How To Maintain A Fireplace

The cooler temperatures of winter and fall are on the way, and for many, this is the time that they start thinking about using their fireplace. While a fire can be nice, you need to make sure that your fireplace and chimney are ready for use. A failure to properly prepare and maintain the fireplace can cause damage and it can expose the home to an increased risk of fire.

Fireplace Maintenance Tips

• One of the first things that you want to do is clean out the fireplace. Make sure the interior is clean, inspect and clean the door, and if your fireplace is gas, check the lines and the pilot light. As a further point, you want to make sure that the smoke and CO2 detectors in your home are working.
• Many people prefer wood-burning fires, but these do require a little more work. Cleaning the interior will probably be a little more intensive, and you have to make sure to maintain the chimney. Every year, you want to check your chimney for damage and have it cleaned.
• For some homeowners, it might be possible to inspect the chimney on their own, but you can also hire a professional inspector.
• As an additional point, you will probably need to hire a professional to clean the chimney, and they will be able to inspect it for damage when they work on cleaning it.
• If you are burning wood on a regular basis, you may need to consider getting it cleaned a second time. When you burn wood regularly, creosote can build up quickly. If the chimney is poorly maintained, it could expose the home to the risk of fire.
• If you are burning wood, you could reduce the creosote build-up by ensuring that you do not overload the fireplace. A large fire will produce more smoke and this will increase the level of creosote buildup in the chimney.
• Another point is to burn seasoned hardwoods. Softer woods produce more creosote when they burn, so it is always better to go with something like oak instead of pine.

If you want to ensure that your fireplace is ready for use this year, call the team from Boston Brick & Stone, Inc. With our experience at not just inspecting and cleaning chimneys, but also building and restoring, we have an expertise that few other services can match. Schedule a full inspection and cleaning from Boston Brick & Stone, Inc. today.