It’s time for presents, candy, cookies, and candy canes! Add relaxed holiday parties and getting together with people you haven’t seen in just
too long, and you know it’s Christmas time! There’s no time of year like this special time, when the cookies taste just a little better and the songs sound a little more joyful. When it’s your turn to have the family over for Christmas celebrations, you’ll want to make sure everything is just right, from the holiday punch to the tinsel on the tree. But how often do you think of the safety of your friends and family, whether you’re hosting a big event or just enjoying some quiet, relaxing alone time with your family? If you haven’t had your chimney inspected and cleaned, then now is the time, before you start in on the celebrating! If you live in Milwaukee or any of the surrounding regions, the chimney place to call is Chimney Concepts. We’ll make sure your chimney is spick and span and safe for the entire burning season.
Importance of an Annual Cleaning
You may be wondering why it’s so important that you get your chimney cleaned before the holidays. After all, that’s one place your guests probably won’t look at too closely, so who cares if it’s clean or not, right? Actually, there are many things that we will look for when we come in and clean your chimney, and it’s more than just the idea of having things cleaned out. When we come in and inspect and clean, we’ll be looking for areas that could actually cause harm to your family and your guests. That’s why it’s such an important task.
One of the big things we’ll be looking for is areas where your chimney might be leaking, any cracks in the chimney lining, weak areas in the mortar, and even dampers that aren’t sealing as tightly as they should be. If any of these areas are cracked or faulty, it may be that the gases that are released through the combustion process may not be heading out the chimney as they should be, but instead may be redirecting through those cracks back into your home. When you burn a fire, whether wood, gas, or pellets, moisture, and chemicals, such as benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide are released. These chemicals can cause scratchy eyes and coughing, lung diseases such as bronchitis or asthma, and even more serious diseases. Carbon monoxide offers especially harmful consequences, such as dizziness, chest pain, nausea, loss of consciousness, or even death if left undetected.
Leaks
Speaking of leaks, it’s not just gases leaking back into your home that we’ll be looking for. Water can also leak into your home through your chimney, causing extensive damage to the interior of your home. It can cause a weakening of the walls or ceiling, moldy areas, or even outright water drips in your home. If you’ve noticed that there are watermarks on the ceiling or that the walls have soft spots with peeling wallpaper, you may have a chimney leak. Some of the areas of concern are the chimney cap and chimney crown and the flashing at the base of the chimney. We’ll check out these areas and make sure that they are in great working condition, or make any necessary repairs to make sure that leaks aren’t happening.
Structural Damage
We’ll also be looking for any areas that may have been damaged over the course of the year. If you’ve had your chimney inspected and cleaned on an annual basis, chances are there won’t be any major damage, but if you haven’t been as diligent about this, sometimes there could be repair jobs that need to be done. One thing we’ll check for is any indication that there may have been a chimney fire. Although we usually think of a chimney fire as being a major event, in most cases chimney fires burn out before they are detected due to lack of enough oxygen to keep them burning strong. This is a dangerous situation because you may have damage that you aren’t aware of. If left unrepaired these could turn into costly repairs that take time to fix. We’ll check for damage that may already exist, but we’ll also check for things that might cause damage, such as excessive creosote buildup where a fire might easily ignite. We’ll make sure your chimney liner is crack-free and that there are no blockages that cause your fire to burn less efficiently.
Give Yourself the Holiday Gift of a Chimney Inspection
With all the fuss and busy-ness of the holiday season, you may be tempted to put off having your chimney inspected and cleaned. After all, you have enough on that to-do list to last until long after Christmas, and it all has to be done before! But really, all this job takes is a phone call, and we’ll do the rest. We take pride in leaving your home in the same condition it was before we come in to do your inspection, so all it takes is a phone call to set up an appointment. Let us do the dirty work! You’ll have a happier holiday season knowing your chimney is clean and danger free.