Keeping your chimney clean is an essential part of keeping your home safe. However, it is also important that your chimney is cleaned from time to time. Here is what you should know about cleaning your chimney, including how it is done and why it is important.
Chimney Cleaning Removes Flammable Creosote
Using your chimney to light a fire results in creating creosote, which is a tar-like substance that collects inside your chimney. While not much is likely to happen when you have a small amount of creosote buildup, a large amount has the potential to ignite a fire inside your chimney. The fire can then easily spread to the rest of your home and destroy it since the fire will not be contained just to your chimney. This is because creosote burns at an incredibly high temperature that is hard to extinguish, and a fire in the chimney will be difficult to put out in general with great speed to prevent a lot of damage.
Chimney Cleaning Can Be Messy
The process of cleaning your chimney is not going to be easy. Since a lot of that creosote can come down into your home as it is removed, it typically involves cleaning the chimney from the outside. It starts with using plastic to seal off the chimney inside your home, making a tight seal so that nothing leaks out into your home. A chimney cleaning contractor will then access the chimney from the roof. The chimney cap will be removed, and a long wire brush will be inserted to scrub the inner walls of the chimney. All of that creosote will then have to be removed from your house
Chimney Cleaning Should Include An Inspection
When you hire a professional chimney cleaner, part of the job should involve performing an inspection of your chimney. Sometimes problems can be identified due to efflorescence on the chimney's exterior brick, which is an indication that there is a crack in the liner and moisture is escaping into the brick. The goal will not only be to clean a chimney so that it is safe to use but to identify potential problems that can cause damage to your chimney.
Since chimney cleaning requires special tools and working up on your roof, it is always best to contact a professional to do the job for you. Reach out to residential chimney cleaning services in your area for more information.
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