FIREPLACE CLEANING SERVICE

Cleaning your fireplace is not complex—just involved. All you need is cleaning supplies, clothing you don’t mind discarding, equipment that cost as much as $200, and protection for your house. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

In this blog,read how to do it—and then why hiring a fireplace cleaning service might be wise.

Planning

Locate these things before you begin to clean your fireplace:

•    Disposable clothes.

•    Lots of old newspaper. Line the floor and the short sides of the fireplace to catch the debris. You’ll need a trash can.

•    Buckets—metal (for chemicals) and plastic (for debris).

•    A cheap painter’s drop cloth to protect the floor outside the fireplace.

•    Rags and paper towels—have them on hand.

•    Have a powerful flashlightto illuminate the area you are cleaning. You’ll be working “upside down” for part of this.

•    Gloves—rubber, but leather or leather-lined gloves are recommended.

•    Goggles, hair and face covering—keep soot or creosote out of your eyes, hair, and face.

•    A wire hand brush—for reachable surfaces.

•    A chimney brush. There are options of material, size, and shape. The most common is aspring wire bristle cleaning brush—about $30.Scrubbing soot and creosote takes the metal brush, more suitable where there is no liner. A poly brush is needed for a liner. Poly is more suitable for chimneys that change direction.

•    Brushes are square, oval, rectangular, or circular, each with a purpose. Brush selection depends on the shape of the flue. They are available in five inch to one-foot sizes, and should be slightly wider than the diameter of the flue.

•    Chimney brush handling—rope and/or piping sufficient to reach the entire length of your chimney. A rod kit to extend the brush is listed for about $65. Rope, of course, depends on the length you need. Complete cleaning kits range from $70 to $150, depending on the size and shape of your chimney.

•    Finally, a chemical called trisodium phosphate (TSP). The brand name is Savogran and it’s available in one ($4) and 4.5 ($10) pound sizes. It’s toxic enough that you must pick it up at the home supply shops. A liquid substitute is available at Walmart for $11.

The Work

The bulk of the involvement lies in the preparation. The rest of it is labor intensive. All interior surfaces must be brushed.

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CHIMNEY LINER INSTALLATION

You may be more concerned about retrofitting your existing chimney than in incorporating chimney features in new construction. Newly constructed buildings are designed to meet Chimney Safety Institute of America standards.

Why you should be concerned?The answer: unlined chimneys can lead to fires, property destruction, and loss of life.A chimney liner installation can save a lot of money.

Types of Chimney Liners

Three types of chimney liners are designed to operate inside masonry chimneys:

•    Clay
•    Ceramic
•    Metal

Their Purposes

Chimney liners perform several different services.

They:

•    Handle combustion products. Einstein said, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another.” Changes from fuel (wood, gas, oil, coal) by fire or heat produces combustion products (smoke, tar, acids).

•    Direct the combustion products into the world outside the building. However, some combustion products (residue ashes, for example),tars, and acids accumulate in the chimneys, requiring frequent cleaning. Creosote accumulates and is subject to combustion. Acids weaken masonry chimneys. Heat and corrosion limit the chimney’s life. Chimneys left unattended often simply collapse.

•    Move the heat quickly outward. The speed of heat movement is important. Masonry chimneys are enclosed in wood; the wood dries, eventually to combustibility. A liner inhibits heat transfer to the framing.

•    Separate the corrosive flue gasses from the chimney masonry. These gasses, and the acids they carry, literally “eat” the mortar that holds the masonry chimney together. One of those gasses is carbon monoxide, deadly to people.

•    Take concern for draft. The kind of flue you need for a fireplace differs from that required by a gas burner, a coal fire, a woodstove, or a gas or oil furnace. Each flue is a function of the design of the appliance used. There is no “one size fits all.” Get the size wrong and contribute to the creosote buildup in your chimney.

Three Types

Three types of chimney liners are commonly used for a chimney liner installation:

•    Clay tile: This type of liner is best for well-maintained fireplace chimneys. They are inexpensive, easily available, and can be installed by a qualified mason. Once installed, they must be regularly maintained, because they cannot easily diffuse heat during a chimney fire. The result of that problem could lead to cracking of the tiles and their eventual replacement.

•    Metal linersare generally not used for new construction. They must be properly installed and maintained to be safe. Aluminum liners apply only to gas heating devices only. Others require the stainless steel. Metal liners will also require a high temperature insulating material.

•    Cast-in-place liners are constructed by using components that pour like cement. These require the installation of a cast to produce a one-piece smooth, seamless, and separated route for the evacuation of flue gasses. They are easy to produce and improve the structural strength of the chimney.

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MASONRY REPAIR

The chimney was beautiful. It served the fireplace.When oil got expensive, it served the woodstove.
However, the elements have taken their toll. The heat varied, put a strain on the mortar, and now it might be time for masonry repair.

A Chimney’s Weight

A brick or stone chimney weighs6-7tons. When a home is built or a fireplace added, be concerned about the chimney’s foundation and for its balance and stability.

Land moves. Everywhere a chimney is built, the earth is shifting. Changes in temperature, moisture, and the settling of the home can all affect a chimney’s stability.Eventually, masonry loosens, rocks or bricks fall away, and there can be personal injury or property damage.

The Chimney’s Enemy

Your chimney’s most dangerous enemy may simply be water. An unsealed chimney asks for trouble. Water enters porous brick and damaged mortar. Chimneys with metal components weaken, rust, and corrode. Here are some results:

•    Damper assemblies, iron stoves, firebox assemblies, metal accessories, and doors rust.

•    Walls, ceilings, and adjacent wood may rot. Other brickwork may stain.

•    Access doors, heating ducts, exposed mortar, and hearths are affected.

•    Flue lining systems may be compromised.

•    Weak masonry could result in chimney collapse.

•    The mixture of water and creosote causes the place to stink!

Caps and Crowns

If water is the culprit, then places that admit water should be a focus for chimney maintenance:

•    A chimney cap (rain cover) is a simple fix. Let’s face it, a six-inch opening (flue) in a downpour is going to admit water or snow to your chimney system. If that system is open, there will be water on your floors. A chimney cap will keep out the varmints (birds, squirrels, raccoons, restricting their ability to build nests and redirect smoke back into your home. If you haven’t yet acquired a full coverage chimney cap, please consider it.

•    A chimney crown should be installed as the top masonry element on your chimney. It seals the space between the flue liner(s) and the edge of the chimney. It’s slanted toward the ground and has a drip edge (at least two inches to a side) to allow water run-off. Done well, and the exterior of the chimney is spared an excess of water erosion.

•    Mortar joints provide many entry points for water. Done properly, there are no joint with gaps—at least when it is new. However, over time, weather erodes the mortar, takes off the hard surface, and exposes anabsorbent undersurface. When that happens, water pools, eventually working its way into the interior of the chimney. A good masonry repair will cut into the mortar joint, point in some fresh mortar, and be finished with a concave surface that will resist penetration.

•    Flashing may have to be repaired or replaced. Water deflectorsmay need to be installed, particularly where the chimney exits a steep roof. Finally, add a waterproofing agent.

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AIR DUCT CLEANING

The number of places where people can smoke is rapidly decreasing. We can’t outlaw tobacco, but we can raise awareness that second-hand smoke affects lungs. However, the limitations on indoor smoking are minor when evaluating the air quality to which we subject ourselves.

We have built buildings that are self-contained cocoons. We’re concerned with security, so we don’t open windows. We insulate against energy leakage. We have central air conditioning and heat distribution.

Air Movement

All of these have value, of course, but all involve the piping of air throughout our buildings. We handle cyclical air movement by:

•    Filtering input air
•    Distributing air
•    Returning air

It’s an engineering exercise with concern for these:

•    Airflow volumes
•    Air exchanges
•    Air density
•    Airflow resistance

These all become a part of planning for the air system in a home or commercial building.Dry air (think Phoenix)leads to leakage. Humid air (think Seattle)leads to condensation and mold. Conditioned air puts restrictions on how we design our air systems and how they are maintained, particularly concerning air duct cleaning.

Contaminants

What about dirt? It’s everywhere, in variable particle sizes carried on moving air. Some of that dirt is on us; some merely swirls around us. Air carries hundreds of cubic feet per minute of common ordinary dust. In a forced hot air or air conditioning system that carries external air, that dirt is introduced into the duct work of your building.

While some people are sensitive or allergic to dust, it doesn’t affect us all. However, when that dust becomes moist, you are inviting mold—and that does affect many.

Filtration

So what do we do? We introduce filters into the airflow to collect dust. New furnace and air conditioning filters are as close as your nearest home products store.

How reliable are they? A furnace operates less than a quarter of the year; an air conditioner likewise; depending on where you’re located. Cheap fiber-constructed filters for air systems do well at removing large dust particles, yet the smaller particles pass.

These filters fail to trap the smaller particles initially but do so if they are not changed as recommended. As the filter plugs, fewer small particles pass. Given time and a good vacuum cleaner, more dust will be gathered by the household appliance than by the filters in the air movement system.

The fact remains, however, that for some period, the smaller particles are admitted by the filters and the duct work becomes progressively contaminated. There becomes a buildup inside the ducts. That buildup impedes efficient airflow. If the duct work grabbed the particles and hung onto them, that would be one thing. However, many of those particles lodge there temporarily and then continue movement—into your home or building—unless you remove them and get your Air Duct Cleaning.