Regular Chimney Cleaning is Vital Maintenance

The goal of all chimney sweeps is to prevent carbon monoxide entering your home, to help improve home heating and its efficiency, and the elimination of chimney fires in homes. This is why regular chimney cleaning should be part of the vital and regular maintenance in your home.

Chimney Cleaning – How Often?

A paragraph from the National Fire Protection Assn. and their standard 211, says that everything to do with your fireplace/s, like vents, chimneys and the fireplaces themselves, should be looked at – at least annually, and checked that there’s freedom from sooty deposits, that they are sound, and that all have correct clearances to prevent surfaces from catching on fire. This is a good idea before you buy a home, or if you’ve owned one for many years.

Another reason that regular chimney cleaning is vital, is that wild animals such as birds may build their nests in your chimneys and block the flue, and also nesting materials can easily catch on fire. Bricks or other materials used in chimney construction can become aged and weather damaged so it’s a good idea to make the annual inspection of your chimneys part of regular home maintenance.

Are Chimneys For Roof Decoration Only?

No, they are not, and they should always be built to meet certain standards and regularly maintained. They elevate the smoke which comes from your fireplace/s and with proper caps, also eliminate the chances of embers landing on your roof, which can cause further damage.

Another vital function for chimneys is keeping dangerous wood smoke, furnace gases and anything else which comes from fireplace combustion, out and away from your home. Hot smoke normally rises and chimneys elevate it up and away from your home.

Chimney sweeps have had a trade for a long time. We all remember Mary Poppins – right? The profession of chimney sweeping may seem at first glance to be a non-essential part of home maintenance. It is vital for the smooth operation of your live flame fireplaces. Pockets of oil and tar in wood stick to the inside of flues and if that gets blocked when you go to start your fire, black smoke can blow into your home and that’s simply not nice – as well as being hazardous to your health.

Cleaning your chimney is not a time or place for amateurs when the safety of your family and home is at stake. That’s why regular chimney cleaning is vital maintenance for your home.
Rick Magalnick has both operated and owned Rick’s Chimney Service, located in Milford CT since October of 1996 and he stresses how critical it is that regular chimney cleaning is vital maintenance and should become a regular part of your home fix-it schedule.

He’s also a member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG) – which encourages professionalism and accountability, and the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), which is a non-profit educational organization. Visit the website at RicksChimneyService.com to order chimney sweeping services in Connecticut.