Spring Maintenance Checklist for Your Chimney
Spring Maintenance Checklist for Your Chimney
As temperatures start to warm up outside and you use your fireplace less often, it’s a good time to take care of a few chimney and fireplace maintenance tasks.
Chimney Sweeps Inc. of Lakeside, CA, would like to cover the key maintenance objectives: some you can do yourself, and others will require professional assistance.
Why spring for chimney work?
You can do chimney maintenance at any time of year, but spring is ideal for several reasons.
- Should a chimney inspection turn up problems, you’ll have plenty of time to schedule repairs before the next busy burning season.
- Chimney crews are often maxed out in late fall and early winter. It’s easier to schedule service in the spring.
- Built-up creosote will be easier to remove in the spring than if you wait until just before winter to schedule chimney sweeping.
- Spring chimney maintenance gets everything out of the way before the hectic summer starts.
Spring maintenance tasks for your chimney
Here are tasks you can do on your own.
Clean out the firebox
This means removing charred wood chunks and vacuuming out ash. Then use a household cleaner to scrub the interior firebox surfaces and remove any standing creosote and soot. A clean firebox will let you see any damage that needs to be taken care of.
Visually inspect your chimney
If you’re comfortable getting on a ladder and on your roof, go up there and take a good look at the chimney.
- Do you see cracked bricks?
- Is mortar crumbling between the bricks?
- Is the chimney cap secure, and is its mesh free of debris?
- Are there cracks in the concrete chimney crown?
- Are there white stains on the bricks? This means that water is penetrating the bricks and could be weakening them.
- Is the chimney leaning to one side?
Report these and other irregularities to your chimney service company.
Look for signs of a chimney leak
Common signs of a leaky chimney include:
- A musty odor in the attic
- Damp sections of the ceiling and interior walls near the chimney and fireplace
- More than the usual odors drifting out of the chimney through the fireplace
- A rusty fireplace damper that won’t open and close properly
As with structural issues, report suspicions of a chimney leak to your chimney company.
Professional chimney maintenance
Two of the most critical spring chimney maintenance tasks are chimney sweeping and a chimney inspection.
Chimney sweeping
This is the age-old art whereby special tools are used to remove built-up creosote from your chimney flue. Creosote is highly flammable and causes most reported chimney fires in Lakeside, CA, and across all of San Diego County, CA, each year. Chimney sweeping isn’t a job that most homeowners can do themselves.
Chimney inspection
A top-to-bottom chimney inspection will examine all readily accessible areas and components of your chimney system. This task should be done once a year to spot early signs of damage before they become serious. Only a trained chimney technician is qualified to perform basic and advanced chimney inspections.
Help for your chimney this spring
Chimney Sweeps Inc. is here to help with your spring chimney maintenance activities with certified chimney sweeping, licensed inspections, and all types of repair work. Schedule an appointment or learn more by calling or using our contact form.
