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Take advantage of our
over 25 years of
service and experience.
Let us inspect your installation and
give you
valuable advice on
safety,
proper wood burning procedures,
and efficiency.
Call us today!
Chesapeake Chimney
Sweeps
410-535-0035
301-884-5107
Toll Free:
888-207-1829
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Wood is never burned completely. The smoke
contains some unburned gases and a vapor like fog of unburned tar-like
liquids. These condense along the sides of the stove pipes or chimney and
become a flammable, crusty build-up called creosote.
Creosote presents at least three major
problems to the wood burner. Creosote is corrosive to many surfaces,
including steel and mortar which are common chimney materials. Creosote
build-up acts as an insulating material and reduces the efficiency of your
wood stove or fireplace. Finally and most critical, creosote is highly
flammable and presents a potential fire hazard.
Many factors affect the rate and amount of
creosote build-up:
-
Type of wood burned
-
Amount of moisture in the wood
-
Type of fire burned
-
Efficiency of stove. (One irony of wood
burning is that the more efficient your stove or fireplace is in heating
the house, the more creosote build-up it generally has. The more
inefficient your equipment, the less creosote build-up.)
-
Location of flue
-
Type of stove or fireplace
-
Amount of use
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Because of the various factors involved,
there isn’t a general answer appropriate to most cases. Some locations,
such as certain provinces in Canada have laws requiring yearly cleaning
but, each wood burning unit is different. If you notice back-drafting or
smoking or losing heat, you certainly check for creosote build-up
immediately. Periodic checking is essential for safe efficient wood
burning.
Carefully open the damper and, using a
flashlight, look up the flue for signs of a build-up along the walls.
Goggles are suggested for this. If the build-up is ¼” or more, a cleaning
is needed.
We know and understand fireplaces and
chimneys and how to clean them. We literally scrub your fireplace from
floor to roof using tools specifically designed for that purpose. We are
professionally trained and guarantee a mess-proof job. And, finally, we are a local
business. Our roots are here in the community and we take pride in this.
If your chimney needs cleaning, then we act like a good neighbor and tell
you so. If we think your installation is unsafe, we think you’ll like to
know that, too! One last suggestion that applies to all serious companies,
not just Chesapeake Chimney Sweeps: ask our customers about us!
We really don’t know. According to
folklore, they do. We can, however, prevent bad luck…the bad luck and
misfortune of a chimney fire!
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