3 Signs It's Time To Get Your Chimney Swept

Fires can add warmth and atmosphere to your house. However, those aren't the only things that fires produce. When wood burns, even aged and dried wood, it produces smoke, ash, soot, and creosote. Those four things all go up through your chimney and will build up on the side of the chimney. Best-case scenario, nothing happens. Worst-case scenario, all that buildup catches fire and burns your house down. The best way to prevent that is to have your chimney swept regularly. Ideally, you should get it cleaned every spring or summer, but you should also know signs of other times you should have the chimney cleaned out. 

Campfire Smell

When your fireplace isn't being used and is cold, you shouldn't smell anything from it. If you notice that you are getting a strong smell of campfire around your fireplace, it can signify that you have a significant amount of creosote buildup on the sides of your chimney. That creosote smells good, but it is also highly flammable. 

Chimney Draws Slowly

If your chimney is drawing slowly, your fires will burn poorly because there isn't enough airflow to feed the fire. That can be a sign that you have a clog of some sort in your chimney. Depending on what the clog is made of, it could catch fire through ash or embers rising into your chimney and lighting up the clog. 

Noises

If you hear noises from your chimney, that is definitely a sign that you need to have a chimney sweep take care of your chimney. Those noises are a good sign that you have some animal living in your chimney. Birds like to build nests in chimneys because the chimney will protect their eggs. The chimney sweep can clear out the animal and put a grate or chimney cap over the opening of your chimney so that animals can't get back into your chimney. If you think you have animals in your chimney, make sure you close the chimney off at your fireplace because the animal can use the chimney as a roadway to your house. 

Call a chimney sweep and schedule a thorough cleaning of your chimney. That way, you will be ready to start burning fires when it gets cold enough again. The sweep can also inspect your chimney to make sure that it is in good repair and doesn't need any other maintenance work. 

Contact a local chimney sweeping service to learn more. 

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