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Chimney Cleaning
Why
Clean Your Chimney?
13,967
Chimney fires during 2004 could have been prevented by a simple
chimney sweep!
Chimney
cleaning is needed to remove creosote deposits and other debris
from chimneys and
vents. Creosote buildup in chimneys can lead to chimney fires
or flue blockages. During a  chimney
fire temperatures inside the chimney often exceed 2000 degrees
and this can destroy your chimney and may set the house on fire.
In the event of a flue blockage, which may be caused by creosote
or other debris such as animal nesting, dangerous fumes can
be forced into your home. Chimney cleaning is a vital service
to protect the health and safety of your family and home. All
chimneys, including the chimney for your furnace, should be
inspected annually with cleaning performed as needed.
Chimney Caps:
"A CHIMNEY WITHOUT A CAP IS LIKE A HOUSE WITHOUT A ROOF"
Imagine an 8" x 8" hole in your roof. How much water
do you think would come into your home through this hole during
a normal spring thunderstorm? This 8" x 8" hole is
the smallest size flue available for a chimney. Most chimney
flues are much larger then that. So where does the forming water
go? It pours down the chimney and saturates the interior walls
mixing with the soot/creosote an acid that deteriorates the
interior walls of the chimney. These surfaces remain wet for
days and will erode the mortar joints, flue liners, brick, and
surrounding area. In cold weather the moisture freezes, expands
and causes the masonry to crack and deteriorate.
All Chimneys
are in need of caps!
-To keep out rain, snow, sleet, etc.
-To keep out birds and animals and debris such as leaves, twigs,
etc. which could cause a blockage in the flue.
-To keep sparks from flying out and landing on nearby roofs,
trees, etc. which could ignite and start a fire.
-To help eliminate downdrafts caused by wind.
Contact
Alliance Property Services to clean your chimney today!
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Prevent
Fires
When
you burn a fire in your fireplace or woodstove, smoke
is created. Smoke actually contains droplets of unburned
carbon material from your firewood, and some of these
droplets condense on the inner walls of the flue, forming
creosote.
These
deposits can easily ignite - a slightly hotter fire than
normal or newspapers flaming up to the damper could be
enough to start a fire.
Once
kindled, creosote burns with an intense fire at temperatures
above 2000°F. Creosote burning inside a chimney is
known as a "flue fire" or "chimney fire."
Professional
chimney sweeps remove these creosote deposits from the
chimney, opening the passageway for smoke and reducing
the potential for an uncontrolled flue fire.
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Save
Energy
keeping
your heating system clean helps it operate more efficiently,
and helps you get the most for your energy dollars. "Creosote
can act as a thermal insulator," according to Jay
Sheltong (Solid Fuels Encyclopedia). "Deposits inside
a stove, connector, or interior exposed chimney can reduce
heat transfer, which lower the overall efficiency of the
system.
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Save
Lives
Every
winter, we hear or read about needless tragedies occurring
when people are poisoned by carbon monoxide due to blocked
or faulty flues.
Not
reported, are the countless times when such tragedies
are prevented by timely inspection and cleaning and/or
repair. Your chimney professional can probably tell you,
with justifiable satisfaction, of instances where he or
she has saved a family form disaster by getting called
just in time.
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