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Clean Your Chimney before You Use it

By
Real Estate Agent with Broker 0576813

Every year you need to clean your chimney before you use it. This is an essential rule of thumb that a frightening number of fireplace owners ignore. Every single year before the very first use you need to make sure that the chimney gets clean. If you neglect this step it may not be long before you find much more than your fireplace ablaze. Unclean chimneys are a fire hazard and can be very dangerous.

 

Why should clean your chimney before you use it every single year? During the warmer months and those early fall days you really don't know what has been crawling in your chimney, nesting there, and leaving behind flammable dried brush and twigs. Even at the top of the chimney you can light an old dried out nest. If you're lucky it will fall straight down into the fireplace. Most of the time it falls onto the roof. Sometimes it will burn itself out and sometimes it will ignite whatever surrounds it. In this case that would be your shingles.

 

Other fire risks accumulate throughout the fire burning season. The fire itself creates a substance that can reignite known as creosote. This material can stick to the inside of your chimney and become a risk factor. Most chimney fires start well above the flu, which is why they aren't caught in a timely manner. Those that are caught are usually well contained, especially if you have a chimney designed after 1975. Design factors made it harder for fires to spread from chimneys into the home.

 

Soot, ashes, creosote, and outdoor debris all come together to pose a hazard to your home and your family. There is nothing quite like sitting around a fireplace on a cold night or lighting the fire during the winter holidays. These things are tradition and are part of our heritage. We do them because they bring us warmth from the inside of our hearts. An evening like this should be one to enjoy rather than one that ends in tragedy.

 

In order to avoid such tragedy all you really need to do is make sure that you clean your chimney before you use it even just once. Chimney sweeps are very economical. Professional services can ensure that your chimney is cleaned and visually inspected before each season. Skipping this step is not only dangerous, but people who have lost homes often find that unless they can prove they had their chimney cleaned annually there is a risk of being denied an insurance payment. It's a vital step that really only takes one phone call.

Comments (4)

Karen Anne Stone
New Home Hunters of Fort Worth and Tarrant County - Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Real Estate

James... what a great idea... something we never think of.  And, living in Fort Worth... with it hitting 110 degrees today, why... I was thinking of building a fire in the fireplace tonight... LOL.  Thanks for the tip !  <impish smile>

Aug 02, 2011 03:36 PM
James Hurt
Broker - Fairview, TX

I knew this post would crack someone up. The main reason I posted it is i just bought several cords of firewood cheap because the guy thought I was crazy.

 

Aug 02, 2011 03:47 PM
Karen Anne Stone
New Home Hunters of Fort Worth and Tarrant County - Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Real Estate

James... being prepared is a great thing.  And... hiring someone to clean your chimney at this time of year... I am sure they would appreciate the work.

Aug 02, 2011 04:03 PM
Dan Edward Phillips
Dan Edward Phillips, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA - Eureka, CA
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA

Hi James, in this area of California this is the best time to clean the chimney.  One of the few times it is not in use.

Aug 02, 2011 05:40 PM