My two-family shares a chimney between the units. What should I check?

Whether the flues are genuinely separated and correctly sized for the appliances connected now. Two-unit buildings are 40.2% of Lodi's housing, and on that stock a single stack often serves two appliances installed years apart by different contractors. Common venting, or a flue carrying more than it was sized for, is what we look for — and it takes a camera, not a visual. Get that settled before paying for anything on the visible masonry.

Do I need my chimney swept?

Almost certainly not in the creosote sense. ACS records eight occupied households in the whole of Lodi heating primarily with wood. Your chimney is far more likely venting a gas or oil appliance, where the issues are liner condition, draft and masonry — not soot accumulation. An inspection of the liner is the useful service; an annual sweep of a flue that has never burned wood mostly is not.

Where do I reach the Lodi building department?

Lodi Building Department, 1 Memorial Drive, Room 204 — (973) 859-7410. Whether a permit is needed depends on scope. Lodi adds no chimney ordinance of its own, but does license the contractor. NJHIC #13VH13970900.

Chimneys · Lodi, NJ

Chimney Repair in Lodi, NJ

Lodi has no chimney ordinance of its own. It does license the contractor working on yours.

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Lodi is 9,864 housing units on 2.29 square miles, 53.3% built before 1960, and 74.2% attached or multi-unit. Utility gas serves 68.0% of occupied units, with fuel oil at 6.4% and wood at eight units in the entire borough.

Two-family houses at 40.2% of the stock mean most Lodi chimneys are serving more than one home.

Looking for something more specific?

What the code says here

No local chimney rule — which is itself worth knowing

Lodi has no municipal ordinance specific to chimneys, fireplaces, sweeping or solid-fuel appliances. Its fire prevention chapter adopts the state code rather than adding local requirements.

That is genuinely useful information, because it means nobody can tell you the borough requires something it does not. What governs is the state construction code and the state fire code, and the questions that matter are technical rather than municipal.

But the borough licenses the trade

Lodi requires its own contractor licence

Lodi does require a borough contractor licence, separate from state NJHIC registration, to engage in constructing, altering, repairing or restoring residential premises.

So the local requirement here attaches to who does the work rather than to what the work is. Ask any bidder for their Lodi licence number as well as their state registration.

Roof leaking right now? We answer 24/7.

(201) 275-9185 Get a free inspection

The real defect

Two-family stock, converted heating, one stack

The damage comes from condensation, not soot. A flue sized for a coal or oil appliance is oversized for a modern gas unit, whose exhaust is cooler and wetter — so instead of leaving the stack, the moisture settles on the masonry and works through the mortar joints.

In Lodi that runs into the building type. With 40.2% of units in two-unit buildings, a single stack commonly serves two appliances that were installed at different times by different people. Whether the flues are separated and correctly sized for what is connected now is the first question, and it needs a camera rather than an opinion.

Eight households in the entire borough heat primarily with wood, so creosote is not the issue. Venting is.

Permits

Scope decides

Chimney permitting is genuinely scope-dependent. New Jersey's ordinary-maintenance list omits chimneys, and simultaneously declares itself not all-inclusive, so the omission decides nothing. What decides it is the rule's own exclusion of work affecting structural or fire safety — a chimney qualifies on both counts. Repointing generally proceeds; relining and rebuilding are permitted work. We confirm the category with the borough before ordering, and hold our Lodi contractor licence for the work itself.

FAQ

Common questions

Does Lodi have its own chimney rules?
No — and that is worth knowing because it means nobody can invoke a borough requirement that does not exist. Lodi has no ordinance specific to chimneys, fireplaces, sweeping or solid-fuel appliances; its fire prevention chapter adopts the state code rather than layering local requirements on top. What Lodi does require is a borough contractor licence, separate from state NJHIC registration, for work on residential premises. Ask anyone bidding for that number.
My two-family shares a chimney between the units. What should I check?
Whether the flues are genuinely separated and correctly sized for the appliances connected now. Two-unit buildings are 40.2% of Lodi's housing, and on that stock a single stack often serves two appliances installed years apart by different contractors. Common venting, or a flue carrying more than it was sized for, is what we look for — and it takes a camera, not a visual. Get that settled before paying for anything on the visible masonry.
Do I need my chimney swept?
Almost certainly not in the creosote sense. ACS records eight occupied households in the whole of Lodi heating primarily with wood. Your chimney is far more likely venting a gas or oil appliance, where the issues are liner condition, draft and masonry — not soot accumulation. An inspection of the liner is the useful service; an annual sweep of a flue that has never burned wood mostly is not.
Where do I reach the Lodi building department?
Lodi Building Department, 1 Memorial Drive, Room 204 — (973) 859-7410. Whether a permit is needed depends on scope. Lodi adds no chimney ordinance of its own, but does license the contractor. NJHIC #13VH13970900.