|
Fireplace Cleaning Services
Always Be Safe - Get a Regular, Professional Fireplace Cleaning
Chimney Cricket will perform the following steps in
cleaning your fireplace:
-
Clean the chimney flue
from top to bottom.
-
Clean the smoke shelf,
damper, and firebox.
-
Perform a 21 point
safety inspection – inside the chimney and
out. This inspection will allow our chimney
sweeps to make recommendations in order to
satisfy code, ensure the safety of you and
your family, and prevent extensive and
expensive damages to your chimney and home.
-
Deodorize the chimney.
Note: If you have glass doors, we have a
special process to make them look new.
-
Lay a protective
covering around the hearth area.
|
Schedule an Appointment for Fireplace Cleaning with Chimney Cricket
The Chimney Safety Institute recommends that homeowners who
light fires in their fireplaces three or more times a week
during the heating season should have a chimney, fireplace
cleaning and inspection once a year.
Beyond the safety issue, neglect of fireplace cleaning leads
to very expensive major repairs that would not be necessary
if the chimney and fireplace were properly maintained.
The three most serious problems that result from poorly
maintenance are:
One of the reasons carbon monoxide is so deadly is that you
generally can't see or smell it: rarely do its victims have
any warning. Low levels of poisoning tend to cause flu-like
symptoms, so that people think they are just catching a
cold. More advanced poisoning can cause vomiting and
headaches and even death. Carbon monoxide is deadly because
it tricks the body into thinking it is oxygen. The body
actually prefers carbon monoxide, choosing it over oxygen
when both are present in the atmosphere.
Once in the body, carbon monoxide goes everywhere in the
body, including the brain. Children, in particular, are
quite susceptible to brain damage after relatively low
levels of exposure. With chimneys, fireplaces and furnaces,
most carbon monoxide problems occur because of improper
exhausting of fumes.
As fires burn, they generate smoke. As the smoke rises up
the chimney, it comes into contact with the relatively
cooler interior of the chimney (the flue), where some of the
smoke condenses, like steam on a glass of cold water. The
resulting condensed smoke is called creosote. Creosote is a
black or brown gummy substance that builds up on the flue.
Once a sufficient amount of creosote builds up, it can catch
fire. The resulting chimney fire can range from being barely
noticeable to being very dramatic. Creosote can also
constrict the chimney's area, making it more difficult for
the air flow to set up properly. Even half an inch of
buildup can restrict the air flow by 15 to 30%, depending on
the size of the chimney. A Chimney Cricket professional
chimney sweep can fix this problem and can also install a
chimney cap to prevent birds from nesting in the top further
restricting exhaust fumes.
As mentioned, resulting from poorly maintained chimneys is
failure of the basic structure itself. Chimney fires can
damage the mortar joints and cause cracks that crumble
further with continued "small" chimney fires.
Even before the second chimney fire has the opportunity to
penetrate the cracks caused by the first, carbon monoxide
can escape the chimney and leak into the living quarters of
the home with unnoticeable, damaging consequences.
Also, a chimney that is too short can keep a fireplace from
functioning properly. A too small flue can restrict the air
flow even when fully open. A too tight home can also dampen
the air flow, leading to sluggish, smoky fires. A Chimney
Cricket sweep will examine your fireplace system for these
and other design problems and see what can be done to
properly fix or clean your fireplace.
Chimney Cricket - residential brick fireplace cleaning, sweeping services since 1990.
Servicing
Michigan (MI), Ohio (OH), and Florida (FL) Including these
Metro Areas and Cities:
Metro Detroit, Troy, Southfield, Pontiac, Sterling Heights,
Warren, Grosse Pointe, Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Hills,
Royal Oak, Plymouth, Novi, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo,
Battle Creek, Muskegon, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Lorain,
Toledo, Bowling Green, Akron, Youngstown, Sarasota, Tampa,
St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Venice, Bradenton, Punta Gorda,
Port Charlotte
|
