Many people wait until the beginning of the heating season for them to hire chimney cleaning services providers to clean their chimney. This is wrong as it puts the chimney and your family at risk.
Why you should get your chimney swept early
Instead of waiting until the heating season begins for you to clean the chimney, you should start the work early. The reasons for doing this include:
Fast services: Chimney contractors are busy during the heating season; therefore, when you contact them for the service, they are less likely to provide it to you as fast as you would want it to.
For you to get the services fast, you should hire them early before the heating season begins. At this time, most of them are idle thus they will come to you as soon as you contact them.
The contractors are also more likely to charge you less as they aren’t in great demand.
Prevent wearing out of the flue: Did you know that leaving residues in the chimney wears out the masonry increasing the likelihood of you requiring costly repairs? Soot and water make acids that greatly affect the mortar joints of the chimney, which puts it at the risk of crumbling down.
The process is often slow but if you leave the residue during summer and spring, you expose the masonry and flue to the corrosive materials. As you might have guessed, getting the chimney cleaned regularly and early decreases the chances of the residues affecting the chimney.
Getting rid of fireplace odors: Experts report that fireplace odors are in their worst in spring and summer. When you don’t clean the chimney regularly enough, the odors permeate your home and even into your clothes. As a result, you smell awful at work.
When you sweep and deodorize the fireplace, you minimize or eliminate the bad smells thus you have a good smelling chimney and home. You also don’t smell bad at work.
Minimize emergencies: A poorly maintained chimney breaks down regularly. This means that when you get to the heating season with a poorly maintained unit, it tends to break down requiring you to keep on hiring an expensive emergency chimney repair professional.
When the chimney breaks down regularly it brings about a lot of inconveniences as you don’t get the comfort that you are looking for.
When you clean the chimney regularly and early enough, you ensure that no emergencies come about. This not only gives you peace of mind, it also saves you money as you don’t have to hire an emergency chimney professional to help you with the cleaning.
Certification matters
When hiring a chimney cleaning professional, you shouldn’t hire just anyone—you need to take your time and hire the right one. One of the most important factors you should consider is the certification of the professional.
Just as you can’t hire a dentist to fix a broken arm, you shouldn’t hire an inexperienced professional to troubleshoot and repair your chimney.
When hiring, ensure that the contractor you hire is certified by the chimney safety institute of America. For the professionals to attain the certification, they have to undergo rigorous education and testing processes that make them the best in the industry.
The training gives them the necessary education on building codes, safety standards, and fireplace technology. For the contractors to maintain the certification, they have to undergo a retest every three years. This ensures that the contractor is up to date with the most recent advances in the industry.
When you hire any handyman you come across, in addition to lacking the experience, he/she might also be lacking the necessary tools to properly clean and maintain your chimney. This puts your chimney at the risk of developing problems.
What should you expect during chimney cleaning?
When you hire the right chimney sweep, you will have an easy time interacting with them. The contractor will start with inspecting the chimney to determine the nature and extent of cleaning required.
The professional will then cover the furniture and any other thing that might get damaged by soot. The expert will then clean the chimney getting rid of any soot, creosote, and debris that might be on the unit
