Have you ever considered hiring a professional to get your chimney cleaned? That’s where a chimney sweep comes into the picture!
Chimney sweeps inspect and clean fireplaces and chimneys to ensure they warm your home safely. If you don’t hire a chimney sweep to periodically clean your chimney, you risk exposing your home to numerous dangers.
Ready to find out what dangers a chimney sweep will help you avoid?
Here are the main ways in which a chimney sweep will keep your home protected.
Prevent Fires
Chimneys vent smoke from gas and wood-burning fireplaces by creating a draft that pulls hot air and smoke from the firebox. If your fireplace is used often, the continuous flow of smoke through the chimney will cause a huge amount of creosote to build inside the flue liner. Creosote is a tar-like substance that’s extremely flammable. Therefore, it’s vital to get it removed to prevent a chimney fire break out.
A chimney sweep lowers the risk of a chimney fire by inspecting your chimney for excessive creosote using a snake camera. If there’s too much creosote in the chimney, the chimney sweep will use tools like wire brushes attached to rods to scrape it off the inside of your chimney flue. They’re also responsible for vacuuming any creosote that falls onto your fireplace during cleaning.
Stop Carbon Monoxide from Filling Your Home
The most important aspect of keeping a home protected is safeguarding the health of its residents. Unfortunately, if your chimney is dirty, everyone in your home will be at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that forms when gas or wood is burned in a fireplace.
If your chimney is clogged with creosote or the dampers aren’t opened properly, excessive carbon monoxide will remain in your home. The best way to prevent this is by hiring a chimney sweep to clean your chimney regularly.
Check to See if Your Chimney’s Exterior is Eroding
If you think a chimney sweep is solely responsible for cleaning the inside of a chimney, think again! Chimney sweeps are also in charge of checking for and cleaning substances like efflorescence on your chimney’s exterior.
Efflorescence is a crystalline substance that forms when moisture wicks minerals out of a chimney’s masonry. If there’s a ton of efflorescence on your chimney, the masonry is likely to be brittle and will erode before you know it. Hiring a chimney sweep will ensure you’re aware of how much efflorescence is on your chimney. In other words, a chimney sweep will help analyze the structural integrity of your chimney and prevent you from unnecessarily spending a hefty chunk of money on chimney rebuilding!
Protect the Masonry in Your Fireplace
Chimney sweeps clean the entire chimney structure—including the fireplace. Therefore, they’re optimally positioned to analyze the inside of your fireplace for signs of wear and tear. If there are any cracks in the masonry or excessive efflorescence deposits in the fireplace, the chimney sweep will let you know during the chimney cleaning process.
We recommend hiring a chimney sweep from a company that also specializes in fireplace restorations. This will provide you with a two-in-one solution in case your chimney sweep spots damage in your fireplace.
Stop Your Home’s Foundation from Rotting
Did you know that chimney leaks are among the biggest threats to your home’s foundation? If water leaks into your home through the chimney, it’ll cause the wooden structure of your home to rot and deteriorate. If left unchecked, your home will be at serious risk of collapsing. But where does a chimney sweep fit into this scenario?
Chimney sweeps are responsible for thoroughly inspecting and cleaning chimneys. In other words, they’re well-positioned to check for chimney leaks. While it isn’t the responsibility of a chimney sweep to fix the leak, the only way to fix something is by knowing it requires fixing in the first place. Therefore, chimney sweeps are directly responsible for ensuring your home’s foundation doesn’t rot due to moisture from a leaky chimney.