Chimney Care Company's Blog
We offer chimney and fireplace installation, maintenance and repairs
Summer is the perfect time for home-improvement projects, and this includes projects for your fireplaces and chimneys too! Whether you’re restoring or enhancing your home with a new fireplace or heating stove, or you are in need of routine maintenance or repairs for your fireplace or chimney, the professionals at Chimney Care Co. can help. We offer chimney and fireplace installation, maintenance and repairs!
Fireplace Installation
Is your fireplace outdated, unsightly, inefficient or the wrong fuel type for your lifestyle? Are you looking to enhance your home with the addition of a new fireplace or heating stove? Our professionals can help you choose the right fireplace, fireplace insert or heating stove for your home. Our certified chimney technicians can install the fireplace, insert or heating stove for you.
Fireplace maintenance
When was the last time your fireplace and chimney was serviced by a certified chimney technician? All heating appliances should be cleaned and inspected at least once a year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Whether the purpose of your fireplace is to heat your home, or you enjoy the ambiance of your gas fireplace, wood-burning fireplace, pellet stove or any other type of heating stove. Our professionals can provide you with comprehensive maintenance your hearth appliance needs. Our certified technicians will come in and clean your entire hearth system. They will also inspect it to ensure that it’s safe and ready to use when temperatures drop.
Fireplace and chimney repair
Your fireplaces and chimneys will inevitably require repairs at some point. Whether it’s your heating stove or your fireplace insert needing a new part, the bricks are mortar joints of your chimney needing some masonry repair work. You must fix these problems before they worsen to cause harm to your family and home.
When your fireplace or chimney is in disrepair, it can cause lots of problems. Some problems are the following: burning excessive fuel, suffering leaks to the structure of your chimney and your home, or preventing heat and smoke from escaping out of your fireplace and home. No matter what kind of repair you need, the professionals at Chimney Care Co. can restore the integrity and safety of your hearth system.
Call us right now
If you are looking to upgrade your existing hearth appliance, install a new fireplace or heating stove, long overdue for your annual maintenance, or if your chimney or fireplace require repairs, call the our certified technicians to schedule your appointment today!
When was the last time you have your clothing dryer vents cleaned?
Keeping your clothing dryer vents cleaned is an incredibly important part of your home maintenance. Clean dryer vents help to prevent the dryer from overheating to cause a fire. A clean dryer vent also runs more efficiently while saving you time and money, as it takes less time for it to dry each load of laundry. When was the last time you had your dryer vents cleaned? How do you know it is time to get your clothing dryer vents cleaned?
The experts in the industry recommend getting your dryer vents cleaned at least once every year. However, if you do more laundry than the average household, your dryer vents might need to be cleaned more often. If you struggle with remembering the last time you had your dryer vents cleaned, then it is likely that it’s time to schedule a dryer vent cleaning. Here are some signs for a clogged dryer vent.
Signs of a dysfunctional Dryer Vent
- Longer dry times. One of the first signs that your dryer vents need a cleaning is longer than normal dry times when doing a single load of laundry. When your dryer vents are clogged, you’ll have to run additional dryer cycles for your clothes to dry completely. A single load of laundry shouldn’t take longer than 30 to 40 minutes to dry, and heavier loads of towels or linens shouldn’t take more than 50 minutes to dry.
- Lint buildup. Your dryer could be bogged down with an accumulation of lint. When dryer vents are clogged, you might see lint collecting around the lint trap, on the floor behind the dryer, or even outside around your dryer vent exhaust.
- An overheating dryer. When your dryer vents are clogged, your dryer can’t vent and cool itself as it should. As a result, the dryer will overheat while running. A dryer that’s hot to the touch, or if there is a heat build up in your laundry room when your dryer is running. These are both signs of clogged dryer vents. You might also notice that the clothes coming out of the dryer seem unusually hot.
- Strong smells in the laundry room. There are a variety of smells as a result of clogged dryer vents. While the dryer is running, you might smell a strong burning odor while the dryer overheats, or the smell of your dryer sheets seem unusually strong. If clothes sit damp in the dryer for a long time, your laundry or your laundry room might also take on a musty smell.
Call the Chimney Care Co. Professionals
Clogged dryer vents can put your home at risk of potential dangers such as a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. If it’s been awhile since you last serviced your dryer vents, or if you have noticed some signs that your dryer vents have become clogged, call the professionals at Chimney Care Co. to schedule your dryer vent cleaning today!
The benefits of pellet stoves
If you’re looking for a better way to heat your home — whether you’re looking to replace an existing fireplace or stove or looking to supplement your furnace with a more efficient heating option — you should consider a pellet stove. Pellet stoves burn dehydrated wood pellets, or sometimes other bio-fuels like corn or cherry pits. A lot of people choose a pellet stove because of its ease of use and because they are very environmentally friendly. Here are some other benefits of pellet stoves.
They provide convenient and consistent heat
Pellet stoves burn wood, so they have the warm glow and ambiance of a traditional wood-burning fireplace, but they’re easier to use. The wood pellets are often sold in 40-pound bags, which are simple to store and can be purchased as needed.
The pellets are placed in a hopper fitted with an automatic auger. The auger feeds additional pellets as needed. Depending on the size of the hopper, pellet stoves can usually burn up to 24 hours without being refueled or tended. Many stoves also come with automatic ignitions. Some stoves can be programmed to help control the heat output in your home.
They burn hotter than wood and are environmentally friendly
Because pellets are made from dehydrated wood particles, they burn hotter and are more efficiently than traditional firewood. Pellet stoves are highly efficient, with some models boasting efficiencies as high as 90 percent.
Pellet stoves are a favorite heating choice of environmentalists. Because they burn so hot, they release fewer pollutants than other heating sources. The wood pellets are often made from wood byproducts, which helps to reduce waste. Wood is also considered a “carbon neutral” fuel by environmentalists. They release equal amount of carbon into the atmosphere as when trees would die and decompose naturally.
They are super versatile
The options for pellet stoves are endless. There are ornamental ones that add style to your home, or you can find more utilitarian models that can fit in a utility space to pipe heat into your home. We also have pellet stove inserts that can fit into an existing fireplace space, or we can built into a custom hearth to mimic the look of a traditional wood-burning fireplace. Pellet stoves come in a variety of sizes to fit any home, and they can provide heat for any space.
If you think a pellet stove is a good option for you, call the Chimney Care Fireplace and Stove showroom. Our experts can answer all your questions about it. They can show you some options to help you find the best pellet stove that fits your heating needs.
Common Problems for Homeowners with A Chimney
A warm hearth along with the chimney are an asset to any home. They provide ambiance and add to the architecture of a home. However, sometimes chimneys can cause problems for homeowners to feel that the fireplace is a detriment, rather than a blessing. Here are some common problems for homeowners with a chimney.
A Smoking Chimney
A smoking chimney — one that causes the smoke of your fire to invade your home rather than rising up and out of your house — can cause your fireplace to not be functional. If you’re experiencing with this particular issue; there are several causes to blame. Your chimney could either be obstructed by a buildup of creosote and debris, or your flue could be improperly sized for your fireplace. Regardless, if your chimney is smoking, you will need a professional chimney sweep to help discover and resolve the problem.
Chimney Leaks
Chimney leaks can be a major pain, especially if they go unnoticed. A leaking chimney can cause plenty of issues to the structure of your home, which may also question the integrity of your home and put the safety of your household in danger. Any sign of a chimney leak including water in the fireplace, discoloration of the exterior masonry, or water stains on the walls and ceiling around your chimney should prompt an immediate call to your professional chimney sweep.
Deteriorating Masonry
Chimney masonry is built to endure all the elements, but over time it will deteriorate, because of the constant exposure to water and freezing temperatures. The problem with deteriorating masonry is twofold. On one hand, it looks unattractive and can decrease the curb appeal of your home. On the other hand, the deterioration of your chimney’s masonry can compromise the entire chimney structure, causing it to lean, which cause stress on your home’s structure or even a collapse. Deteriorating masonry can be repaired with services like tuckpointing, and it can be prevented with a waterproofing treatment.
Smelly Chimney
Chimneys can fill your home with terrible smells, especially during warm summer months when the warm air in the chimney can cause unpleasant smells. We’re not talking about the mild, pleasant smell of a burning wood fire here. A smelly chimney can influence the entire atmosphere of your home. Whether it’s a barbecue-like smell caused by a buildup of creosote or the smell of decomposition caused by a trapped animal, call in a certified chimney sweep to clean your chimney and eliminate the awful stench. Your sweep will also be sure to evaluate your chimney’s draft while inspecting and cleaning.
Don’t let your chimney be such a pain! If you’re experiencing one of these common chimney problems, give our team of experts a call at Chimney Care Co. to schedule an appointment! They can evaluate your problem and turn your hearth back to its former glory.
What To Do About Animals in Your Chimney
Each spring, animals from squirrels and raccoons to bats and birds look for the perfect place to build their nests. Often times, that “perfect place” turns out to be a chimney. If you hear the telltale sounds of scuffling animal paws, flapping wings or chirping in your chimney, you’re probably left wondering what to do when an animal is in your chimney. Here’s your step-by-step guide to dealing with this particular issue.
Don’t try to deal with the animals on your own.
Trying to extract an animal from your chimney could be a dangerous task and even at times lead to injuries. Resist the temptation to deal with an animal on your own. Never try to smoke an animal out of the chimney, this will likely kill or severely injure the animal, leaving you with an even bigger problem. Additionally, some species, such as chimney swifts, are protected – to remove them from your chimney during their nesting is illegal.
Close off openings between your chimney in your home.
A major problem of having an animal in your chimney is that it could make its way into your home, bringing unwanted diseases and causing extensive damages to your home. If you can hear an animal in your chimney, first, create as many barriers as possible between the flue and your home. Next, close your chimney damper to prevent the animal or bird from descending into your firebox, and finally, close your fireplace doors to create one final barrier to prevent the animal from invading your home.
Call in the professionals.
Once you have your chimney blocked off as well as possible, call in a professional to help deal with the animal nesting in your chimney. Some chimney sweeps will remove animals themselves, or you might need a company specifically skilled in animal removal.
Have your chimney cleaned and inspected.
Once the animal has been removed from the chimney, you will need the chimney swept and inspected to remove any debris and ensure that the animal hasn’t left behind any damages. The debris and damages left behind can leave your home at risk for a chimney fire. You’ll want to rely on a CSIA-certified chimney sweep to be sure that your chimney is safe to use again.
Install a chimney cap to prevent future animal intrusion.
To prevent animal intrusions from happening, have your chimney outfitted with a caged chimney cap. With a chimney cap firmly in place, animals and birds won’t be able to access the flue opening when they’re looking for a place to nest. Your chimney sweep should always check the condition of your chimney cap during your annual inspection to verify that it is secure and will continue to protect your chimney.
If you have animals or birds rustling in your chimney — or if you’d like to prevent an animal from nesting in your chimney this spring — call the Chimney Care Co. to schedule an appointment. We can clean and inspect your chimney after an animal intrusion or install a new chimney cap to keep animals out of your flue.