WHAT IS CREOSOTE? | USE THE RIGHT WOOD

How To Prevent Chimney Fires?

Call the chimney cleaning company, because the Holiday season is almost here. For some, nothing says the Holidays more than sipping a hot cup of cocoa beside a crackling fire in the fireplace. Feeling the warmth and enjoying the glow of the embers as they waft up the chimney. Before we get too comfortable though, here are a few things to watch out for which might save lives start to learn tips on preventing chimney fires.

Preventing Chimney Fires

You May Not Notice a Chimney Fire

Did you know that most chimney fires go undetected?

Sometimes, chimney fires won’t have enough fuel or air to cause a noticeable fire. Even though there is no sign of visible combustion, these slow-burning fires reach high temperatures and can cause enormous damage to the chimney structure.

8 Main Signs that a professional chimney sweep will look for when providing chimney cleaning services and inspection

A distorted or discolored rain cap
Roof damage near the chimney
Discoloration from smoke escaping through masonry joints or tile liners
A buildup of a creosote residue: black or brown, highly combustible residue, especially if it has a puffy or “honey-comb” appearance
Evidence of heat damage
Cracked or compromised brickwork
Missing cement/mortar between brickwork
Cracked, collapsed, or missing flue tiles

Best Practice

A damaged chimney poses a danger to the home and those who live there. Regularly scheduled chimney cleaning services and inspections are the best and most proactive way to keep the chimney safe and reduce problems.

How to Prevent Chimney Fires

It’s tempting sometimes to add items to the fire especially if they give off pretty colors or cause a pop! Resist the temptation to throw anything and everything flammable into the fireplace. To prevent toxic gases and fumes in the air, buildup of flammable creosote on the chimney walls, and other combustible elements from forming, only use what is safe to burn.

6 Common Items NOT to Burn

Cardboard – especially with printed ink, may release toxic fumes when burned.
Unseasoned wood – also known as wet wood. Unseasoned wood contains a high percentage of water and can create thick, excessive smoke when burned.
Christmas trees – as tempting as it might be, not only are Christmas trees unseasoned wood, if preservatives have been added to the water to prevent needle drop, this preservative is now being burned into the environment.
Paper – can easily go airborne once it catches fire. Stray embers are a leading cause of fires. Colored paper including wrapping paper is especially dangerous as it releases carcinogens and chemical fumes.
Painted or treated wood – when burned, painted or treated wood releases toxic chemicals into the air as well as sometimes smelling bad.
Material products– sometimes thought of as an easy way to light a fire, materials such as clothing release dangerous carcinogens and chemical fumes because of dyes and fire retardant substances.

To enjoy a fire, burn seasoned wood, keep the damper open, and opt for an annual chimney cleaning and inspection. The cozy warmth of a fireplace in wintertime can help get us into the holiday spirit.

Schedule a Chimney Cleaning To Prevent Chimney Fires

Our services at The Irish Sweep can help safely maintain and enjoy a wood-burning fireplace and chimney for years to come.

To schedule an appointment with a professional, call us at (510)521-4088, or use this simple contact form by clicking here.

Why you Need a Home Inspection Chimney?

Before you buy your dream home, it’s important to get a full home inspection chimney. Home inspection chimney can uncover potentially life-threatening problems like toxic mold, faulty wiring that could cause a significant fire, or unstable structures just months away from collapsing. Often as buyers, we expect a professional home inspection chimney service to cover all aspects of the property, but the chimney needs a separate qualified evaluation for many safety reasons.

The health and safety of your family could depend on your decision to go through with a chimney inspection. Here’s some important information you need to know about why home inspection chimney are crucial when it comes to purchasing new homes.

What a home inspection chimney could uncover:

Potential Water Damage

Did you know that the foundation of a chimney is typically only 12 inches deep? That means that with earth movement from summer to winter, water damage from sprinklers, downspouts, and weather conditions could render your chimney foundation dangerous.

Neglected Spaces

Most inspections are carried out for the purpose of the loan lender or negotiations, and they may not always serve the buyer. Make sure that your home inspection includes often-forgotten spaces like the crawl space, basement, attics, chimney, fireplace, and loft area. A smart buyer can even use details from the full home inspection to negotiate with the seller.

Shifting from New Construction

Has the space around the chimney been newly landscaped, subject to digging, or under construction? Have there been significant earthquakes since the last chimney inspection? Shifting of the earth underneath or around the chimney could cause instability, which is why it’s important to make sure the inspection includes outdoor areas surrounding the chimney.

Instability from Cold Weather

With the drought and hotter weather, the hard soil can stabilize a chimney to some degree, but only temporarily. As cold weather moves in, dampness and moisture soften the soil around the base of the chimney, allowing movement in the structure which could render the chimney unstable. Even if the house is on a concrete slab and the chimney is surrounded by concrete, the concrete still absorbs the moisture and the chimney can still move. If your area experiences high winds, wet weather, and earthquakes, instability can be particularly dangerous.

Fireplace Inserts: Extra Credit

Once your fireplace and chimney have been thoroughly inspected and cleaned, you may be looking for ways to enjoy the ambience of a crackling fire. A fireplace insert is a fuel-efficient, heat-efficient method of doing just that. The closed combustion system of a fireplace insert can be 60% to 80% heat efficient, contrasting with traditional or older fireplaces that only convert 5% to 20% of fuel into usable heat. You can enjoy watching the flames through the glass doors of the fireplace insert while needing less firewood to keep them stoked.

Schedule a Home Inspection Chimney Now

Our services at The Irish Sweep can help you safely maintain and enjoy your wood-burning fireplace and chimney for years to come. To schedule an appointment with an expert, call us at (510)521-4088, or use this simple contact form by clicking here.

Wood Burning Fireplace Tips for Summer Maintenance

A wood burning chimney is a cozy addition to any home. Perfect for warming up or just roasting marshmallows, wood-burning fireplaces are designed to retain heat in your home. Remember: proper safety measures are necessary to prevent chimney fires, structural fragility, carbon monoxide intrusion, and poor indoor air quality. Regularly scheduled maintenance and cleaning keeps a wood burning chimney safe, functional, and beautiful.

Your fireplace may not be getting much use during the hottest months of summer, which is exactly why it’s an ideal time to schedule fireplace maintenance and cleaning.

Here’s how to maintain your wood burning chimney this summer:

Cover the fireplace. Fireplace covers can keep a fireplace safe during the summer. When the weather is hot and humid, a low pressure system sucks warm air down your chimney. This can draw trapped, stagnant air back into your living space along with unpleasant smoky odors. It’s a commonly experienced phenomenon known as the reversal of the stack effect. The stack effect is when warm air is at a higher pressure than the cool air outside, which makes it want to rise and escape the house through the chimney and other openings. To maintain the pressure balance, low-pressure cool air from downstairs areas or the lowest floor rush up to replace the rising air, creating an upwards current of air.

In hot weather, the stack phenomenon reverses, causing warm air to flow downward through the chimney and into the home. Several measures can counteract this issue, including closing the fireplace damper during summer, using a glass door fireplace enclosure or cover, and removing debris from the chimney cap if applicable.

2. Get your chimney checked. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommends having chimneys inspected annually by a qualified professional chimney service technician. Annual checks reduce the risk of carbon monoxide buildup and chimney fires. Additionally, having chimneys cleaned annually is recommended to reduce creosote buildup and obstructions in chimneys (these pose several health and safety risks).

After a winter of lovely wood fires, with a long hot summer ahead, it’s the perfect time for a cleaning and inspection of fireplace.

3. Choose the right fuel. Best wood-burning practices are especially important during fire season. Mandatory no-burn days begin on November 1st of any given year and end on the last day of February the following year. All other no-burn days are not mandatory. Choose well-seasoned wood (wood that has been split and properly stored for at least six months so it has a low moisture content). Though softwood is usually the cheapest option, hardwood will give a hotter and longer burn. Choosing the right wood also reduces your chimney’s exposure to harmful acids, moisture, and chemicals from green or treated wood.

Schedule a Chimney Inspection Now

Our services at The Irish Sweep can help you maintain and enjoy your wood burning chimney for years to come. To schedule an appointment with an expert, call us at (510)521-4088, or use this simple contact form by clicking here.

How to Tell When You Need Fireplace Crack Repair

The fireplace is the centerpiece of your home. It should be a comforting and familiar focal point. But if you’ve skipped maintenance on your fireplace for a few years, then you might have begun to wonder if it’s really necessary.

Many homeowners just aren’t familiar with the signs of fireplace damage, so it’s all too easy to let it deteriorate. Investing in fireplace masonry repair early, however, can keep your fireplace looking and working its best for years to come. So if you’re wondering how to spot whether fireplace repairs are needed, here are the three most obvious signs that you need to repair your fireplace.

1. Cracks in the Mortar Joints

A definite sign that you need a fireplace masonry repair is that the mortar joints are beginning to crack. The stones or bricks used in the masonry will absorb moisture over time. This can eventually lead to crumbling and cracking if it’s not repaired. Once you start to see these cracks appearing, it’s time to think about calling a professional. A simple fireplace masonry repair doesn’t take long, and your home will look a lot nicer once the cracks are dealt with.

2. A Damaged Chimney

The moisture that damages the brick around your fireplace may come from rain. Your chimney exists to protect your fireplace masonry from this rainfall, but if it becomes damaged, then it won’t do its job. In particular, take a look at the chimney crown. This is a piece of concrete that shields the fireplace below. If this is cracked, then rain can easily get through. In this instance, a masonry fireplace repair is almost certainly required.

3. Chimney Fires

Has your chimney caught fire recently? Obviously, this shouldn’t happen. The flames are supposed to be contained within the fireplace, with only smoke going up the chimney. If combustion happens within the chimney itself, then it’s likely that there’s a buildup of flammable creosote, or that the fireplace isn’t working correctly. Something may be damaged, so you should have it looked into as soon as possible.

Fireplace Crack Repair

Don’t let your fireplace become damaged beyond repair. Schedule yearly maintenance with us at The Irish Sweep, and learn to spot minor issues before they become expensive repairs. This will keep your fireplace looking and performing at its best. Contact us at (510) 521-4088.

Fireplace Inserts and Maintenance Tips During the Shelter-in-Place

There’s nothing cozier than a wood-burning fireplace for warmth. But fireplace maintenance is vital to the health and safety of your home. In fact, improper upkeep is a common reason for house fires. Fireplace inserts are one solution to help safeguard your home, but here’s a look at some other steps you can take.

Sweep the Interior

Sweeping out your fireplace on a regular basis will make it look tidier, as well as cause it to work more efficiently. We suggest wearing a dust mask to avoid inhaling particles from ash and creosote. Sweeping out this buildup also helps to prevent it from catching on fire.

Watch For Smoke

A well-maintained fireplace shouldn’t fill your home with smoke. This is an important warning sign to pay attention to. It’s possible you could simply be burning the wrong wood. But it’s also very likely there’s a layer of soot or flammable creosote in your chimney that isn’t allowing it to properly vent smoke.

Burning the Right Wood

There are as many different kinds of wood as there are trees, but maybe you’ve never considered what you’re putting in your fireplace before. Hardwoods, such as ash and oak, are the best options because they’re denser and give off more heat. Avoid burning unseasoned “green” wood. Ideally, wood needs to be split and dried for 6-12 months in a covered area before use. Green wood just won’t burn as well, and it creates more creosote on your chimney walls.

Fireplace Inserts and Maintenance

Fireplace inserts can be installed with heat-proof glass to contain any burning materials, like stray embers. Most of them have a blower that circulates heat into the room. Fireplace inserts protect your home, while making your fireplace more efficient.

Scheduling With Us

Aside from DIY sweepings, it’s a good idea to have your fireplace and chimney professionally cleaned and inspected at least once a year. It’s less work to maintain your home than to let creosote buildup. Plus, it’s nice to know your fireplace is ready on cold nights. To schedule a chimney cleaning with us, or learn more about fireplace inserts, call (510) 521-4088.

Benefits Of Ceramic Coating In A Fireplace

Benefits of ceramic coating

If you have a fireplace, then you may already know about ceramic coating. But it’s not a paint, like you might imagine. Rather, think of it as an environmentally-friendly, protective skin that improves safety. Read on to learn more about some of the benefits of ceramic coating to your fireplace.

What Is Heatshield?

HeatShield technology is a hybrid ceramic/refractory coating that was developed in Europe. Independent testing has proven that it withstands moisture, harsh flue gases, and extreme temperatures.

Eco-Friendly

Eco-friendly products have gained in popularity, both for the environment and our own health. There’s no reason innovation can’t be green. Manufactured from recycled and natural materials, HeatShield is more economical than rebuilding your chimney. HeatShield ensures using your fireplace is safer, as well as more efficient.

Heat Resistance

The heat resistant qualities of ceramic coatings are well-known. HeatShield handles temperatures in excess of 2900 degrees Fahrenheit. Ceramic coatings also offer oxidization protection and chemical resistance, plus a firm finish. In fact, high-temperature ceramic coatings work in automotive parts, as well as heavy manufacturing equipment.

Expert Chimney Repair

All of our independent HeatShield installers are certified and factory-trained. Whether your chimney needs a complete resurfacing, or a quick fix, our professionals have the tools and industry experience to get the job done right. They even use special video cameras to verify completed repairs.

Our 20-Year Warranty

You don’t need to install a new chimney liner. Adding a ceramic coating is a quick and affordable way to update your fireplace. Our highly skilled experts use professional products to ensure the best results for our clients. We hope you found this article helpful, and we’re happy to answer any further questions you may have. Ask our HeatShield professionals about our 20-year warranty.

To learn more about the many benefits of ceramic coating, feel free to contact The Irish Sweep!