All about chimney cleaning

The chimney walls in a fireplace used for wood burning leads to accumulation of soot and debris which must be cleaned away. Tar and creosote build-up are flammable and leads to fire hazard. Chimney cleaning logs claim offer a cleaning alternative for the fireplace and chimney by hand which seems to be laborious task. The logs help to decrease and loosen the creosote build-up but it’s not as effective as a professional chimney sweeping helps.

Chimney-Cleaning Log Claims

A chimney cleaning log proves helpful when you burn it in fireplace. Burning a wood fire leads to softening of the tar build up in the chimney and makes chimney cleaning more effective. This leads to release of chemicals that adhere to chimney walls, loosens the tar and reduce the chances of fire.

When to clean Chimney?

Although, there is no rule on how frequent to clean a chimney. No one can make a schedule depending on the years of service or number of fires you had in the fireplace. Chimney inspection plays an important role to determine if a cleaning is required.

How to Inspect Chimney

While doing a chimney inspection, use your fireplace poker or other device to scrap away the creosote from the fireplace lining. If the creosote buildup is very thin then it rules out the requirement of cleaning. If the buildup is 1/8 of an inch then schedule a cleaning. A buildup of more than 1/8 to ¼ inch requires immediate cleaning. If it’s more than ¼ inch then make sure not to use the fireplace till it has been cleaned properly.

Source of Creosote

Creosote is nothing but the leftover of wood burned in the fireplace. Different types of wood leave variety of creosote buildup and piling up leads to increase in creosote and it should not be used in your fireplace.

Importance of Chimney Cleaning

The presence of creosote in the chimney leads to inefficiency. The rise in the level of creosote buildup increases the chances of flue fire. It can be very dangerous and can be avoided by keeping your chimney clean and chimney relining.
Although there are various types of do-it yourself cleaning instruments and home cleaning kits to clean the chimney but make sure to follow the directions given. It is better to initiate the cleaning process after the fireplace and chimney are completely cool and hire a chimney contractor for efficient cleaning.

This post first appeared on https://www.firstclasschimneyservices.com