Chimney Cleaning Plano, TX
Chimney Cleaning Plano, TX
Across the country, a lot of homeowners depend on the heat from their fireplaces, wooden stoves, and other fossil fuel heating appliances to keep their loved ones warm and safe during the cold winter months.
Nevertheless, every year, thousands of homeowners experience billions of dollars in injuries and property damages from failing to recognize the importance of getting their chimney cleaning done.
Research shows that there are more than 70,000 residential fires annually, which causes over 2500 injuries and more than $1.3 billion in property damage. According to the NFPA, chimney fires result in approximately 30% of these house fires.
If you own a fireplace, then regular maintenance and cleaning should be one of your top priorities. A good fire can be helpful since it is an excellent way to heat the room without much effort, but if you have a poorly maintained chimney, this practice can pose a significant fire hazard.
Hiring a professional chimney cleaning service from Elegant Fireside And Patio at least once a year is a significant step towards protecting your most valuable investment, your home, and ensuring that your fireplace and chimney are safe to use.
How often should you get your chimney cleaned?
The National Fire Protection Agency recommends that you get your chimney cleaned and inspected at least once every year. This applies to all homeowners who regularly use their chimney and even those who only use it a few times during a year.
Even if you do not use your chimney regularly, you still have chances of having a blockage, or an animal could have tried nesting inside your chimney. The annual inspection and cleaning will ensure that your chimney is safe, clean, and ready to use while ensuring that all the components are in ideal working condition.
Hazards of not cleaning your chimney
Fire hazard
The most significant risk that you will be prevented by cleaning your chimney professionally at least once a year is a potential chimney fire. Whenever you burn wood, creosote starts to build upon the inside of your chimney.
Since this substance is flammable, it can pose a risk for fire when enough of it has built up inside your chimney. These fires tend to burn at an extremely high temperature, quickly spreading throughout your house within minutes. Nevertheless, professional annual cleaning of your chimney can help you prevent this from happening.
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Another issue that can come up as a result of insufficient cleaning and maintenance of your chimney is carbon monoxide poisoning.
This is a hazardous condition since carbon monoxide is an odorless gas and its symptoms tend to mimic many other common elements. If your chimney is poorly maintained or completely blocked, the carbon monoxide can seep inside your home.
Each year there are thousands of deaths resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning, and a poorly maintained chimney is one of the many ways that this can happen. You must note that this can be a risk regardless of you using your chimney frequently or not.
Animals
When your chimney remains inactive for an extended time, it can become a nesting place for various animals. These nests can block any gas from escaping, which can cause dangerous fumes to back up inside your house. Additionally, multiple chimney components and the structure of your chimney itself may require repairs over time.
A chimney plays a crucial role in providing the required ventilation for your fireplace, and when it’s not working ideally, it can become a hazard for you and everybody else who lives in your house.
Smoke damage
Even though this is less of a hazard to your loved ones’ health and safety, another potential problem is damage from smoke. If your chimney is blocked, the smoke will not be able to flow out of your house easily as it should.
This may result in some of the smoke coming out through your fireplace. If not attended on time, this can also lead to soot build-up around the hearth while leaving deposits on your home’s furniture and walls.
Besides additional safety, a professional inspection and cleaning of your chimney can protect the overall value of your property as well.
Much more efficient heating
Your fireplace’s efficiency will decrease if there is a lot of creosote deposit in your chimney. The circulation of additional cooler air ends up reducing the energy efficiency of your fireplace and will require you to burn more wood and other types of fossil fuels to stay warm.
Your chimney is a critical ventilation system that allows all the smoke, dangerous fumes, and various other toxins to escape your home. A clean and maintained chimney means a safer and much more efficient fireplace and home heating appliance.
Benefits of annual chimney cleaning
When we talk about cleaning a chimney, the rule says that you should get it done at least once a year, but some homeowners like to believe that they need to clean their chimney twice each year.
Depending on the chimney’s usage, your burning practices, the type of wood you choose to burn, creosote can build up at numerous rates. The overall build-up is going to determine how often you should get your chimney cleaned.
You can count on Elegant Fireside And Patio.
Elegant Fireside And Patio is a company that repairs, builds, and restores chimneys and provides all businesses and homeowners with professional cleaning and inspection services in the Plano, Texas, area.
Whenever you hire a professional from us to get your chimney inspection and cleaning done, we assure you that you will get a professional service that works to the industry’s highest standards. Give us a call at 972-846-4878 or contact us online to book an appointment today.
