The chimney is a forgotten HVAC component. Many homeowners overlook its maintenance because its unmistakable charm overshadows its underappreciated functionality. If your house has one, give it the TLC it deserves.
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What Happens if You Never Sweep Your Chimney?
The worst-case scenario is a house fire. A dirty chimney can ignite without warning and burn your home to the ground. A less menacing — but equally harmful — consequence is unchecked combustion emissions. Toxic gas ventilation is your chimney’s calling card. It can’t do its job when clogged.
How Often Does a Chimney Need to Be Cleaned?
You must maintain — not just clean — your chimney and the other parts of your HVAC system once every 12 months or more. If you use your heating unit outside of the winter months, you may have to inspect and sweep it multiple times a year, especially when you use firewood.
Chimney Maintenance — Red Flags to Watch Out For
Most self-sufficient homeowners consider handling the upkeep of their chimneys without outside help. Although some clean the areas they can reach with the limited tools using YouTube tutorials as guides, it would be unwise to skip professional service.
Proper chimney maintenance is vital — one oversight can start a destructive fire. Instead, schedule a routine inspection with a certified chimney sweep to get your ventilation structure evaluated.
Is there anything you can do to help keep your chimney in good repair? You can be vigilant in spotting these causes for concern so you can book a qualified technician as soon as possible to investigate between scheduled inspections.
Indoor Smoke
Your chimney is a ventilator. There’s something amiss if smoke doesn’t go out when the damper is open while heating your space.
Letting your furnace or wood stove run or keeping your fireplace burning for too long without exhausting the fumes into the outside will jeopardize your family’s health more quickly than you think. Trapped pollutants, such as benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and particulate matter, will cause your indoor air quality to plummet.
Thick Deposits
Structurally sound or not, your chimney will discolor at some point. The hue suggests the kind of substance buildup it has.
Soot is the flaky black substance on the liner, resulting from the incomplete burning of firewood. Creosote is dark brown and tar-like and can accumulate in the flue or on the chimney exterior. It’s unsightly, highly flammable and can interfere with the airflow.
Salt is the powdery white stain on the chimney’s interior. This crystalline substance is naturally present in the masonry, dissolved and carried by water to the surface — a process called efflorescence. It indicates a leakage, causing more problems when left unaddressed.
Depending on the mold, mildew or algae species, fungal growth can appear in bluish, green or dark green. Whatever fungi you’re dealing with, its presence suggests your chimney is damp and water must be coming in from somewhere.
Fleeting Fires
If you use dry firewood, a draft obstruction may be to blame for why your flames keep dying. Flue blockage due to creosote buildup deprives the fire of enough oxygen to sustain combustion.
Oily Fireplace Walls
Visible oil residues on walls denote burnt creosote. These marks mean there’s an excessive amount of the substance, which can accumulate faster when the smoke condenses more quickly due to the flue’s exposure to the outside’s cold temperatures.
Crumbly Masonry
Extreme weather, moisture infiltration, house settling, quakes, lightning strikes or old age are the usual culprits in cracked chimney brickwork and mortar joints. Look for crumbling on the roof and loose or broken pieces of brick to repair the damage soonest.
Wildlife Presence
Critters may take shelter in your chimney because it resembles a tall hollow tree, keeping it from working as intended. If it doesn’t ventilate as well as it should, animals may be nesting or trapped inside.
Chimney Maintenance Is a Year-Round Process
Where there’s fire, there’s smoke. Scheduling regular professional inspections and repairs to keep your chimney in excellent condition is half the battle. You can only guarantee its performance when you constantly pay attention to red flags to address them promptly.
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