8 Tips for Fireplace Safety

When was the last time you had your chimney inspected?  If you can’t remember when you last had it checked than you are in need of some serious fireplace safety school.Taking time to keep your fireplace healthy will help reduce the risk of ignition while still allowing you to enjoy your nights next to open fire.A poorly-maintained fireplace can be a recipe for disasterputting you and family in harm’s way. Below are some important fireplace tips to keeping you & your family safe all season long:

Sweep It Out– Just like you, your fireplace and chimney needs their yearly physicals by a certified chimney sweep.  If you do only one thing, you must hire a professional Chicago sweep to complete a thorough yearly chimney cleaning.  Get the process completed before each heating season to remove all the damaging soot and buildup that has accumulated over the past year.

Check It Out – While your sweep is on site have them also inspect your chimney for damage or any needed repairs.  This includes the flue, chimney cap, gas line, and any other working part of the chimney.  The contractor can also check for loose bricks, cracked mortar, and damage or deterioration to the structure – all serious signs of needed repairs for your fireplace.

Don’t Forget to Cap It– A good quality cap on your chimney will prevents animals, debris, and rain and snow from entering into your chimney.  This wire-mesh device that fits over the opening of our chimney should be well-fitting and in good working order.  During your annual Chicago chimney cleaning, ask the technician to also inspect the caps.

Start It Right – Avoid flammable liquids when starting your fire.  Rather utilize your survival skills and use log placement as a way to get the blaze going.

Burn the Right Wood – Did you know that certain types of wood you burn can create more creosote in the home?  You should avoid resinous softwoods such as pine.  These types of wood create more creosote than others and thus creating more buildup in the flue.  As always, you only want to use dry, clean wood to reduce the amount of smoke in the home.

Burn the Right Amount – Small fires are ideal for creating less smoke and therefore less damaging, clogging creosote.  Smaller blazesalso prevent your fire from getting too hot and damaging the chimney.

Guard It – A mesh metal screen or protective glass doors are both great options to keeping scorching ambers from shooting into your living space.  Use these safety guards to keep your family safe and protect your furniture and living room from damaging burns.

Monitor It– With many state and local regulations in place, you should have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors near the area of the fire.  These will help alert you if there is a gas leak or too much smoke in the air.

Follow these fireplace safety tips closely and often to keep your home a healthy environment for family, guests, and pets alike. If you have a hard time remembering, schedule a reminder in your smartphone or ask your professional Chicago chimney partner to email or call when your next chimney cleaning is due.  As always keep an eye out for warning signs that there may be problems such as soot in the living space or too much smoke when the fire is started.

The chimney cleaning is an significant task that must be carried out on a timely basis to keep the house safe and hygienic. In order to get the best services for chimney cleaning in Chicago, get in touch with Lindemann Chimney Service.

Realizing The Glencoe chimney cleaning Practice

When you visualize certain processes and things that you are less acquainted having, often times people are likely to draw their own conclusions dependent on their individual perception of their particular venture. Even so, the perceived idea most likely are not 100% accurate, dependent on assumptions rather in comparison with proven facts. Identical applies to this chimney cleaning practice. Here is an account provider of how a normal Glencoe chimney cleaning service would buy sweeping a chimney if you do not have prior experience of witnessing a cleaning task.

Keeping it seeing that clean as possible Applying drop clothes
Any standard cleaning service would guarantee that they do not wreck havoc on the cleanliness in your home. This is easily accomplish getting a few small precautions before you start the job. Almost all good cleaning products and services use drop towels when starting some sort of cleaning job. These drop cloths are section of thick cloth in addition to play as receptors on the debris, soot, in addition to creosote. Some of the professional carrier's networks go a move further and add industrial cleaners during the cleaning process to be certain they do a clean job.

Originating in the top brushing the flues
Ideally the cleaning process starts on the top, the chimney sweep would range in price up to the top of the chimney and wash his way down beginning with the flues primary. It is important them to do a beneficial cleaning job, as the creosote that might be soft and spongy to begin with tends to harden within the inner surfaces on the chimney and flue rooms.

Starting the underside to top cleaning practice

After having done the highest to bottom cleaning, the direction on the brushed cleaning could change to underside to top. This makes certain that no space is always un-brushed and unclean from the entire passage. This is important because if the combustible creosote remains sticking within the walls it may cause a chimney flame.

Cleaning up this fireplace area

One more place to clean would be the fireplace area. On account of the variation on the heating systems / stoves utilised in the fireplaces, the cleaning strategy of this area typically depends on any type of heating system installed from the fireplace. However, in general almost any professional chimney sweep definitely clean the baffles on the stoves that may very well need cleaning after a whole lot debris falling on there.

Writing out an established fireplace chimney check up report

At the tip of the Glencoe chimney cleaning services, most of the carrier's networks issue out a report giving detail connected with cleaning services performed along with the current state on the particular chimney or fireplace as value the structural integrity and compliance with this fire safety laws.

Test Your Chimney Safety Knowledge

Are you smarter than the average Evanston area homeowner when it comes to chimney safety and repair?   Knowing the facts about keeping your flue clean and nontoxic is important to the overall health of your fireplace and well-being of your family, pets, and home.  If you are not sure where you and your fireplace safety knowledge stand, take this short quiz to find out if you are an Evanston chimney expert ready to start a repair or a totally clueless homeowner in need of some serious fireplace schooling.

1.      Which is a sign that a chimney fire has occurred?

a)      Puffy or “honey-combed” creosote 
b)      A rain cap that has been distorted/discolored 
c)      Cracks in the exterior masonry work 
d)     All of the above

2.      How often should have your wood-burning chimney swept?

a)      Every 5 years 
b)      Before you sell the home 
c)      Yearly 
d)     Every 2 year

3.      When is the best time to have your chimney swept?

a)      Winter 
b)      Spring 
c)      Summer 
d)     Fall

4.      What is creosote?

a)      A type of fuel you can use instead of wood 
b)      An aluminum protective covering for the chimney 
c)      A by-product of wood-burning fires consisting often of tarry smoke and soot
 

5.      Which is the best for limiting chimney build up?

a)      Small, hot fires 
b)      Long, cooler fires   
 

Answers

1. d) All of the above – Some other signs include finding outside the home creosote pieces around the roof and chimney area, having a damaged damper or roofing material, and cracked or missing flue tiles.

2. c) Yearly - This should be a no-brainer but, just in case you got it wrong, your chimney should be swept and inspected every single year.  During this annual check-up, your chimney partner can look for any signs of a chimney fire, clean out deadly creosote, and advise you on any needed repairs.

3. b) Spring - Although fall is often the busiest time for chimney contractors, most professionals will suggest having your chimney cleaned & inspected in the spring right after the burning season.  Creosote and buildup can create an awful smell in the home and this rancid stench is often exacerbated by the hot summer months.  During winter, especially in Midwestern towns like Evanston, the roof is too icy and slippery for a chimney repair or cleaning.  

4. c) A by-product of wood-burning fires consisting often of tarry smoke and soot - Creosote is the substance that, along with other factors, can create backup with the chimney which can in turn lead to a chimney fire.

5. a) Small, hot fires -  Keeping it short and warm, these fires are more able to drive the heat, smoke, and creosote out of the chimney and away from your home. Longer, cooler fires can allow the creosote to build-up in the flue.

How did you fair on this chimney safety quiz?   After taking this quiz, I hope you have learned more about your fireplace and chimney and how to keep both healthy and safe.  Please feel free to reference back to these questions as needed.   And, most importantly, don’t forget to schedule your Evanston chimney repair.