Cleaning and collecting soot is not the kind of fun or job that many people want to be associated with; however, it actually saves lives. Whether you choose to do it yourself or hire the services of professionals, regular cleaning of the chimney should be done to avoid chimney fires hence putting the whole home and your family at risk.
As a result, the cleaning job must be done thoroughly and comprehensively to leave a completely clean chimney. This is because the cleaning job does not only involve the clearing out of the dust and soot in the chimney, but also scraping and removing creosote that may have built up inside the chimney walls.
Fireplaces in the house have been blamed for pollution and creating a fire hazard in the home, but this is not a good reason to not have and enjoy them. That’s because you can solve the issue by maintaining a clean chimney.If your chimney is used for venting natural gas burning appliances, frequent cleaning is not always necessary because these usually do not create the same kind of build-up. You should get an inspection every year no matter what fuel you burn because there are other issues that can creep up you will need to know about to keep your family and home safe. For those using a coal, or wood burning fireplace or stove, yearly cleaning of the system should be considered mandatory.
Wood and coal burning leads to creosote build-up in the chimney hence creating a fire hazard. One way to help maintain a clean chimney is to burn a hot fire and make sure to schedule an annual cleaning of the chimney to remove creosote, ash from logs, trash, sticks and debris.
Some other ways of maintaining a clean chimney includes; avoiding contaminants such as water in the chimney, insulating your chimney liner properly to reduce the rate of creosote build-up, proper selection of fuel to be used for your heating appliances and lastly, the installation of a screened chimney cap to prevent leaves, birds and animals from entering the chimney from the top.
