Preventive Maintenance

     Relaxing in front of the fireplace can be a pleasant way to enjoy winter, but there is potential for serious danger if a chimney isn’t clean.

     According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 26,000 fires are caused each year due to fireplaces and chimneys. Creosote builds up inside the chimney’s structure and can easily be ignited by a single spark. Many people who own fireplaces don’t know the Ins and outs of maintaining one. They’re unfamiliar with how to check for damage and unaware of how to properly use them. A lot of people don’t find it important until they have an issues. 

Chimney fires can burn both explosively and silently. Since your chimney is one of the major barriers to fire danger in your home (and consequently one of the primary sources of fire outbreaks), when a problem occurs chimney repair is of utmost importance. Here’s a short list of quick checks a professional certified chimney sweep will look for to undertake in order to evaluate when chimney repairs are in order.

•  Check the Firebox. Cracks and loose joints in the masonry are an issue.

• Examine the Damper. It should open and close easily, and you don’t want to see any evidence of extensive rust, cracks or pitting. If you do, it’s time to have your damper replaced.

• Look Up The Flue. Use a high powered flashlight and inspect the flue liner for cracks or other defects. All the joints should be smooth and tight to prevent fire or heat from reaching the materials behind it.

•  Remove Any Blockages. The tops of chimneys are favorite places for birds and squirrels to build nests, especially in the spring and summer months when the fireplace isn’t used. If you’ve got unwanted guests, be sure to remove all the debris to eliminate the consequent fire danger.

• Check the Flashing and Brick and Mortar Joints. Just as with the inside of your fireplace, the exterior of your chimney needs to be tight and without defect. Reseal your flashing if it needs it, and be sure to reseal all cracks, loose bricks, and mortar joints with a cement compound to prevent further deterioration.

• Is there Evidence of Water Damage? If so, apply a waterproof sealant to your chimney to prevent further damage and more expensive repair. Chimneys might look sturdy and tough, but water has been known to cause damage to hardware, and even to mortar that was improperly mixed or set.

• Inspect the Interior. Use a high-powered flashlight to inspect the interior of your chimney from above. Again, check the flue liner for defects, and also keep an eye out for creosote or soot deposits. These deposits are a leading cause of damaging fires if they’re not dealt with. If your chimney needs a cleaning, contact a chimney sweep to remove these dangerous deposits.

     Reducing the severity and frequency of chimney repair is about three things: inspection, inspection, inspection. The easiest place to begin an evaluation of whether your chimney needs any attention is from your living room. These simple inspections can be made by just about any certified chimney sweep and could lead to spotting a necessary chimney repair before it becomes a much larger problem.

Identifying areas in need of chimney repair from the outside  often requires climbing up to the roof to spot areas in need of repair. Chimney service companies are often better able to identify and handle problems in these harder to reach areas; if you have a steep roof, or aren’t comfortable with heights, contact a certified chimney sweep or repairman to look things over for you.

Keep in mind that unsafe chimneys account for over $200 million dollars in damage and a number of deaths each year. To lower these statistics, The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends that every home with a chimney have an annual inspection to ensure optimal safety. Whether you suspect you may be in need of a repair job or are just due for a regular checkup, contacting a certified chimney repair specialist to inspect your chimney, identify existing problems, and perform necessary cleaning or repairs can be very beneficial. Not only do the pros know what they are looking for and understand how to fix it, they can also offer good advice to prevent future problems; when a chimney repair service finds and fixes a problem early, hiring that service is actually saving you money (and quite possibly a lot of hassle) in the long run!

The following is a list of tips for safe and proper fireplace use: 

• Clean open masonry fireplaces when soot reaches one-eighth of an inch by a certified chimney sweep.
• Clean factory-built fireplaces whenever there is buildup. 
• Burn well-seasoned firewood to produce more heat and cleaner smoke.
• Leave a 1-inch layer of ash on the base of the fireplace to reduce the amount of unspent fuel that will cling to the inside of the chimney.
• Watch for loose flue tiles and cracks in the exterior of the masonry.
• Open the fireplace damper when burning a fire for proper ventilation.