Your chimney is your best friend in the cold winter nights, providing your house with the warmth that you crave for and giving a cozy and comforting atmosphere. But it does come with its disadvantages and one of the worst things is an obstructed chimney, for which you would need to hire chimney cleaning services.

What Are The Things That Can Cause Obstruction In The Chimney?

The purpose of a chimney is to provide the heat of the burning wood and efficiently remove the dangerous gases that are produced as a result of burning, safely out of the chimney opening. This function is disturbed when there is an obstruction or blockage in the opening. This leads to the chimney not working efficiently and thus the gases will enter your home.

During the fall season leaves and twigs fall from the trees. These small leaves, twigs and even small branches can get flown into the chimney opening with the wind. This is known as environmental debris and occurs naturally. All these things can lead to obstruction in the chimney.

Chimney is a blessing not only for you but is also a blessing for small animals and birds. As the colder season approaches, small animals and birds look for shelter and warmth and what better place than a chimney? They get shelter from bigger animals as well as warmth in the chimney hence they hide and stay in the chimney opening. Not only that, birds also make their nests on the chimney.

Creosote is a sticky tar like substance and is a by-product of burning wood. The gases which travel up the chimney cool down as they teach the end and hence also get stuck to the internal end of the chimney. The creosote and gases accumulate with time. If you are not carrying out chimney cleaning on an annual basis then this creosote can also lead to obstruction.

Signs That There Is An Obstruction In Chimney

You may not know whether there is an obstruction in your chimney or not. However, there are some telltale signs that caution there might be an obstruction, which should be cleared to avoid chimney fires.

Smoke Smell

When you start your chimney and smell smoke from your chimney such as the smell of something burning then surely there is an obstruction. This may be due to some obstacle burning in actual due to the fireplace and this may even be dangerous.

Longer Time For Chimney To Start

If your chimney is taking longer to start then it is a sign that there is an obstruction and that is why chimneys fire is not starting.

Irregular Fire Or Less Heat

If your chimney is giving out less heat than usual or your fireplace is burning irregularly then it also means that chimney has an obstacle which is not providing a proper airflow and thus the irregular burning and less heat.

Water Streaks

Streaks of water down the chimney or water dripping in the fireplace is a sign that there is an obstruction. Maybe the leaves and branches which have fallen in the chimney opening are wet and causing the water to drip onto the chimney wood.

Extreme Buildup Of Creosote

If the creosote has increased then you will see black, round spots on the walls of your chimney indicating an excess buildup of creosote and that your chimney needs a thorough cleaning.

Detection Of Carbon Monoxide

It is recommended to install a carbon monoxide detector in your homes. It is an invisible, odorless and extremely dangerous gas which can lead to many types of skin and eye infections and cause health issues when inhaled. If your detector detects this gas entering your home, it means an obstruction in the chimney is causing your chimney to work inefficiently.

The only solution for the obstructions is to get your chimney cleaned and inspected for any faults on an annual basis. Choose the best experts for this. Get recommendations for chimney sweep services Upper Marlboro from family and friends or go through the social media pages of the chimney services. A clean chimney will work efficiently and is also better for health purposes whereas an obstructed chimney can get dangerous and even causes fire in some cases.