by Mark Hudson | Sep 30, 2019 | waterproofing
Your chimney is at risk of serious damage if it hasn’t been waterproofed. Many homeowners think that a well-constructed chimney or professionally-installed system is good to go. Many 
homeowners aren’t even aware that chimneys can BE waterproofed—and should be! The truth is that water is such a hazard to a properly-functioning chimney that industry professionals have designed specialized products to protect them.
Chimney Water Damage
Your chimney is at risk for water damage year-round. Whether you live on the coast, in the mountains, in a mild climate, or elsewhere, your chimney will be affected by water. The goal of every homeowner and every chimney professional is to keep the water on the OUTSIDE of the chimney. Once it penetrates the system, it can damage it from inside out. What’s more, your chimney leak can lead to water damage and leaks in other areas of the house.
Common water damage includes:
- Rusted dampers, fireplace accessories, connectors, and glass doors
- Deterioration of metal and masonry assemblies
- Deterioration of adjacent structural materials and wall coverings
- Damaged central heating system and flue lining system
- Collapsed hearth support, tilted chimney, collapsed structure
- Chimney settlement
- Spalling masonry and damaged mortar
- Clogged clean-out area
- Water-stains of masonry, walls, floors, and furniture
Winter Water Damage
Water damage is worse in winter months than at any other time. This is because once the water penetrates the masonry through cracks or porous spaces, it freezes and expands. As the water expands, space is made and the masonry is broken apart. When a fire is lit in the system and the chimney warms up, the ice is melted and the water runs further into the damaged masonry. This process, called the freeze/thaw cycle, is repeated month after month, all winter long. The freeze/thaw cycle results in what professionals in the industry call “winter damage”. When your chimney isn’t properly waterproofed, it will take on winter damage that will need to be repaired in the spring to avoid more damage and costly repairs.
Preventable Damage
Like many problems and hazards that can affect your chimney system, water damage is also preventable. You can protect your chimney by hiring a certified professional to maintain it properly. Serving Jacksonville for over 30 years, Hudson Chimney strives to offer valuable services to our customers year after year. By choosing Hudson for all of your chimney needs, you ensure your system is ready for all the seasons, tropical storm season, fire season, and anything that comes your way. Your chimney system is meant to last years—at least as many years as your home or longer. Chimneys and fireplaces add value to your home, but only if they aren’t costing you every year in damages!
We diagnose and repair leaky chimneys, but we also prevent chimney leaks in the first place! Schedule waterproofing services with Hudson Chimney this fall and protect your masonry from tropical storms, mineral-heavy water, humidity, and more. We apply an industrial water-repellant that allows you chimney to breathe and vent properly while also keeping water molecules out. This waterproofing agent doesn’t change the look of your masonry at all, penetrates deep into the masonry, and lasts up to 8 years! If you have never waterproofed your system or have had recent masonry repairs, contact our team today to schedule.
by Mark Hudson | Sep 16, 2019 | About Us
When it comes to chimney installation, repair, and maintenance, it’s important to hire only certified professionals for the job. For years the chimney industry had been under-regulated until the 1980s when the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) created a standard by which to hold professionals. Now, chimney sweeps across the country have a credential strive for and homeowners and consumers have a certification they can depend on.
CSIA Certified Professionals
We are not only CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps (CCS), but also CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technicians (CDET). We trust the
Chimney Safety Institute of America with our training, examination, re-certification, and our progressive advancement in an ever-changing industry. As CSIA certified professionals, we are educated online or in a classroom, examined over standards, chimney safety, and federal codes and regulations. Those holding a CSIA certification must re-certify every three years by way of re-examination or continuing education credits and adhere to a stringent code of ethics created to protect consumers from scams of the industry. Those found to be in violation of the code of ethics can have their certification revoked. It’s our goal as CSIA certified technicians to not only serve our customers but also to educate and protect them.
Affiliations and Memberships
We are not only certified professionals, but we also connect with other experts in our field by joining associations and maintaining memberships and affiliations. We maintain memberships in the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCWG), the Georgia Chimney Sweep Guild (GCSG), and owner Mark is the founder and president of the Florida Guild of Professional Chimney Sweeps (FGPCS). Through these organizations, we are able to stay ahead of the best brands, products, and technologies in the industry as well as changes to standards and more.
Education as Foundation
The foundation of a good chimney sweep company is education. It is important to us and our customers that we stay up to date on all new advancements and standards to keep our customers safe and comfortable year after years. Our team at Hudson Chimney doesn’t stop at the standard set for the industry but rises above and beyond it with the latest tools, trends, equipment, and products. When you depend on Hudson, you are trusting your chimney with the best—Jacksonville’s chosen chimney care company for over thirty years!
Hudson’s Comprehensive Chimney Care
If you reside in or around Jacksonville, Florida and own or rent a home with a chimney, Hudson Chimney has all you need for comprehensive chimney care. We offer routine preventative maintenance recommended by both the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). When we find damage—big or small—during a chimney sweep or inspection, we can repair it. We make repairs correctly and we complete them swiftly. When you schedule repairs now, your chimney system will be ready for use when temperatures drop this fall.
When your chimney needs work, don’t trust the amateurs, trust the professionals with appropriate credentials and expertise to get the job done right.
Call Hudson Chimney at 904-282-4159 or contact us online.
by Mark Hudson | Aug 24, 2019 | fireplaces
Before you finish up with your summer maintenance, consider your fireplace. Does it match your home, your décor, and personality? Could it be more efficient? Safer? Perhaps your fireplace is old and worn out, hasn’t been updated or maintained in many years, and is costing you money! You don’t have to break the bank to update your fireplace before winter. Check-in with Hudson 
Chimney and we’ll tell you all about our gas and wood fireplace sales.
Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
If you have your own supply of firewood, there is no reason in changing fuel types. You may find that a new wood stove or high-efficiency fireplace can boost efficiency and safety and still offer the dancing natural flames you want in a fireplace. If you’re interested in wood fires and looking to upgrade with a new product, we can help you choose between a wood stove, wood-burning fireplace, or a wood stove insert.
Wood stoves burn efficiently and safely—many featuring a fire-viewing window. The wood stoves we sell and install at Hudson are top-of-the-line and come in a variety of styles. You can choose between traditional, rustic, and custom stoves and inserts as well as sleek, contemporary, and simplistic styles when looking at stoves, inserts, and fireplaces. Inserts are retrofitted directly into an existing firebox and vented up the chimney. Stoves and fireplaces offer more freedom for installation. Using appropriate refractory materials to protect your walls and floors, our technicians can install a stove in any space.
Gas Stoves and Fireplaces
For our customers looking for a bit more convenience and almost no maintenance, gas fires are the favorite. Our gas units are available as inserts, freestanding fireplaces, and gas stoves. For homeowners in our area who are looking to upgrade for efficiency, converting to gas is the best way to go. Gas models are beautiful, highly efficient, safer, and most are so convenient they ignite immediately and are controlled precisely with remote control! Our models range from contemporary to traditional, with beautiful fire-view windows, and even re-arrangeable logs to give the illusion of wood flame. If you want the beauty of a wood fire, but not all the hassle of firewood, ashes, kindling, and difficult-to-light fires, you want a gas unit. We have them!
Shop with the Professionals
When you’re looking to upgrade or install a new unit altogether, it’s important to only shop through the qualified professionals. Shopping online can result in wasted money, improper installations, and dangerous fires. When you’re adding a fireplace or stove to your home, you’re adding value. Make sure your installation isn’t detracting from your value!
When you shop with Hudson Chimney, you have access to the best products on the market and the most qualified technicians in the area to make your install. We are CSIA certified and experienced in repairs, installations, and more.
Whether you’re looking for gas log sets, gas fire products, or wood fire products, we can help you find what you’re looking for. Check out our sales for the best value today.
by Mark Hudson | Aug 10, 2019 | Master Chimney Sweep
When it comes to your chimney, its services, and repairs, it’s important to schedule with a certified professional. Hiring an amateur, general contractor, or handyman may result in improper installations. When products are installed improperly or repairs are made incorrectly or haphazardly, it can result in increased fire risk and a drop in efficiency. An inefficient fireplace and chimney system is not only dangerous but can also cost you money!
CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps
A CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep is a professional who has gone through hours of classroom and field training, rigorous testing and lives by a code of ethics. Every three years the CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep (CCS) must recertify through examination or continuing education courses. Sweeps strive to further the CSIA mission of eliminating residential fires by educating the public and professionals.
Hire a Master Sweep for the Best
Those chimney sweeps who have gone above and beyond are able to apply for Master Sweep status. These chimney sweeps do everything in their power to stay at the very front of the chimney and venting industry. Applicants must be an active CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep who has held this certification for a minimum of nine consecutive years or 18 total years. Those that are interested in becoming a Master Sweep must complete the following courses in order to obtain the credential:
- Chimney Physics (online or 2-day course)
- Inspection and Report Writing (2-day course) or Diagnosis and Documentation
- CSIA Masonry Repair for Chimney Professionals
- CSIA Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel
- CSIA Rope/Roof Access
- CSIA Advanced Masonry Repair
- NFI Core Review + NFI Specialty Review
- Advanced Inspection and Documentation
- Master Chimney Sweep Comprehensive Burn Wise Course
- 12 hours of CSIA online training (not to include reviews, lining masonry chimneys, or chimney physics online)
These courses are filled with valuable knowledge and information related to an ever-changing industry. Master Sweeps are expected to complete them in order to stay at the front of the industry in service, safety, technology, and standards.
NFI-Certified Master Sweeps
Not only does a Master Sweep need to be CSIA Certified, but also have an active NFI Certification through one of two CSIA classes. This requirement may also be fulfilled by having held an NFI certification for a minimum of six years, a current F.I.R.E. Certified Inspector, OR an Associate degree in Fire Science from an accredited college.
Once all requirements are completed, an application is submitted, and the one-time fee is paid, the process can begin. The Master committee will make a decision within 30 days, and the sweep can begin working under this new and prestigious title. If you have hired a Master Sweep with current status, you can rest assured they are current on all certification requirements, which means they have the classroom training to get any job done and done well. The Master Sweep signature is trusted by professionals across the industry and beyond. Hire a Master Sweep and your reports, repairs, and diagnostics will be appropriate for your attorneys, realtors, and more.
Sometimes, especially in regions that endure heavy rains and tropical storms, a chimney sweep isn’t enough. Sometimes your chimney needs a Master Sweep.
Schedule with Jacksonville’s trusted Master Sweep today by calling 904-282-4159 or contact us online.
by Mark Hudson | Jul 31, 2019 | Chimney Liner
The chimney liner is vitally important to the proper operation of a chimney system. Like human skin, the liner is one of the largest parts of the whole system and operates as a barrier that keeps the system working safely and properly. The liner keeps the heat of the fire in its place and prevents the gases and heat from traveling through the masonry and affecting the rest of the home as it rises out of the chimney. When there is damage to the liner, it can put your family and home at risk. The problem is, this type of damage is hidden from sight and may not be recognized right away. When liner damage is reported by a professional, it’s important to schedule a repair right away. When your chimney expert is Hudson Chimney of Jacksonville, Florida, you can count on a repair using HeatShield chimney products.
HeatShield Cerfractory Flue Sealant
No matter how serious your liner damage, we can fix it using HeatShield Cerfractry Flue Sealant. This cerfractory technology combines the strength of ceramic with the heat resistance of refractory 
material, allowing your chimney professional to repair and restore your liner with an easy application of a specially-formulated hybrid product.
- The Test of Time – HeatShield was developed over 20 years ago and has withstood the test of time in the industry as well as actual factory-testing before the products hit the market. In fact, HeatShield has been tested against temperatures over 2900 °F. When you choose HeatShield you get a product that is safe for all fuel types, long lasting like a stainless liner, and one that restores the integrity of your chimney’s flue completely.
- Independent Certified Installers – HeatShield installers are certified and experienced using this product for your liner repairs and restorations. When you hire a professional HeatShield installer, he or she will be factory trained and will use specially designed tools to expertly repair your liner using the only cerfractory sealant on the market.
- Economical and Eco-Friendly – Made of recycled and naturally occurring materials, HeatShield is a cheaper alternative to replacing your entire liner. With this product, you can have the specific damage repaired only without damaging the rest of the liner.
- Limited Lifetime Warranty – No matter what your chimney needs, if we use HeatShield to repair or restore it, the product is covered by a limited lifetime warranty.
Joint Repair and Resurfacing with HeatShield
One of the most damaging things that can happen to your liner is that the joints can become riddled with gaps and cracks. When this happens you may find pieces of mortar or clay tile pieces in the fireplace. No matter how extensive the damage, we can restore the joints with HeatShield by placing the product in a custom applicator placed beneath each affected area. As we pull the custom foam blade upward, the product fills cracks and gaps. If the damage is extensive, this process can be used to resurface the entire flue from the bottom to the top, restoring the liner completely.
Using HeatShield products we can clean the flue, repair, resurface, and even reline the flue. Not sure what type of repair your liner needs this summer? Let us take a look. Call Hudson Chimney at 904-282-4159 and we’ll get your flue fixed before fall.
