Wait! The Chimney Professionals Can Help!
If you own a home with a fireplace or wood burning fireplace, you may have heard of a 14 point fireplace inspection. Have you gone into a friend’s home and smelled something musty or smoky? Maybe you have observed some loose bricks or a chalky white substance on the exterior of the chimney? This can be very common.
What’s worse, have you even caught a little critter crawling out of the top of a chimney? Did you know that these problems are caused by poor chimney maintenance? These issues can be prevented or resolved with a 14 point fireplace inspection. A 14 point fireplace inspection is when a chimney professional checks the maintenance of your chimney and reports/documents the current condition. Any chimney needs regular maintenance, even if it’s not in use. We know it’s probably tempting to grab your fireplace tools and start cleaning, but wait! Call a Superior Chimney professional first. Here’s why.
Just a Quick Fix?
After a brief read on the internet about how expensive repairs can get, it might send you rushing to clean before the winter hits. For example, once the winter hits, ice and snow will form, freezing and thawing the exterior of your chimney. Any existing water damage will get worse. Of course, then you will use your chimney to warm your home. This will also cause damage to the flue from usage expansion and contraction. Mortar falls off, bricks collapse, and suddenly you’re left with severe chimney issues! A bit of repair done by hand of an inexperienced person cannot really fix your chimney. It may damage it even further. But, the 14 point fireplace inspection can help a professional identify what’s wrong and how to start repairs.
How The Inspection Works
Firstly, we check the exterior of your chimney. These are some examples of what we check for:
- Is the chimney tall enough?
- Is the rain cap/spark arrestor proper and still doing its job?
- Is the flashing sealed well?
- Is water getting in anywhere?
- Are there animals living in the chimney?
Then, we will check the interior and firebox. This is where the gas fireplace or wood burning fireplace is. Here are some more examples:
- Is the damper opening enough and closing efficiently?
- Is the log lighter sufficiently priming the system before use?
- Is the firebox maintaining fire worthy condition?
- Is it due for a sweep?
- Is the smoke chamber free & allowing unrestricted exhaust flow?
After each inspection, there will be photos of any issues needing attention. There is so much more that goes into the inspection. We only reported a couple of points.
14 Point Fireplace Inspection: Call Us Today!
It’s fall and now is really the time to start your 14 point fireplace inspection. If there’s some structural damage that went unnoticed during last year, then you want to save some time for repairs. The Chicagoland cold will be kicking in within a month or so. In the winter, it’s harder for us to repair chimneys because of the cold.
So, wait! Leave the cleaning and maintenance to the Superior Chimney Professionals. Get a head start on your chimney repairs by calling us at 877-244-6349 and ask for a 14 point fireplace inspection today.
This post first appeared on https://www.superiorchimney.net
