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23 February 2015

Prevent House Fires With A NJ Chimney Sweep

By Olivia Cross


Chimneys that are functioning properly will reduce smoke and gases in a house while enhancing the efficiency in fuel use. As you burn wood logs and other fuels, they will release by-products such as noxious gases and smoke. These gases and particulates are vented through chimneys and emitted outside. However, chimneys can clog with debris including soot, creosote, and other things. A NJ chimney sweep allows you to keep the flues free of debris.

If a chimney is clogged, it will cause downdraft where smoke gets back to the house. With the gases and smoke coming back to the house, they will chock and poison people and even darken surfaces. Burning of wood will cause creosote to form on surfaces of flues. Creasote consists mainly of the unburned energy from wood logs.

Such embers may ignite that substance and trigger chimney fires. Besides, since the chimneys are so hot, those high temperatures could also trigger fires. When fires are triggered in chimneys, they create thermal shock on liners and they damage them. The fires may also damage the mortar and bricks thus weakening the structure.

When gases and smoke move updraft through chimneys, they may condense just before they are released at rooftop. When such condensation occurs, you have creosote forming. It is easy to remove and clean soot from chimneys but for creosote, you have to put a lot of effort. Creosote will not come out easily and cleaners use chemicals to try to clean it.

If you find that smoke is retuning back to the house, it may mean the flues are blocked. Creosote may have accumulated in large amount and has narrowed down the flue passages. Similarly, if the surfaces in a house are darkening, it could mean smoke is being trapped inside. This occurs when the gases and smoke cannot find ways to get out.

Creosote catches fire easily and when embers or sparks fly and come in contact with this substance, fires may start. Fires in chimneys will cause damage to flues by inducing thermal shock. The fires may spread and attack other parts of the home resulting to a house fire. Creosote may not be readily noticeable because it tends to form in hidden surfaces.

In inspecting chimneys, technicians should have state-of-the-art equipments like cameras to examine the hidden areas. The inspection may be done from bottom, above, as well as using the infrared cameras. There are some signs that could indicate you need to call a chimney sweep. If you begin to see smoke flooding into the house or covering the furniture, it could indicate that something is clogging the venting line or flues.

Similarly, if you are seeing dark smoke constantly coming from the chimney, it may be a creosote issue. The presence of creosote can put the structure at risk as well as the home. The embers that fly from the burning wood can reach the surfaces where creosote has formed and ignite the substance. The fires will damage flue liners and weaken your chimney structure.




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