A fireplace is the visual center of any room. Even when it’s not in use, it’s an attention draw. Here are some ways you can take care of your fireplace needs during dormant months and also keep it attractive and interesting as part of your home.
HIRE A CHIMNEY SWEEP IN EARLY SUMMER
Summer is the best time to get your chimneys cleaned and inspected by a professional chimney sweep; because you’re not using them. It’s also after spring and before fall: the perfect time for new animal nests and other fire hazards to be removed. It’s super important to get your chimney safety inspected annually, and in most cases, cleaned annually too. When you hire a pro, you know that any safety issue you have will be noted and dealt with. Inspecting your chimney yourself is not a safe substitute. Without the proper knowledge and tools, something could be missed that would compromise the structure of your home or could cause a fire.
CLEAN THE FIREPLACE
-Always check to make sure your cleanser isn’t flammable. When cleaning brick or stone; cleansers are very difficult to clean off and it’s a serious fire hazard if yours is flammable.
-Be very careful with bleach, it can fade stone. If there is bleach in your cleaning solution, use it with caution and very sparingly. Consider diluting it and testing your cleaning solution in an inconspicuous place before continuing. Wait till 24 hours before deciding it’s non-damaging.
-Never clean a fireplace while it’s in use, hot, or warm from use.
-Remove the ashes and debris from the firebox before cleaning the fireplace face. This will keep you and it cleaner, and prevent your inhaling ash while cleaning.
FIREPLACE DECORATING TIPS
Every home has its own style, and your fireplace will look and feel best if you give it some of your personality. Once the fireplace is all clean and new looking, of course you can fill it will some beautiful logs, placed as though you were going to burn them. But you don’t have to play it so safe. What do you find attractive in a home?
- -Fill the fireplace with candles. Either all pillars of varying heights, all tapers of the same height but different colors, candle holders or none, whatever appeals to you. Light them and watch the flames flicker without adding notable heat to the home.
- -If you want the movement and life of fire, but no heat at all, put a mirror in the firebox. You can even paint a mirror so that only a flame-shaped area reflects.
- -You can fill the fireplace with greenery or blooming flowers lying in the inner hearth, or place vases full of flowers in the firebox.
- -Fill the entire firebox, top to bottom, with firewood cut to the same length, with the ends facing the room. This makes a clean, natural look.
- -Place a painting, drawing, collage, or photograph on a table-top style easel in the fireplace.
- -Find a fireplace cover that will blend in with hearth-front materials, blending in as thought it there were no firebox behind it.
- -Find a fireplace screen that is a work of art in itself, something you like to look at, and leave it up in the summer.
- -Fill old wine bottles of various shapes and sizes with water and put some twinkle lights behind and between them. When you turn your light string on, the water will refract the light beautifully.
- -If you’re a jokester, you can fill the inner hearth with books or other things that you wouldn’t normally burn.
To start the summer chimney maintenance, your first step in getting your chimney and flue cleaned and inspected. Then clean your fireplace front, and decorate your space to match your style! Contact the Irish Sweep to schedule a chimney inspection today.