Our Company Blog

Keep a Clean Chimney for Santa

Your fireplace may be the most popular aspect of your home this season. The adults can relax by the fire after the kids go to bed, use it as a backdrop for countless festivities and photographs, and even save on utility costs by lighting a fire for zone heating. The real moment for the fireplace to shine is Christmas morning, though. Stocking stuffers, gift exchanges, and family photos are just the beginning. The Jolly Elf himself makes his entrance by way of the fireplace! If you have a fireplace, you are one step ahead of everyone else, but it’s more important than ever to make the experience great for everyone (including Santa Clause), by keeping the chimney clean.

Routine Maintenance

You might have your dream fireplace, but the best way for it to work like a dream is to keep it well-maintained. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) both recommend regular chimney sweeps and annual chimney inspections to keep your chimney system working safely and efficiently. Keeping up with this maintenance will make your chimney system work well year after year. The damaged, broken, and forgotten chimney is one that has been neglected. Make sure your fireplace is in tip-top shape for Christmas and all year-round by scheduling your chimney sweep now. Chief Chimney Services offers chimney sweeps and inspections year-round, to best serve our customers in Suffolk County area.

Why Clean Your Chimney

A clean chimney is a chimney that works well. When you schedule a chimney sweep with Chief Chimney Services, a certified technician will come into your home, and clean your chimney from top to bottom, removing all creosote, ash, and soot from the fireplace and flue.
While we’re there, we’ll also:

• Check the flue for cracks or obstructions that can affect airflow and cause a drop in efficiency
• Check the cap and crown for damage that can cause water damage and allow animals into the flue
• Check that the damper is functioning properly so that drafts don’t affect your chimney, waste your central heat, or cause smoke to push into your house
• Check the masonry for water damage, cracks, or gaps that can cause a drop in efficiency, raise the risk of fire, and put your family at risk for carbon monoxide intrusion
• Check the firebox for damage

Besides checking traditional wood-burning masonry fireplaces and appliances, we also specialize in gas and oil-burning appliances.

Contact Us

It’s not that Santa needs the cleanest chimneys possible. It’s that he, like Chief Chimney Services, wants every boy and girl and family to be safe and warm this holiday season. When you hire a professional to clean your chimney system, you will be your safest. You will have less issues with your fireplace, and you will need less services in general. Give yourself a Christmas gift this year, and hire Chief Chimney Services to clean your chimney.

Call 631-863-2460 or schedule online.

Let’s Keep That Chimney Clear!

Make sure your chimney flue looks like this. There should be no blockages of any sort.

For your chimney to function at its highest levels of efficiency and performance — sending heat and byproducts up and into the outside air — there needs to be a clean, unobstructed and uncompromised flue. Cracks and gaps will harm your draft, keeping the air from flowing the way it should. And blockages will, as that word implies, block the air from flowing, partially or completely, trapping heat and dangerous byproducts, and likely sending smoke and harmful gases billowing into your home.

A blocked flue is dangerous on several fronts — it can adversely affect the air inside your home, even lead to chimney fires. If you see smoke in your living area, notice a musty or smoky smell around your fireplace or find that dark stains are showing up around your appliance or chimney, you may have some flue blockage. It might be that you’re just overdue for a chimney sweeping appointment, or there might be other issues at work.

If you notice a problem, give Chief Chimney Services a call — our experienced technicians can find, remove and repair any issues related to chimney blockage. In the meantime, here are a few common contributors to a blocked chimney:

Creosote

When you use your wood-burning fireplace or stove, creosote is a natural result — it’s a deposit that builds up over time, as particulates and hot gases rise in your flue, hit the cooler flue walls and condense. Chimney professionals recommend regular chimney sweeping appointments because creosote deposits lead to a number of different problems and worries. If deposits are thick enough, they can block your flue, impeding the draft and letting toxic carbon monoxide get into the air you’re breathing. Since creosote is highly flammable, heavy creosote deposits can also become a serious fire hazard. And if creosote develops into third stage “glazed creosote” (often due to repeatedly burning wood with a higher moisture content), you’ll end up with higher chances of a chimney fire and a really difficult removal process.

Following proper burning practices (keeping your flue wide open during fires, using only seasoned cordwood, having your chimney regularly swept) can minimize creosote, and keep your chimney air flowing freely.

Animal And Plant Debris

If your flue isn’t topped with a chimney cap, you have a couple of big worries: things falling into your flue, and things climbing into your flue. An open flue makes it easier for branches, leaves and twigs to fall into your chimney, creating piles of highly flammable debris that impacts your draft and can become a fire hazard. But haphazard debris definitely isn’t your biggest issue — animals are drawn to the warm, confined safety of a chimney, so without a cap, you’re inviting anything from birds to squirrels and raccoons to move right in. Those new roommates bring in debris and create nests that can block your flue. They also tow in sounds, smells and bugs that you don’t want in your chimney, either. The best way to avoid all that: Make sure you have a correctly sized, correctly installed chimney cap on your system.

Broken Flue Tile Or Masonry Pieces

Many older chimneys were built and installed with terra cotta clay tile flue liners. And while those liners can hold up well with diligent maintenance, it’s not uncommon for tiles to crack or break, and for pieces to then fall into the flue. That leaves your chimney less protected, less efficient and potentially blocked up, too. Pieces of brick and mortar can crack and fall into the flue, too, bringing similar issues.

If damaged masonry pieces are blocking your flue, Chief Chimney can make the necessary repairs to clear out the flue and make the chimney whole again.

Regardless of what’s doing the blocking, a blocked flue makes for a much less efficient, much less effective and much less safe chimney. If you have any questions about blockages — or want to have our experienced technicians take a look at your system — just give Chief Chimney Services a call. We’re always here to help!