To ensure your family’s safety is taken care of and is of top priority, it is highly encouraged to have your fireplace or chimney inspected at least once a year. It is important to have an annual sweep of your chimney or fireplace to ensure proper safety and to avoid any potential hazards for your family. Here are a few reasons why an annual sweep is recommended:
Combustible creosote is removed from the chimney.
Creosote is highly flammable and is a chemical compound that builds up in your chimney. Creosote is the product of the combination of wood-burning by-products such as gases, smoke, water vapor and various minerals. It takes the form of tar and is usually brown or black. Interestingly, creosote build-up is one of the most significant causes of house fires in Canada, so it is vitally important that it gets removed from your chimney and only a certified professional can ensure its removed properly.
To ensure that the build-up of creosote is not already forming.
Most homeowners don’t even think about inspecting this, and by the time they do, it could be too late. A fire has started in the chimney. It has started because of all the buildup of creosote which serves to block the fumes that are trying to escape.
There are 3 stages of creosote build-up:
The first stage is mostly ashy soot and it is, of course, the easiest to remove as the inspector can simply use a chimney brush to dust it off.
When the creosote build-up hits the second stage, it becomes harder to clean. The wood-burning by-products take the form of shiny black flakes and usually begins forming if you are burning wood with higher moisture content in the fireplace.
The third stage of creosote build-up is by far the most hazardous and the most difficult to remove. It generally looks like tar running down the inside of the flue and as it hardens, it is recoated and continues accreting in layers.
To make the creosote removal as simple as possible, we want to ensure that the annual sweep is completed at stage 1 or prior to before it becomes too late to be able to remove the creosote.
A proper inspection can take place so the inspector will be able to see the flue cavity and determine whether or not there are any defects/fire hazards present.
Booking an annual inspection will not only provide a more thorough cleaning of your chimney or fireplace, it will also help determine if the condition of your chimney warrants maintenance repair. If maintenance is required, the inspector will advise of the repairs needed.
The fireplace can work at maximum efficiency.
The inspector can ensure that your fireplace is performing at the level that it should be. This will help to avoid any potential fire hazards that may come about unexpectedly due to creosote build-up. It will also help to ensure that repair maintenance is not required.
To obtain guidance on good burning practices and information on your particular wood burning system and how it operates within your unique building environment. We would suggest that homeowners not assume that their chimneys are defect-free and hire a chimney professional instead.
By not following through with annual inspections, you put yourself and your family’s health at risk. Health hazards such as carbon monoxide poisoning and fires in your home are very real possibilities for wood burning systems that are not regularly serviced by a certified WETT inspector.
Do you need to have your fireplace or chimney inspected? Give Able Chimney Sweeps a call Today!