by Lou Curley | Oct 22, 2014 | Fire Safety
Homeowners often consider Halloween the beginning of the holiday season. It is the first major holiday, and the first real chance they’ve had to decorate home and hearth since July. Many fall decorations resemble leaf-less sticks, fallen leaves, or carved pumpkins....
by Lou Curley | Oct 22, 2014 | Chimney Inspection
Chimneys add lovely grace to most home styles. Many historic homes and castles had multiple chimneys because each individual bedroom or dressing area had its own chimney. Essentially, the larger the home, the more fireplaces were required to maintain warmth. Imagine...
by Lou Curley | Oct 22, 2014 | Chimney Cleaning
Two primary types of chimneys fight for attention in today’s housing market; prefabricated and masonry. Prefabricated chimneys are generally metal and come in a few different variations to meet homeowners’ varying needs. Masonry chimneys may be brick, block, stone, or...
by Lou Curley | Oct 22, 2014 | Fire Safety
Many homeowners don’t realize that dryer vent cleaning is a service that is often offered by a chimney sweep. I offer dryer vent cleaning as one of my services because it’s another messy part of home maintenance that a lot of homeowners don’t want to have to deal...
by Lou Curley | Oct 22, 2014 | Chimney Inspection
The chimney is effectively a big hole on top of your home. It’s the perfect hiding spot for small animals and birds, and a good way to catch rain; but that isn’t really the purpose. We strive to keep moisture out of the chimney, not invite it inside. A chimney cap is...
by Lou Curley | Oct 18, 2014 | Fire Safety
Homeowners ask questions about their heating system quite often. So I decided that today’s blog post is going to be about anatomy. Don’t worry, you don’t have to get out your high school science books or download a special app on your phone. I’m going to cover the...
by Lou Curley | Oct 18, 2014 | Chimney Inspection
As the cold months come back around you will start using your chimney more and more, even if it is only to knock the chill out of the house. But winter is not the time to think about cleaning your chimney. Inspection and cleaning are extremely important pre-fire...
by Lou Curley | Oct 18, 2014 | Fire Safety
Chimney cleaning logs, or creosote sweeping logs, have been on the market for several years now. While they do help a little with creosote buildup, they do not thoroughly clean your chimney and cannot replace a yearly inspection and cleaning. Neglecting to follow...
by Lou Curley | Oct 18, 2014 | Chimney Cleaning
A fireplace or wood burning stove produces amazingly warm heat. Baseboard heat and a heat pump just can’t compare to the heat of a real fire. Unfortunately, the price we pay for the extra warmth is chimney maintenance and the buildup of creosote in the chimney walls....
by Lou Curley | Oct 18, 2014 | Chimney Inspection
Homeowners are occasionally surprised at the strange things that are found inside their chimney. I shared a story several months ago about a raccoon that had made its way into the home through the chimney because the homeowner didn’t have a chimney cap. Raccoons...
