If you are new to South Florida, you may think that the fireplace in your home is an odd feature. But you may not realize that over the winter, we do experience quite a few chilly evenings which allow us to enjoy the warmth and ambiance which a fireplace provides.

Florida fireplaces may not get as much use as their counterparts up North, but this makes it even more important that you properly check and clean the flue and chimney before making the first fire of the season, in order to make sure the fireplace is safe to use.

Is Cleaning Your Chimney Really Important?

When you burn wood in a fireplace, the smoke which travels up the chimney leaves a sooty residue known as creosote – and this residue id highly flammable. Chimney fires are very dangerous and have known to ignite into complete house fires.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you understand how, why and when you should think of cleaning your chimney.

Creosote is the soot and residue left behind when you burn wood. When it glazes over it can cause blockages, and even ignite. When wood burns, byproducts such as gases, unburned wood particles, minerals, and water vapor are expelled through the chimney. Since the chimney is cooler, condensation occurs, which results in the highly flammable mixture being deposited on the chimney liner. You will experience creosote buildup eventually from all types of wood, but pine woods seem to be the worst.

FAQs About Cleaning Your Chimney

• How often should I clean my chimney? Although experts recommend once every three months for fireplaces which have constant use, here in the Sarasota area, checking the flue and chimney liner once per year should suffice. You may want to coordinate this inspection with your annual roof inspection in the fall – in that was you can be ready for cooler winter evenings.
• Do home remedies work for cleaning a chimney? There are some popular DIY methods for cleaning chimneys, such as burning salt or potato peels. Some people even attempt to intentionally start a chimney fire to burn off the residue, but this is very dangerous, as fires can be very unpredictable and get out of control. Professionals warn against all home remedies, as you are quite literally “playing with fire”.
• How do chimney sweeps clean the flue and liner? You may have seen old movies with chimney sweeps employing wire brushes and hand brooms to clean our the chimney. Surprisingly, the tools of the trade have not changed much. Wire brushes and brooms scrape away most residue, while hand tools can chip away at stubborn deposits. Most importantly, experts will use a vacuum system to catch falling soot and residue, avoiding a big mess in your home.

Fireplaces are a very popular feature even in South Florida homes, but like the rest of your home and roof, they require care and maintenance. (After all, you’ll want to keep Santa clean and safe!)

In addition to cleaning your chimney, be sure to also inspect the extrusion points on the roof on regular basis. As a chimney (or skylight) necessitated a hole in your roof to install, you should check that the seals are tight and that there is no water intrusion.

If you have any concerns whatsoever in regards to your roof – from age to structural integrity – give the professionals at Avery Roof Services a call. We are happy to assist you in keeping your Sarasota home in top condition, from the roof down!