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Call 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. at 763-772-0815
Far too many accidents occur during the holiday season, a time that should be set aside to rejoice and celebrate. Setting up holiday lights and other decorations is a task responsible for a number of burns, shocks, and falls, but perhaps an even bigger risk to your well-being is when something goes wrong in the fireplace.
A properly sized chimney is designed to pull air, smoke, and other byproducts up and away from the home. Unfortunately, homeowners often call us to complain about a chimney that sends smoke back into the home, either initially at startup or constantly as you attempt to use the fireplace.
When you’re getting ready to start a fire in your home’s hearth, what is one of the first things you should always check? You should see that the damper is open so the exhaust fumes from the fire will escape up through the flue and out of your home.
A home fireplace is a source of both warmth and beauty for your household. However, the chimney of your fireplace requires routine maintenance and sweeping to keep it safe and properly venting the smoke, heat, and other exhaust.
Your fireplace can be an invaluable (and romantic) way of keeping warm in the cold of winter, and even those chilly spring days could benefit from a cozy fire in your home. But summer is definitely on the way, which means that your fireplace probably won’t…
Creosote is a byproduct of regular fireplace use: a tarry, flammable substance that coats the interior of your chimney. It’s very natural and as long as you have your fireplace maintained regularly, you shouldn’t have any problems with it.
It’s not uncommon for chimneys to endure beyond the buildings in which they stand; a solid masonry chimney can survive for over a hundred years with the right care and attention to problems that might develop. If you live in a home with an older chimney, take care to look for repairs that it may need.
Chimney sweeping evokes images of cockney street urchins, stovepipe hats and Dick Van Dyke. But the principles involved haven’t changed in 150 years, and while today’s chimney sweeps use modern equipment and techniques, the work they do isn’t all that different from those of their predecessors. Chimney sweeping in St. Paul is a particular necessity, owing to our numerous older homes with fine brick fireplaces. The benefits of chimney sweeping are numerous and obvious.
The romanticized image of the chimney sweep comes to us from the Disney movie Mary Poppins, where we learn that chimney sweeps are always coated from head to toe with soot, know fantastic dance moves, and say “guv’ner” at the end of every sentence. That’s all good to know if you live in a fantasy version of Victorian London. But if you live in contemporary Minnesota, you need to know the more practical side of keeping a chimney clean so you can enjoy it all through the winter in comfort and safety.