When Is The Best Time To Have Your Chimney Inspected and Cleaned
As a homeowner, you have to ensure the safety of your house. Did you know that failure to do regular chimney cleaning Purcellville VA can make your chimney a fire hazard? This type of fire emergency affects over 25,000 properties every year, and you might not want to be included in this statistic.
To do so, experts recommend having your chimney inspected and cleaned at least once a year. But the question is, when is the best time to schedule this one?
The Perks of Cleaning Your Chimney in Spring or Summer
Chimney sweeps — or those that take care of removing those soot and creosote in your chimney — are in fact available all year round. By intuition, people make the mistake of hiring these experts just before the fall season when the use of fireplaces will begin. However, chimney sweeps recommend that it’s best to get professional help from them during the spring or summer. Here are four reasons why:
Availability of chimney sweeps. Companies that offer chimney cleaning Purcellville VA attest that they get the most number of calls before the start of the burning season. Don’t try to join this bandwagon; hire them early on to make sure they are available.
Quick turnaround time. Given that chimney sweeps don’t cater to many clients during spring or summer, it is expected that they deliver their services with quick turnaround time.
Ample amount of time to clean and repair damages. The winter season leaves some nasty damage to your chimney, e.g. Melted snow that has dripped down into the chimney freezing again once the temperature drops can shatter masonry. Damages like this can be inspected and addressed more properly if the sweeps have enough time to do so.
Minimal use of chimney. Chimneys only get dirty when they are used. During spring or summer, there is minimal to zero use of chimney. This makes it easier for you to maintain the condition of your chimney after chimney sweeps finishes cleaning it.
Warning Signs to Watch Out For
According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), any chimney and flue system with a soot build-up that’s ⅛-inch thick is a candidate for a chimney cleaning Purcellville VA. However, even if the soot build-up is not yet ⅛-inch thick, chimneys should already be cleaned if there is any glaze appearing in the flue.
If you are a heavy fireplace user or if you use green or otherwise unseasoned firewood, you must also be mindful about cleaning your chimney promptly. This is also the case when you have burnt a lot of artificial logs.
Another tell-tale sign that your chimney needs cleaning is when the creosote build-up inside your chimney already appears like a honeycomb. You should also be alarmed when creosote and soot are already falling into your firebox when you burn wood.
In any case, your chimney remains unclean, it can be too costly on your end. Repairs will be far more too expensive, and worse, it can be the very source of fire that can damage a huge part of your property.
At JCS Home Services, we always have a passion for excellence. We always aim to exceed the expectations of our clients even for simple jobs such as chimney chimney cleaning Purcellville VA. Contact us today!