Seasonal swings in chimney maintenance

We are in the midst of a change of seasons as cool winter temperatures begin to give way to the warmth of summer.

Just as weather patterns ebb and flow from season to season, so do the workloads of CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps.

So what kind of chimney issues should homeowners have top of mind each season? Here’s, what we hope is, a handy breakdown for you to consider.

SPRING: The season we’re in right now, we just recently blogged about the most pressing chimney issue each spring – water damage. Spring rains can wreak havoc on your chimney, causing damage that can impact how it operates and the level of safety it provides. And, in cases where the damage has already been done, spring rains can reveal leaks and other problems that may have been hidden in previous months.

SUMMER: Summer, most chimney sweeps will tell you, is the best time of year for repair work and other extended service jobs. Each summer, phone calls for annual chimney inspections traditionally taper off, and this leaves more chimney pros available for bigger projects, like masonry repairs, that often require more time and work. Plus, more sunshine and longer days also benefit these kinds of projects.

FALL: As cooler temperatures creep in, thermostats are switched to heat and fireplaces are lighted after months of laying quiet. Before you put your home’s chimneys to use each year, an annual inspection of your appliance by a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep is a must. Demand for sweep services is the highest at this time of year, because home heating is again top of mind. So, schedule those inspections as early in the season as possible.

WINTER: Hopefully, by now, you’ve already had your chimneys inspected in advance of the home-heating season. Unfortunately, chimneys have been out of sight and out of mind in the summer months, and many don’t think of their chimneys until there is a problem. This is why winter is the season of emergency repairs. Furnaces and fireplaces are likely to be relied on heavily during the coldest months, and problems will surface when the appliances are under the most consistent stress. For the most efficient and effective repair response, make sure you contact a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep.

To everything there is a season, and that goes for your home’s chimney safety, too.

That odor in your chimney could lead to something that really stinks

We’ve all been on the wrong side of someone else’s morning breath at one time or another.

Gross as it can be, morning breath is a pretty good indicator that someone needs to clean his or her teeth.

It’s this same dynamic at play when a homeowner encounters “chimney breath.”

Chimney breath is an industry term for the odor given off by the creosote that builds up in a chimney during the home-heating season.

In the best case it’s similar to the damp odor of a cave, and the heat and humidity of summer tend to make the smell worse.

But unlike someone’s morning breath, which just tends to make us all a little uncomfortable, the odor of chimney breath might be an indicator of bigger problems.

For example, the creosote buildup that causes the smell is a serious fire hazard that could spark the next time you build a fireplace fire or turn on your home heating system.

There’s also the issue of airflow. For the chimney breath odor to fill your home, air is traveling down the chimney rather than up. This reverse flow might suggest that dangerous fumes could be backing up into your home rather than escaping up the chimney as they’re supposed to.

Your CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep is trained to eliminate chimney breath before it becomes a nuisance, or, worse, a threat to lives and property.

There’s no better time than the spring and summer months to schedule your chimney inspection before the high demand for seasonal sweep services each fall.

Using the classroom to better connect with customers

At Hancock Chimney Service in Grand Rapids, MI, customer service is priority one.

Members of the Hancock Chimney team

Owners of the family business, Ken and Deanna Hancock, make good on this promise by ensuring their team of chimney sweeps and administrative staff are the best at what they do.

And that’s where the Chimney Safety Institute of America’s National Chimney Sweep Training School and our CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep credential come in.

As the Training School opens for its first session of 2013 this week, two Hancock Chimney employees will be in attendance, the Hancock’s nephew and their daughter, Tarah. They’ll learn best practices and experience the latest industry technologies.

“Whether it’s family or another one of our valued team members, we want all of our employees to be as knowledgeable and professional as possible whenever they are out in the field representing the company that we worked so hard to create,” Deanne says.

Tarah says the hands on experiences she’ll have at the Training School will make her more effective in meeting customers’ needs.

“I’ll feel more confident in handling customer calls, because I will have knowledge in all aspects of the chimney system and in the inspections that keep those systems working correctly,” Tarah says.

Tarah is just the latest in a long line of Hancock employees to attend the training school.

“We require all of our new employees to attend the National Chimney Training School to prepare them for the kinds of jobs they’ll encounter in the field and to help them pass the CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep credential exam,” Deanna says.

“It comes down to being able to make the customer comfortable when they interact with us by having knowledge that they can appreciate and trust,” Tarah says. “CSIA gives us that knowledge.”

Chimneys + knowledge = a safer you

April is Math Awareness Month in the United States, and we’re inclined to focus this post on numbers.

Indeed chimney and fireplace safety is all about numbers, and we want to share some of the more significant ones with you.

3 feet outdoors: This is the minimum required distance between your rooftop and chimney opening. Anything closer is not up to code and a potential risk to your safety. There are some cases when even more clearance is required, and your local CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep can provide information on those cases.

3 feet indoors: Homeowners are typically at the mercy of contractors and construction professionals for many of the numbers we’re discussing here, but this is one that every homeowner does have control over. Three feet is the absolute minimum distance you should keep between combustibles and your fireplace opening. Whether it’s stockings during the holidays or a piece of furniture that’s in place all year long, keep all items clear of your fireplace opening to improve your safety.

16 inches: This is how far your hearth, or the flooring of your fireplace, should extend into your living area if your fireplace opening is less than 6 square feet. This distance protects against hot embers or other objects from the fireplace coming into contact with carpet or other flammable materials in your living space.

8 inches: This is how far your hearth should extend out from each side of your fireplace opening when the opening is less than 6 square feet.

2 feet: A decorative mantle is a wonderful accent to the beauty of a fireplace and fire, but any mantle that projects more than one and a half inches from the wall needs to be installed at least two feet above the fireplace opening in order to reduce the risk of fire.

When you add it all up, knowledge is power. We hope you’ve increased your knowledge of the numbers that help reduce chimney risks and are empowered to make the changes necessary for a safer home.

 

We’re not watering down this threat to your chimney

We are big fans of the May flowers, but we’re more concerned with something else April showers can bring: indications of serious damage to chimneys.

We often sound the alarm about fire danger, but prolonged exposure to water is just as big a concern when it comes to chimney safety.

When your masonry or factory-built fireplace is exposed to water, the result can be cracks or gaps in your chimney where creosote can collect and increase the risk of fire or where noxious gases can escape into your home and expose your family to carbon monoxide.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Rust stains: More particular to factory-built fireplaces, rust is a critical red flag that water is accessing your chimney and threatening the integrity of the structure. Rust stains could reveal themselves around the outside of the upper chimney, or along the inner lining of the fireplace.

“Rust stains in the fireplace area are of serious concern. Like the tip of an iceberg, by the time you see the evidence down in the fireplace, water damage to the damper or upper chimney structure is likely very critical,” says Ashley Eldridge, the CSIA Director of Education.

Dripping or standing water: This may seem obvious, but water pooling anywhere in or around your masonry or factory-built chimney and fireplace structure means water has an access point to your home.

Bent or damaged flashing: The metal materials used to help seal your chimney from rooftop water runoff must be flush to the chimney structure. Flashing, crickets or other devices can warp or otherwise separate from the chimney over time, exposing your structure to water.

WHAT TO DO

Use a chimney cap: Sometimes called a rain cover, a chimney cap works to protect your chimney the way your roof works to protect your house. Water has direct access to your home when a rain cover is not installed on your chimney.

Apply waterproofing agents: Particular to masonry chimneys, adding a vapor-permeable waterproofing agent to you chimney’s interior lets moisture escape, but prevents it from coming in. Be sure to never use paint or any non-vapor-permeable water sealer because it will trap moisture inside the chimney, hastening deterioration.

Call a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep: To perform the recommended jobs above or any other repair work on a leaky chimney, there are no professionals more qualified than our certified sweeps. Find your local sweep at csia.org/search.

We need to vent about the dangers of clothes dryers

April is the season of showers. You know, the kinds that bring May flowers.

While wet may be the order of the day this time of year, we’re going to turn our attention to a drier topic, specifically to the kind of dryer found in your home that you use to get newly washed clothes ready for wearing.

Clothes dryers are one of the most commonly used household appliances, and one of the most dangerous.

The latest report from the U.S. Fire Administration (you can read the complete article here) reveals that clothes dryer fires cause some $35 million in property damages each year and account for as many as 5 deaths and 100 injuries.

What’s the leading factor in these deadly and costly dryer fires?

“Failure to clean” tops the report’s list of causes, because it’s often lint and other buildup that spark the flames.

And what’s as troubling as any of the numbers we’ve just shared is the statistic that only half of reported clothes dryer fires are contained to the units themselves.

That means 50 percent of clothes dryer fires spread to cause damage to other parts of a home or property.

One sure fire way to help reduce your risk is an annual inspection of your home’s dryer exhaust vents.

Our Chimney Safety Institute of America certification for dryer exhaust technicians is the only nationally recognized program for training industry professionals on the kinds of best practices that can help keep your family and home safer.

Annual inspections are all the more important in newer homes that often position clothes dryers in inner rooms, which requires longer venting duct work that could facilitate the buildup of fire threats like lint and dust.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration report, “eventually, the lint accumulates and creates resistance. Thus, it is crucial for homeowners to regularly inspect and clean out the dryer vent.”

Finding a certified dryer vent technician in your community is easy at csia.org/search.

 

Don’t just wing it when a Swift moves into your chimney

CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps have seen it all.

From basketballs to broomsticks, industry pros aren’t surprised by what can find its way into chimneys.

While any obstruction can impact the performance of your chimney and pose a threat to safety, we think the danger is amplified when animals become a part of the equation in terms of risks to humans and critters.

Chimney Swift photo by Chuck Tague

One bird species in particular, the aptly named Chimney Swift, considers chimneys to be the best shelter around.

It just so happens that Swifts are now making their annual return north as spring begins to take hold throughout much of America, and early sightings were already being reported in the U.S. Southeast in the last week of March.

“Swifts are extremely adaptable,” say Paul and Georgean Kyle on their website, ChimneySwifts.org. “This is why, when their native habitat of large hollow trees in the forests of North America were removed, they learned to nest and roost in chimneys and air shafts.”

The Kyles are project directors of the Driftwood Wildlife Association, and they work to promote the conservation of Chimney Swifts, a species facing a dramatic decline in numbers due to loss of habitat.

The Kyles say homeowners should be interested in protecting the lives of Chimney Swifts, because the birds play a crucial role in the management of mosquitos and other pest populations throughout the summer months.

“Two parents and their offspring will consume over 12,000 flying insect pests every day,” the Kyles report on their website. “These include small things like mosquitoes, gnats, termites and biting flies.”

Swifts are a protected species. That means homeowners who find the animals in their chimneys and aren’t interested in hosting the birds cannot remove the birds themselves. Only properly permitted and qualified professionals can relocate Swifts.

We encourage you to consult with your local CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep if you believe Swifts, or any animal for that matter, have taken up residence in your chimney. Once the proper professionals have relocated the animals, your certified sweep can install a chimney cap to help prevent future critter visits.