Does an external chimney have to go down to the basement?

No - for a modern look, nothing fits better than an external chimney made of stainless steel. We are currently building them again in Meerbusch

Rhenish greetings from the road
Construction expert

It's a matter of taste - I find it unappealing

Fortunately, tastes differ.

Hello everyone,

thank you very much for your answers. I checked again with the architect. It is only necessary that the chimney sweep can properly access the chimney. Since we are building on a slope as we are building, the chimney must in our case extend to the basement, because otherwise it would "end" 2.5m above the retaining wall/slope.

By the way, I find an external stainless steel chimney classy, firstly visually, secondly I don't lose any interior space, neither in terms of "room" nor in terms of wall space, and I don't create any corners or anything like that. But like many things, it's certainly a matter of taste.

In any case, I am looking forward to our stainless steel chimney, which we were now able to relocate in such a way that we don’t have to do without a balcony door in the basement after all.

I checked again with the architect. It is only necessary that the chimney sweep can access properly. Since we are building on a slope the way we are, in our case the chimney must go down to the basement because otherwise it would "end" 2.5m above the retaining wall/embankment.

I would rather consult the district chimney sweep about this "problem." For example: the house builder says: chimney -> i.e. roof hatch + roof steps for sweeping from above. The chimney sweep says: a chimney door about 2 meters below the chimney top (e.g. in the attic) is enough for me; from there, I can sweep upwards -> saves the roof hatch + roof steps. Therefore, better to talk to the person responsible (if the architect has not done so) and not be dismissed with general statements.

Hello Olli


Would you please explain why?

Rhenish greetings

Hello again

Well, visually it is a subjective opinion.
Technically, chimneys that are located in the cold area are regularly disadvantageous.
Especially during the heating-up phase, this can have a negative effect due to poor draft of the flue gases.


Olli