Taking good care of your chimney can lengthen its lifetime and increase its functionality.
Many tend to take their fireplace and chimney for granted, believing it should last the lifetime of the home. However, if ignored, chimneys can become unusable if the liners are damaged or if other parts need repairing, and they can even suffer structural damage due to water penetration and collapse. Proper chimney maintenance is essential in keeping your fireplace safe to use, according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America. If you practice good maintenance of your chimney, you prolong its life, and Lords Chimney provides all sorts of chimney services to help you take care of your chimney. Your chimney’s lifespan is important, and our CSIA-certified technicians are here with several ways of practicing the best chimney maintenance to extend that lifespan.
schedule an annual chimney sweeping and inspection
As CSIA states, “dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires,” and this is the most important reason you need to schedule a sweeping and inspection of your chimney with Lords Chimney. Our experienced sweepers will remove dangerous fire hazards like animal nesting and creosote build-up and then inspect your chimney thoroughly to see if any repairs need to be done and to look for water penetration damage. Every part of your chimney, from your flue liner to your masonry to your flashing and more, will be visually inspected, prolonging its life as crucial and needed repairs could be discovered.
replace your chimney liner, if needed
If you have cracks in your flue liner, carbon monoxide can enter your home and cause serious health issues for you and your family. If your chimney does not have a liner, as many older chimneys do not, the risk is even worse, and you should definitely contact Lords Chimney about our chimney liner services. Essential for containing chimney fires, protecting your chimney walls from dangerous creosote build-up, and improving its efficiency, an undamaged chimney liner truly adds years to the life of your chimney. We carry and install tough and durable stainless steel liners as well as HeatShield treatments for cracked liners that need resurfacing.
waterproof your chimney
If you have a masonry chimney, the CSIA claims that water is the biggest enemy your chimney has to battle. Our certified technicians at Lords Chimney are trained and experienced experts on resolving chimney leaks. The amount of damage caused by water penetration is enormous, from loose bricks and chipped mortar to a tilted or collapsed chimney structure. To protect your chimney from water leaks, Lords Chimney recommends waterproofing your chimney because keeping water out extends the life of your chimney. Using ChimneySaver, a breathable treatment, exclusively, our technicians will spray this water repellent all over the walls of your chimney, and we only have to use one coating as ChimneySaver contains patented siloxanes small enough to penetrate masonry pores, forming a strong bond with the silica in masonry and concrete. Being breathable, water vapors are able to escape your masonry, keeping freeze-thaw damage, deterioration, and other problems at bay.
Contact Lords Chimney today to talk to our staff about these ways of extending the life of your chimney, as well as to schedule your annual chimney sweeping and inspection.