Professional Chimney Sweeping in the Dallas – Fort Worth Area

The good news is that the risk of chimney fires can be significantly reduced by regular chimney maintenance.

The most important part of chimney maintenance is having your chimney inspected and professionally cleaned by a qualified chimney sweep at least once a year, preferably in the fall, before the start of the heating season. Clean chimneys don’t catch on fire.

An annual inspection can also detect other chimney problems that can be easily corrected before they become big problems that threaten your family’s safety — or your bank account.

A professional chimney sweep will look for problems like weather damage to bricks and mortar, cracks, loose or damaged chimney linings, or bird or animal nests during the inspection.

In addition to regular chimney maintenance and cleaning, here are some other rules to reduce creosote formation and reduce the risk of chimney fires:

• Always burn only the fuel(s) for which your fireplace, wood stove, or wood furnace was designed and is approved.
• Never burn paper, cardboard, treated lumber, plywood, particle board, or finished wood in your wood burner. These materials contain inks, dyes, waxes, glues, and other dangerous chemicals.
• Never burn plastic or rubber in your wood-burning fireplace, stove, or furnace.
• Don’t use flammable liquids as fire starters.
• Make sure that cordwood has been adequately seasoned or kiln-dried before burning it. Unseasoned wood contains way too much moisture to burn cleanly, greatly accelerating creosote formation. Ideally, softwoods like pine and fir should be seasoned for at least a year after falling, and six months should pass between splitting and burning. Hardwoods like oak, maple, and walnut should be seasoned for at least two years after being felled, and a year should pass between splitting and burning.
• If approved for use in your wood burner, high-quality manufactured logs made from compressed wood scraps and sawdust usually burn hotter and cleaner than cordwood, resulting in less creosote production. (But they also absorb moisture like sponges, so make sure to store them in a dry place.)
  

At ALLGone, we understand that chimney caps serve a practical purpose, but they also affect the looks and value of your home. That’s why we take the time to discuss the best options to make your chimney cap “fit in” with your home, so it looks like it was there from the day your house was built.

We can make your chimney cap out of brand-new, shiny metal if you like (like the one in the picture on the right) and wait for time and the elements to season the metal naturally. But if you have an old, distinguished home with lots of character, and you want the chimney cap to look more natural, we can fabricate and install a pre-weathered chimney cap that already looks as distinguished as the rest of your stately, older home.

We work with pottery, copper, steel, stainless steel, and all types of metals, giving you the widest choice of materials to suit the look and character of any home.