Tips for Good Chimney Maintenance
Chimney maintenance is an imperative task. Numerous chimney accidents occur because of poor chimney maintenance. If you are not getting time to look after your chimney or you don’t know how to maintain a chimney, you should better hire a licensed chimney sweep to handle various chimney related work.
Importance of chimney maintenance
Aim of chimney maintenance is to keep a chimney in fully working condition, so that it provides a safe environment to use fireplace. Chimney maintenance work should include- checking of chimney for cracks, chimney inspection for clogs, analyzing the condition of chimney liners, examining the condition of chimney crown, checking structural elements of chimney etc. In order to use a safe and secure chimney, it is important that each and every component of chimney is in healthy condition.
Chimney maintenance tips
Maintain the safe parameter
Keep tree branches and other stuffs away from your chimney. If tree branches surround the top of your chimney, there are chances that tree leaves, flowers and other dust particles will go inside the chimney. These things will either travel down to the fireplace or create chimney clogging.
Inspect the chimney cap
Inspection of the chimney cap is the easiest thing for the homeowners to do. Check the chimney cap for cracks and if you find any crack in chimney cap, repair or get it repaired as soon as possible. It is important to have an absolute chimney cap even when chimney and fireplace are not in use.
Use appropriate fuel
If you burn dismantled furniture, green wood and other questionable things in your fireplace, then stop it right away. These fuels when burn, create incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion results in creosote formation. And creosote can lead various chimney and fireplace problems. Thus, always consider using seasoned wood as a fuel in your fireplace.
Clean hearth and surrounding areas
You should consider cleaning your hearth on the regular basis. Many times dust, insects and unburned wood logs remain in the fireplace. And it is not safe to use fireplace with these things.
Schedule annual chimney inspection
Even if you pay proper attention over chimney maintenance work, it is vital to hire a chimney sweep for professional inspection. Chimney sweep can detect the anomalies of your chimney which are hidden from your eyes.