A new year is upon us, and with it will come four seasons worth of weather than can affect your chimney. Winter snow and cold weather, spring rain showers, and summer humidity can all affect your chimney’s life and performance. By maintaining your chimney system properly you will be ready to light that first fire when cold weather starts in the fall.
Prevent Cold Weather Damage
By scheduling chimney maintenance like waterproofing services and inspections, you can help prevent masonry damage caused by water penetration. Water can cause a host of problems for your masonry throughout the year, but is especially damaging during winter. If water is allowed to penetrate the masonry it is subject to a freeze/thaw cycle in which water freezes and expands, damaging the masonry, then melts, moving further into the masonry where it freezes again. This process will continue throughout winter if a chimney leak isn’t corrected. Preventing water penetration in the first place is the best way to save time and money in the future. You can make an appointment with a certified chimney sweep to have your chimney waterproofed before your chimney is damaged.
Prevent Odors, Damage, and Leaks
When spring arrives and burning season is over, you can have your chimney swept along with all your other spring cleaning and maintenance. When you schedule a chimney sweep, a certified professional will come in and clean out all the soot, creosote, and debris from the entire system using brushes, tools, and an industrial vacuum cleaner. If this soot and debris is allowed to buildup in the chimney it can begin to stink as warm weather and humidity persist. Even a chimney with no leaks can begin to stink because of moisture in the air.
Spring also brings rainy weather which can penetrate the chimney if it isn’t repaired or waterproofed. Even in warm weather, a leaky chimney can cause catastrophic damage, including damaging walls, ceilings, supports, and other materials in the home apart from the chimney system itself.
Make Sure Your Chimney is Ready to Work
You can schedule your annual chimney inspection during your sweep and kill two birds with one stone. The CSIA inspection is recommended annually for the safest and highest efficiency of your chimney system. If you have your chimney inspected in spring you can use your tax refund money and avoid financing and credit cards. If you have your chimney inspected in spring you will know it’s ready to go in the fall for burning season. You’ll only need another inspection if you have new appliances installed or if your home experiences a natural occurrence like a tornado or earthquake.
Added Bonus
By making chimney maintenance a priority this year you can avoid the busy season, called the fall rush, and your chimney will be ready when you are. You will have an established chimney sweep for your home and won’t run into any surprises if you have an emergency and need to call your sweep. Additionally, you will have time to plan for and make repairs before cold weather.
There’s no reason to not schedule your maintenance now. New Buck Chimney Services schedules in advance and is happy to take your call. You can also schedule online at your convenience.