5 Things You Need To Know About Your Chimney

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Every home owner should know the basics about their chimney in order to ensure they are taking care of it correctly and it is working smoothly. If you have a chimney in your home, make sure you can answer these five questions about your chimney!

What Kind of Chimney Do I Have?

Knowing what type of chimney you have is essential to properly take care of it. When requesting chimney services of any kind, you will surely be asked details like this about your chimney. Not sure what type of chimney you have? Read this blog post to find out!

Do I Have a Chimney Liner?

Some chimnies have a chimney liner, which essentially makes your fireplace safer. Liners come in different types as well and are not always easy to identify. The byproducts of combustion and heat transfers can potentially cause harm to your chimney and unsafe fires so a liner is often installed for an added layer of protection. For more information on how to see if you have a liner and what kind, read this article from the Chimney Safety Institute of America.

Is My Chimney Capped?

Chimney caps are popular because they keep debris, rain, and other unwanted materials from coming inside your house through the top of your chimney. Typically easy to install, remove, and maintain, there aren’t many downfalls to adding a cap to your chimney, especially if you’ve noticed rain, branches, or even small birds getting into your home through the chimney.

When Was My Last Chimney Inspection?

Knowing when your last inspection was is imperative in order to ensure your chimney is safe and ready to use. Eurosweep recommends inspecting your chimney once a year to guarantee it is safe for you and your family to use. If you are unsure of when your last inspection was, it has likely been more than a year. Click here to get a discount on your chimney inspection!

Am I Storing My Firewood Correctly?

Because of limited space, many chimney owners store their firewood somewhere that is causing damage to it. The basics include keeping it off the ground, completely dry, and proper stacking but you can read more details about the best way to store your firewood here.

If you’re in need of any chimney services, contact us today using the form to your right or calling us at (781) 849-8202!

Types of Chimneys

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While each chimney is unique, there are two main types of chimneys; masonry/traditional chimneys and factory-built/metal chimneys. To better understand what makes each of these unique, here are some facts and benefits of each style you can use to better understand your model or to decide which would be best for your home.

 

Masonry Chimneys

  • Masonry chimneys are the style most people think of when they picture a chimney. Built with stone, concrete blocks, brick, or mortar, this style has a classic look that appeals to many homeowners.
  • These chimneys are almost always constructed on-site and most often when the home itself is being built.
  • Aside from their traditional appearance, a significant advantage of masonry chimneys is that they tend to last longer than their alternative. If properly cared for, they can last for generations.
  • The materials used to build masonry chimneys are tough, able to withstand years of fires and continue to keep up with even the most active fire-builders.
  • While both styles add value to your home, masonry chimneys are often more valuable because they were built with the home and difficult to replicate.

masonry chimney

Factory-built Chimneys

  • Many homeowners like the range of choices they have when they are installing a factory-built or metal chimney. Because they are choosing to install a chimney rather than buying a home with a masonry one already built, they are able to make several decisions to influence their chimney’s appearance and usability.
  • Because they are produced by manufacturers, metal chimneys are regulated and tested for safety issues that masonry chimneys are not. With any safety or user questions or concerns, a homeowner can easily turn to the manufacturer for answers.
  • Not only can you choose the appearance of your factory-built chimney, but also the size and location.
  • Metal chimneys have several different parts to them, therefore if something is wrong with your chimney you may have an easier solution to your problem than if you had a masonry chimney.

metal chimney

Regardless of style, all chimneys need routine cleanings and inspections in order to ensure they are safe and ready to use. Still have questions? Feel free to contact us with any inquiries about your chimney!

Store Your Firewood the Correct Way with These Five Tips!

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If you have had a fireplace or wood burning stove for some time, chances are that you are a real pro when it comes to firewood. But if you just started using a chimney or wood burning stove, or you’ve developed some bad habits, check out these tips to storing firewood properly!

Get Your Wood Off the Ground
The trick to perfect firewood is making sure that it is completely dry. By storing it on the dirt or grass, you are allowing moisture to seep into your wood. Wood should be dried for 6 months prior to use. If you don’t have a concrete block set down for your fire wood, purchase long pieces of lumber and stack your wood perpendicular on top them.

Stack Properly
When you are about to chop wood, or have some delivered, choose a spot in your yard that is parallel to the wind blowing. This will create a natural wind tunnel that will aid in drying your firewood faster. Stack wood with space in between each piece to allow moisture to escape.

Create a Peak
Create a peak in the middle of your wood pile, so that when you cover it, it provides the best runoff from precipitation!

Cover Your Pile
Use a large tarp to cover the top of your pile of firewood. Don’t cover the entire pile because that will make it more difficult for moisture to escape!

Seasoned Wood
Only burn seasoned wood! Seasoned wood means that it has been left to dry for at least 6 months before burning. Season wood outdoors with the steps above. Bringing wood inside the home to season will only bring in bugs and critters!

Tips for Keeping Your Fireplace Maintained

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During this time of the year, you are probably not using your fireplace as often as you would have during the colder months of the year. However, this does not mean that your chimney maintenance stops during the summer. Here are tips for keeping your fireplace well maintained, even during the warmer months.

Smoke Detectors:

Install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and keep them in proper working order.

Furniture Positioning:

Keep combustible materials like carpet, drapes and furniture positioned away from the fireplace. Use a fireplace guard to keep children and pets away from harm.

Cleaning Ash:

Clean ash from the fireplace whenever it reaches the bottom of the grates, where airflow may be cut off. Remember to wear protective dust masks and gloves when cleaning the fireplace.

Have an Inspection:

Have your wood-burning fireplace and chimney cleaned and inspected by a trained professional at least once a year, preferably at the end of the burning season.

Test Your Chimney:

Test out the function of your fireplace by lighting a few small pieces of seasoned wood lit from the top down. If smoke doesn’t exit vertically from the fireplace into the chimney but enters the room, immediately find the issue and fix it immediately.

Use Hardwood:

Burn only hardwood instead of soft wood. Hardwood can be categorized as woods such as oak, ash, and maple, which are denser and heavier. Hardwood delivers more heat than lighter soft wood like pine or cedar.

Why You Should Consider a Chimney Inspection Now

Chimney Inspection

chimney-1610082_1920We all know that a chimney cleaning is a recommended home improvement task that should be completed twice a year, but many homeowners fail to realize that a chimney inspection is essential if you are planning to use your fireplace regularly in the colder months. A yearly inspection will reveal any damage that has been dealt with your chimney during the course of the year.

Chimney Inspection in the Off Season

The first step to chimney cleaning is to schedule an annual inspection of your chimney as recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The earlier you choose to schedule your chimney inspection the better. If you choose to wait until the fall season to hire an inspection, most licensed chimney sweeps will be entering their busy season in which case it will be more difficult to schedule your inspection. We recommend that you have your chimney inspected during the spring and summer months to beat the rush.

Follow Up with a Chimney Sweeping

The second step is to arrange a cleaning of your chimney, it is possible for you to acquire the tools that you will need to clean your chimney yourself, but we recommend that you a professional chimney sweep for this task. For the inexperienced homeowner, it is definitely a major health risk if you choose to complete this task yourself. Professional chimney sweeps are able to effectively clean your chimney while leaving your home exactly how you left it, without any mess from the creosote deposits.

Benefits of Spring Chimney Sweeping

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5619399505_cfabffe1fe_zTraditionally, the autumn months are considered to be the busy season for chimney sweeps, right before the colder months of winter in which people would begin to utilize their chimneys the most. That is the very reason why it may be difficult to find a chimney sweep available in the fall due to the high demand. We recommend that you consider hiring a chimney sweep in the spring instead. Here are a few benefits of hiring a chimney sweep in the spring instead of the fall that you may have overlooked.

Better Schedule:

Waiting until September to hire a chimney sweep may lead to a longer wait time to schedule an appointment. By scheduling a chimney sweep in the spring, you will have a better schedule to work with when hiring a chimney sweep. They will work around your availability instead of the other way around.

Decrease Odors:

Heavy use of the fireplace will lead to creosote and ash in the chimney. Cleaning your chimney early in a year will eliminate the strong odor left behind from the creosote and ash.

Chimney Damage:

Creosote is acidic by nature. When the acid comes into contact with moisture, it can cause deterioration of the chimney’s interior. This may be avoided by removing the creosote from the chimney after heavy usage.

Repairs and Maintenance:

During your annual chimney sweep and inspection, the chimney professional will make sure that all parts of your chimney are in proper working order. If your chimney is in need of repair, the spring season will give you enough time to hire a professional to make those repairs before having to use it again.

Cost Effective:

Chimney service companies frequently offer discounts for chimney cleaning and repairs in the spring. Take advantage of discounted rates to save you money.

5 Ways to Maximize the Efficiency of Your Chimney

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Hampton Court chimneys
Hampton Court chimneys

During the winter months, the fireplace is often used as a source of warmth around the house and is heavily used for three to four months out of the year. Using the fireplace can also be energy efficient, cutting down on the cost of heating. But, not properly maintaining the fireplace can lead to high levels of heat loss in your home due to the lack of efficiency of your fireplace. Here are a few ways that you can make sure that you are getting the most out of your fireplace this winter season.

1)    Keep the Damper Closed: Unless you have a fire burning in the fireplace, always keep your damper closed. Keeping the damper opened when not using the fireplace can lead to tremendous heat loss in your living area.

2)    Installing Air Exchange Systems: To blow warm air back into your home, install heated air exchange systems or install tempered glass doors.

3)    Seals Around the Flue: Check the seals around the chimney flue damper. If the seals aren’t tight around the flue, you could be at risk of losing heat through the chimney.

4)    Insulating Your Chimney: Insulating your chimney can prevent the buildup of creosote which can become a danger to your chimney due to its flammable properties. Liners can be used to maximize the efficiency of your chimney while protecting anyone from the dangerous products caused by flue gasses.

5)    Get your chimney Inspected: Hire a professional certified chimney sweep to conduct a thorough inspection of your chimney

. A certified chimney sweep can provide advice on how you can keep your chimney working efficiently and safely.

We recommend that you hire a professional chimney inspector or chimney sweep to thoroughly inspect your chimney at least twice a year, before and after the winter season

5 Tips to Prevent Chimney Fires

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The cause of chimney fires stems from creosote buildup inside of the chimney when wood
burns inside of the wood stove. If you don’t know whether or not if you have creosote buildup in your chimney, it often looks like a gummy substance with a 102114829_63409c3f44_bfoul smell. The danger of creosote is that it’s extremely combustible. Creosote can create a coating inside your pipes and chimney liners. This is the main reason why chimney’s and pipes must be cleaned and inspected periodically. To identify a
potential chimney fire, the sounds of crackling or popping is a sign of a chimney fire. Here are some tips that will help you prevent chimney fires.

Periodically Clean Your Chimney: If your stove is not consistently drafting well and smoke is being pushed downward instead of up and out of the chimney, it is a sign that you need to have your chimney swept and inspected. If someone you know is an experienced contractor, then purchasing a brush and an extension rod to clean your chimney may be a great investment, but please do not attempt to clean your chimney yourself and call a professional.

Burn Dry Wood: Burn only dry wood and not wet or fully cured wood in your fireplace. Burning dry wood does have its own benefit such as creating more smoke. Burning wet wood leads to a faster buildup of creosote in your chimney.

Burn Harder Firewood: Firewood that comes from hardwood trees are the best for fireplaces. Avoid using really sappy pine trees or woods that usually do not burn. Burning the wrong firewood can lead to a buildup of creosote.

Regularly Use the Fireplace: Frequently using your fireplace will also prevent the buildup of creosote. There are tools that are available to gauge when you should use your fireplace and when you should close the flue.

Creosote Removal: There are products that are available that will help remove creosote from your chimney. Creosote remover powder can help remove the creosote in your chimney by burning the powder in your wood stove and turning the creosote into powder. Note that this method should not take the place of a full chimney sweeping but will help reduce the presence of creosote.

Fireplace Safety During the Holidays

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During the holiday season, there is no other area of the home that sees more attention than the living room and the fireplace. Before spending time in front of your fireplace this year, it is extremely important to have your chimney inspected first. Annual chimney inspections and cleaning is a key step for fireplace safety in your home. But besides getting your chimney swept there are other fireplace prevention measures that can be taken to keep your home safe this holiday season.

Other Fireplace Prevention Tips Include:

• Installing a smoke alarm on every level of your home, while replacing the battery to make sure that the alarm is working properly.
• Pair your smoke alarm with a carbon monoxide alarm which will alert you if there is a presence of carbon monoxide in your home at harmful levels. Carbon monoxide is odorless, tasteless, and colorless so detection of this deadly gas is very dangerous if not handled appropriately.
• Dispose of any amount of ash carefully, hot ash can result in unexpected fires.
• Only use seasoned firewood in your fireplace, the less moisture there is in your firewood the less soot and creosote buildup there is.

Holiday Specific Fireplace Prevention Tips Include:

• Place any and all wrapped packages away from the fireplace or the heating system, at least, three feet away.
• Some wrapping papers are made from extremely combustible chemicals, after opening presents do not burn wrapping paper in the fireplace. This goes for any boxes, papers, or garage; properly dispose of all waste and do not throw into the fireplace.
• Properly dispose of the Christmas tree instead of burning the tree. Over the month, the tree has become dry and if burned can be a serious fire hazard.

The Importance of Chimney Sweeping

Chimney Sweeping

The recommended amount of times that a homeowner should have their chimney swept is twice a year. Unfortunately, chimney sweeping often times get overlooked and is never done. Homeowners would say that the reason for not sweeping their chimney is because of how messy it would be or how much work chimney sweeping would entail, but if you intend to use your fireplace often then having your chimney swept is essential for your health and safety.

The reason why you would want your chimney swept regularly is because of dirt and creosote that can build up in your chimney over time. Dirt in your chimney can cause clogging which forces smoke back into your home instead of being released from the top of your chimney. Creosote can ignite, posing a serious fire hazard.

When to schedule your chimney sweeping appointment?

Now is the best time to schedule a chimney sweeping appointment. You would want to schedule an appointment with your local chimney sweep before the cold, winter weather approaches when your chimney will be used the most. If you live in an area with severe cold weather conditions, you would want to schedule your chimney sweeping appointment earlier in the year because chimney sweeps will often be very busy and in demand.

Chimney Inspection

Chimneys should be inspected every year before you begin using your chimney or when you move into a home. Often times when you move into a home, it is difficult to know if your chimney is in proper working order or if the residence who lived in the house before you were keeping up with the chimney’s maintenance every year.