Rebar forms in smoke chamber

[Greg Jenkins]

Take a look at this smoke chamber in a fireplace in a 700k house that is about 19 years old.
I am not a fireplace expert but my basic knowledge is that the smoke chamber is supposed to be free of gaps and voids and have a smooth parge coating.
This is a wood burning fireplace that obviously has not been used.
Does anyone know if the rebar presents any adverse conditions or did the contractor just forget to remove it.
Also, note the gap in the mortar joint at the top left of the picture.
Greg

[Nick Ostrowski]

Wow! That's a first Greg. I can't imagine it was left there by design. It was probably an oversight (a big one) during the house construction. The rebar and gap(s) will need to be resolved by a fireplace professional before the fireplace is used. Seeing that would make me question the rest of the install and what else they may have forgetten to do. Level II inspection needed......and then some.

[Greg Jenkins]

My thoughts exactly. I was just looking for some reinforcement.

[wayne soper]

Yes , so was the mason. Looks like he used the rebar as a form to hold the block in place. But then he never got paid by the rich homeowner so he left it unfinished.
Also I have never seen block used in the smoke chamber and I don't think it's rated for use there. More than likely would break up under the heat load.

[Jeff Gainey]

It's like this obstruction I found recently. The homeowner was anxious to use the fireplace but I informed them they needed an arborist then a level II inspection before they could enjoy.