Q: Jason, My house has a standard colonial Chimney made in 1796. What size chimney do i have and what size Chimney Balloon should I use? – JS
A: Dear JS, Unfortunately, there is really no way I can estimate a size Chimney Balloon you would need without seeing the application or having some measurements of the flue. There were certainly no codes or standard sizes for 1796 fireplace construction. It really would be necessary to measure the flue first.
If this is not something you are comfortable with doing, any handymen service or chimney sweep would be capable of doing the measurement. Often times customers will hire a Chimney Sweep to do a chimney cleaning and request that the Chimney Sweep measure for a Chimney Balloon while they are there doing the cleaning. If you wish to do it yourself, you will find a very useful reference at our Chimney damper and flue sizing page: http://www.chimneyballoon.us/Chimneyballoonsizing.html
If you want a little more assistance you can email photos of the fireplace and flue area and I can give you more direction on specifically where to measure. You will be looking for a location in the flue to measure that is within arms reach and has roughly parallel walls. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. – Jason