How do I tell if my damper is stuck open or stuck closed?

Look up into the throat with a flashlight from in front of the firebox, not from underneath. If you see daylight or an open plate, it is open. If you cannot tell, do not light a fire to find out.

Can a stuck damper be repaired, or does the whole thing need replacing?

Often it can be freed, cleaned and re-seated, and the handle and pivot hardware replaced. If the frame itself has rusted through, a top-sealing damper at the top of the flue is the usual alternative. The technician tells you which after looking.

Why do Buffalo chimneys rust out dampers so often?

An uncapped flue takes rain and lake-effect snow straight down onto the damper. With Buffalo's long winters, repeated freeze-thaw cycles and humid summers, the steel rarely gets a chance to dry. That is why a cap usually goes on as part of the repair.

Do I need a permit for damper work?

Routine sweeping and inspection generally do not require one in New York. Structural masonry work does, and permits are issued by your local building department or code enforcement officer, so call them before that kind of work starts.

Are you the company that comes out?

No. One Call Chimney is a referral and scheduling service that arranges the work with independent sweeps and masons across all fifty states, including Buffalo. We are not the contractor and we do not perform the work.

Damper stuck in Buffalo, NY

The handle will not move, or it moves and nothing happens. That is the damper. It sits in the throat of the fireplace, just above the firebox, and it is a metal plate that pivots open and shut. When it seizes, it is usually rust on the plate, the frame or the pivot pins. Sometimes the handle or linkage has snapped off and the plate itself is fine.

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Rust from an uncapped flue is the usual cause. Rain and snow drop straight down an open flue and land on the one steel part in the whole chimney. In Buffalo that happens all winter — lake-effect snow off Erie packs into the top of a chimney, then thaws, then freezes again, over and over from November into March. Summer humidity here keeps unused flues damp the rest of the year, so the metal never really dries out. Buffalo also has some of the oldest housing stock in the country, with masonry chimneys on huge numbers of pre-1940 houses, many built for coal or older gas appliances. A damper that has been cycling through eighty winters of that is working hard.

While you wait — please don't

Do not light a fire until you know the damper is open. A closed damper sends the whole fire's smoke back into the room, and you cannot assume it is open just because the handle moved.
Do not force it. A rusted damper can crack its frame, and once the frame goes it stops being a hardware job and becomes masonry work.
If smoke comes in, stop and clear the room. Put the fire out, stop using the fireplace, open windows and get everyone out into fresh air — if anyone is dizzy, sick or confused, get outside and call 911, because that can be carbon monoxide.
Do not leave a damper stuck open and forget it. An open throat is an open hole to the sky, and through a Buffalo winter you are heating the outdoors and letting cold, damp air down into the house.

What the technician does

The damper gets looked at firstThe technician checks whether the plate, the frame, the pivots or the handle is the problem. That decides everything else.
Freed, cleaned and re-seatedWhere the plate is sound, it is worked loose, cleaned up and re-seated so it closes flat against the frame again. A damper that does not seal is nearly as bad as one that will not move.
Handles, pivots and hardware replacedBroken handles, worn pivot pins and failed linkage get replaced so the thing actually operates from the firebox.
A top-sealing damper where the throat damper is beyond repairIf the frame is gone, a top-sealing damper can be fitted at the top of the flue instead. It seals at the crown and takes the weather out of the equation.
Flue swept while it is accessibleWith the damper open and the tools already there, the flue is swept. It is the sensible moment to do it.
A cap fitted to stop the waterA cap keeps the rain and snow that rusted the damper out of the flue in the first place. Without it, the new hardware starts the same slow corrosion.

Why this happens in Buffalo, NY

Freeze-thaw is the story with Buffalo chimneys. Deep freezes and repeated thaw cycles are routine here from November into March, and the century-old brick and stone chimneys around North Buffalo, Parkside, the West Side and South Buffalo show it — spalled brick, failing crowns, deteriorated liners. A damper problem often turns up alongside that, because the same open, uncapped flue that lets water into the crown and the masonry is the one dripping onto the damper plate. Snow drifts and ice can also cap a masonry chimney outright, which is its own draft problem.

Timing matters. Demand across Buffalo spikes in October and November as people get ready for winter, again after big lake-effect snow and ice events from December through February, and again during the spring thaw when freeze damage becomes visible. If your damper is stuck now, call now rather than waiting for the first cold snap. Note too that in New York, structural masonry work — say, rebuilding a chimney above the roofline — usually needs a permit from your local building department, while routine sweeping and inspection generally do not. Permits here are issued locally, not by the state.

Questions people ask

How do I tell if my damper is stuck open or stuck closed?: Look up into the throat with a flashlight from in front of the firebox, not from underneath. If you see daylight or an open plate, it is open. If you cannot tell, do not light a fire to find out.
Can a stuck damper be repaired, or does the whole thing need replacing?: Often it can be freed, cleaned and re-seated, and the handle and pivot hardware replaced. If the frame itself has rusted through, a top-sealing damper at the top of the flue is the usual alternative. The technician tells you which after looking.
Why do Buffalo chimneys rust out dampers so often?: An uncapped flue takes rain and lake-effect snow straight down onto the damper. With Buffalo's long winters, repeated freeze-thaw cycles and humid summers, the steel rarely gets a chance to dry. That is why a cap usually goes on as part of the repair.
Do I need a permit for damper work?: Routine sweeping and inspection generally do not require one in New York. Structural masonry work does, and permits are issued by your local building department or code enforcement officer, so call them before that kind of work starts.
Are you the company that comes out?: No. One Call Chimney is a referral and scheduling service that arranges the work with independent sweeps and masons across all fifty states, including Buffalo. We are not the contractor and we do not perform the work.

One call

Call (866) 576-7943 and we will arrange for an independent sweep to look at your damper. The estimate is free — the technician inspects the chimney and gives you the price before any work starts, and you approve it first.

Call now · (866) 576-7943

Something else in this area

One Call Chimney arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.