain.

otherwise you can fill the cavatity and find water on floor, as next
problem.

you can probably tie the drain to the existing sump pump, but 2
seperate pumps and exit lines add redundancy.....

We already have an interior french drain for the whole basement. This
never takes on water, and the pump only runs about 2-3 storms a year
(takes 4+ inches of rain in a day for the sump to even show any
water). How would I install and interior french drain in the chimney
base? Dumb question but how would I (or contrater) get in there? The
spot is a 2x3 foot cavity that is about 1-2 feet below ground.