Keep Your Chimney & Fireplace in Good Shape

A chimney and fireplace that both work efficiently and safely will give you season after season of fireplace enjoyment. When problems arise, the enjoyment is over, and if you neglect the problems, you may be looking at hefty repair bills or worse.

Here are four key reasons to make sure your chimney and fireplace stay in good shape.

Chimney fires and house fires

Statistics show that most chimney fires are caused by burning creosote inside the chimney flue. Chimney creosote, which is produced when smoke condenses, can cling to the walls of your chimney liner and cause a very serious fire.

Creosote also can cause smaller fires that you won’t even know about. All chimney fires are potentially destructive, especially if the chimney liner becomes damaged and allows flames and heat to contact adjacent home building materials.

Solution: Have your chimney cleaned by a professional chimney sweep once a year to reduce creosote buildups. This preventative maintenance step can save your home, and it can save lives.

Health risk due to carbon monoxide in your home

One of the unfortunate signs of a neglected chimney is smoke backing up into the house. This isn’t good, but even worse is the carbon monoxide that smoke carries. Carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible, but it can be fatal when inhaled by people and pets.

Smoke backups often are caused by obstructions in the chimney flue. Leaves, twigs and fruit from nearby trees along with the nests of small animals who use your chimney as a birthing ground can cause serious obstructions and keep smoke from venting correctly.

Solution: If you don’t have a chimney cap, have one installed to keep all debris out of the flue. Then have your chimney professionally cleaned by a trained chimney sweep, who uses specialized tools to remove both debris and creosote, which also can narrow the flue.

Severely damaged or collapsed chimney

The bricks and mortar that make up your chimney are prone to cracking and crumbling over time. But it’s not only age: earthquakes, lightning strikes, pounding hail, heavy winds and other events can damage a chimney’s masonry.

When water from rain or snow gets into masonry cracks, it will freeze and then expand, compounding the damage. It doesn’t take long for this cycle to cause serious compromises in a chimney structure. Major chimney damage is an expensive fix. Rebuilding a collapsed chimney is even more expensive.

Solution: First, have your chimney inspected annually by a licensed chimney inspector. Most inspectors also perform repair work, which might include brick replacement and tuckpointing to replace crumbling sections of mortar. A waterproof sealant can be applied to keep water from having a free ride into your masonry.

Safe, efficient fires

Your fireplace is designed to burn only firewood. Burning anything else such as furniture pieces, cardboard, clothing, magazines and the like can lead to firebox damage and excess smoke.

Another cause of very smoky fires is the burning of damp logs rather than dry, seasoned logs. Finally, never use accelerants like kerosene, lighter fluid and charcoal starter to get fires going as these chemicals can cause an explosion and burn with way too much heat.

Solution: Burn only dry firewood, and use only a match and kindling to get fires started.

Keep your chimney in good shape all year long

Fire N’ Stone of Tilton, NH, has served homeowners throughout New Hampshire’s Lakes Region since 2009. We’re on the job year-round for chimney cleaning, chimney inspections and all types of chimney repair and masonry rebuilding work.

Give us a call at (603) 293-4040 and get on the road to a chimney that works efficiently & safely.