Keep Your Home Safe By Getting A Chimney Sweep

Chimney sweeping, a job performed by professional chimney sweeps, should be a regular part of your home-maintenance activities. By having your chimney properly cleaned once a year (or more often if it’s used heavily), you ensure that it keeps operating safety while you save big money on major repair work for problems that could have been prevented.

Here are four ways chimney sweeps bring safety to your chimney and money-savings for you.

Hire a chimney sweep, prevent a chimney fire

Chimney fires often destroy parts of the home or the entire home. Other times, the fires are relatively small and go out on their own. But this doesn’t mean that another fire isn’t right around the corner. You can significantly reduce the chance of a chimney fire by scheduling annual service from a certified chimney sweep.

Creosote, which forms when wood is burned, gradually builds up in the flue over time. Highly flammable and corrosive, creosote is the cause of most chimney fires each year in the United States.

Professional chimney technicians use a variety of industry-grade tools and equipment to remove stubborn creosote from chimney flues, thereby restoring safety and performance. Regular cleaning also helps to keep chimneys drafting as they should.

How dangerous is a poorly drafting chimney?

Flue obstructions such as excess creosote and an accumulation of leaves, twigs, animal nests and the like will narrow the smoke passage within a chimney and keep smoke from drafting correctly.

Chimney sweeps are able to remove all these obstructions to make a clear path for smoke and toxins to move up and out of your home. Smoke backing up into the house carries with it deadly carbon monoxide, which cannot be seen or smelled. Every year, this harmful gas is responsible for many cases of sickness and death in both humans and animals.

Chimneys don’t last forever

Another reason to have your chimney cleaned regularly is to prevent damage to the chimney liner and/or the masonry. Creosote is a corrosive substance that will begin to eat away at even the strongest chimney liner. Bricks are less resilient than the clay, metal or cast-in-place compounds used to make most liners, rendering them more vulnerable after prolonged contact with large amounts of creosote. Chimney liner repair and masonry repair projects can cost thousands of dollars. A severely damaged chimney structure is unsafe to live around as it could collapse. These and other issues can be prevented by regular chimney sweep service and inspections.

Chimney sweeping and chimney inspections

Along with annual chimney cleaning, it is recommended that you schedule a chimney inspection from a certified technician. Your chimney sweep may be qualified to perform both jobs.

Basic chimney inspections cover all visible areas of the chimney structure and its components such as the chimney cap, chase cover, crown, flashing and more. Your inspector will spot early signs of system damage and recommend the best and fastest way to remedy the problem.

Chimney Specialists of Highland, WI, is on call to help keep your chimney in top shape and safe to use all winter long. If it’s been more than a year since your last chimney cleaning and inspection, give us a call at (608) 929-4887. In the Dubuque, Iowa, area, call our sister company, Dubuque Fireplace & Patio, at (563) 582-5156.