| Fireplaces & Woodstoves
Chimneys are designed to vent the
hot smoke quickly to avoid creosote buildup in your chimney. “Cool”
smoke, or smoke not vented quickly enough, will leave creosote
deposits on the walls of your chimney. This buildup must be swept
away periodically in order to maintain safe burning conditions.
A chimney flue installed to vent a fireplace
is much larger than that installed for a woodstove.  When
a woodstove is installed into an oversized flue, smoke does not
exit as quickly and therefore cools more rapidly - leaving excessive
creosote deposits on the tiles. This type of setup has to be maintained
annually at the very least...
Those
that have been in the room when a chimney fire ignites will never
forget it - it sounds like a jet is taking off in the next room.
If you are very lucky, only your chimney is destroyed. In some
cases, the entire home is destroyed - in others, tragic loss of
life.
“I
found John's company in the phone book. He returned my call promptly
and arrived at the time of the appointment. He found a problem
with my chimney that I was unaware of and corrected it. He is
a down-to-earth young man, who knows what he is doing. He has
ethics that are hard to find in this day.
He will be my "Chimney
Service For Life.” --Patricia Audet, Hudson NH
Furnace Appliances
Oil furnaces leave a soot
buildup on the walls of the chimney. Old or new, this is unavoidable.
Also unavoidable is moisture in your chimney - a by-product of
burning. When soot mixes with moisture, it forms sulfuric acid,
which will deteriorate the clay lining system. To minimize moisture
damage, learn how caps keep water out.
Newer high efficiency furnaces
create more condensation than older models. When these are installed
into existing flues, the additional moisture combines with the
leftover residue, unfortunately hastening the deterioration of
your chimney liner.
All told, these factors, and
many  combinations
thereof, lead to flue deterioration – in either a wood burning
chimney system, or a heat appliance chimney system. They include
cracked tiles, holes, and eventually total chimney failure. You
cannot see the mortar decay or where the flue shifts, but cracks
or voids are being created in your system. Often, entire sections
break apart and fall inside causing a blockage.
This scenario is very common in homes 15 or more years old. What
then? Click here to find out.
It is only a matter of time
before this deterioration allows poisonous gasses to seep into
your home. Each year thousands of people become ill and hundreds
die from chimney failure of one type or another. Prolonged carbon
monoxide poisoning will make you very sick and can be fatal.
All this can be avoided with
proper chimney maintenance by a professional chimney inspection
from Admiralty Chimney Service. To make your
life easier, make one phone call to us now at 866-230-2098
and we will put you on a yearly maintenance schedule. |
