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Keeping Your Garden Alive And Well

3 Important Tips For Chimney Maintenance

24 February 2020

Soham Diaz

Your chimney may seem like a pretty straightforward installation. It funnels the smoke from your wood-burning fire out of your house. It prevents your home from becoming smoky and uninhabitable while you enjoy the fireplace's warmth.

Your seemingly humble chimney features many parts that have to work together to deliver the above functionality. The damper, flue, flashing, and cap all have their own roles to play to ensure your home remains smoke-free. Return the love to your chimney by ensuring it's in good shape with regular maintenance.

1. Inspect the Chimney Exterior

The exterior of your chimney can take many different configurations. Some chimneys are traditional with a wood or brick façade. Other chimneys might be more modern and made out of adobe or even just the metal pipe of the flue. The exterior of the chimney consists of the flashing, crown, and masonry, all of which are above the roofline.

You don't need to climb up onto your roof, but do your best to look for any missing masonry or any gaps in the exterior parts of the chimney. You might even see a powdery white coating which indicates that water has dissolved salt in the masonry. If you see any issues, you'll want to call in for chimney repair.

2. Maintain the Chimney Cap

While you're examining the exterior of your chimney anyway, have a look at the chimney cap, which is the topper on the flue. The chimney cap prevents animals from entering your chimney. It also keeps moisture from the weather from entering your chimney.

First off, if you don't have a chimney cap, remedy that situation. If you do have a chimney cap, make sure it's in good working order. Again, you probably don't want to crawl up onto your roof to inspect it. However, do a visual inspection from the ground or a neighbor's upper floor.

3. Have Your Chimney Cleaned

A chimney sweep isn't just an old-timey job suitable for children's stories. In fact, with a wood-burning fireplace, it's imperative that you keep your chimney clean. As Home Advisor points out,  the buildup of creosote is one of the most common issues in fireplace maintenance.

When woods burn, they emit an oily substance that coats the insides of your chimney. This oily substance is known as creosote, and it's flammable. So, if creosote builds up inside your chimney, it can ignite, causing a dangerous home fire. Therefore, having your chimney swept yearly is an important part of fireplace maintenance.

Keep your chimney in good repair with careful monitoring and maintenance. Contact a chimney service in your area if you need help.

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