Clean Sweeps of Michigan's Blog

Sprucing up Your Chimney for Spring

Problems with chimneys only worsen with time, so the sooner you can correct them, the better. Sprucing up your chimney for spring should come as naturally as giving the whole house a thorough cleaning. That means sweeping the whole house, so do not forget about the chimney when it is time to freshen the air.

More Than Just Fresh

The problem with waiting until fall for a good chimney cleaning is that your fires are no longer helping to keep it dry. That means the creosote deposits in it are getting damp, which means they are beginning to corrode the flue. Unlike your emerging flowers, creosote formation is something you want to nip in the bud.

Creosote also smells bad, so sprucing up your chimney is the only way to really achieve a fresh-smelling house. The point of so much expended energy for allergy sufferers and just house-proud owners, a spring cleaned house deserves an odor free chimney! Additionally, having the chimney inspected in spring gives homeowners time to attend to anything it needs.

Preparing for What’s Ahead

Migrating birds are just beginning to return, so a good strong chimney cap that they cannot lift off with their talons is important. Equally important is being sure it is capping a clean chimney already free of creosote, critters, nests, and debris. Similarly, before closing the damper to conserve energy when the fireplace is not in use, the flue should be clean and dry.

Water does more damage to chimneys than fire, so be sure you are keeping it out before you ‘close up’ the chimney. Chimney caps and crowns need to be in good condition and properly designed to send rain away from the flue and chase. Warm weather months are good ones for having professionals attend to tiny cracks in mortar around crowns and flashings. Spruce up your chimney along with the rest of the house in spring and this year, be prepared for what is coming.

Proper Chimney Care

Worth being clear about, proper chimney maintenance involves:

• the fireplace
• the flue liner
• the mortar
• the chase
• the crown
• the flashing
• the cap
• the whole kit and caboodle

The entire system has to be kept clean, in largely undamaged condition, and up to speed with current codes. It is not a simple task, and it is one that homeowners are absolutely advised to turn over to CSIA certified chimney sweeps. Critical to home safety, proper chimney care is worth every penny, and most homeowners are surprised by how few it takes.

Chimneys are significant expenditures in any budget they fit into, and repairs and replacements can be costly. When labor alone can run from $60 to $150 per linear foot, even pre-fab components and above-roofline work gets expensive. Maintaining chimneys properly is well worth the amount spent by home owners on the regularly scheduled services of chimney sweeps.

Chimney Inspections

If a clean chimney in good condition were not essential to home safety, homeowners could let it slide. As it is, though, chimney fires account for too many house fires, and poor draft accounts for too much carbon monoxide poisoning. Regular inspections of chimneys by qualified professionals plays a huge part in their proper maintenance and safe use.

It is often the inability to inspect the condition of the flue liner or the cause of warping that gives away an incompetent sweep. In all likelihood, virtually anyone can be simply trained to just “sweep” the chimney, but it is the experience and expertise of a professional that enables them to quite a bit more than just the tedious task of cleaning a chimney. Responsible homeowners need to find a certified sweep to handle both the regular cleaning and the competent inspection of their chimneys.