A warming blaze

One of the most attractive features of your new home is the fireplace in the living room.  The design is unique with bricks, concrete, and mortar in an aesthetically pleasing array set into the walls of your home.   You were unsure if you wanted a fireplace in your home, as you had never had one before, but the idea seems appealing to you as you contemplate the cold months ahead, and the rising costs of heating your living space.  If cutting some trees in the backyard, drying the wood properly, and using them to provide warmth in your home reduces your living expenses, than the fireplace is a great addition.  You may even be able to save on cooking expense by utilizing the flames to boil water or fry up some bacon and eggs, as if you were camping. Before the omnipresent flow of gas into homes, our ancestors did all of their cooking over an open flame, so why not you?  Ok, that might be a stretch; after all we do live in a modern age.  But, a nice cozy fire provides an ambience in your home, an inviting glow, warming all those who gather around the hearth.  You must remember, as with all things, maintenance is required, or it will fail to function properly.  A good Arlington fireplace service company can do wonders to make it possible to continue to provide the roaring fires to warm your home.

Why get fireplace service?

Your fireplace is a bricked alcove set into the walls of your home.  In that alcove is a metal grate where you stack your wood for burning. As you use your fireplace, burning log after log, ashes and embers are collected below the metal grate.  If the ash is not removed, it will create a mound in your fireplace which will obstruct the metal grate, making it impossible to adequately stack your logs and start a fire.    The smoke attaches to the sides of the fireplace creating a layer of dust and debris.  Over time, the bricks may get chipped, the mantel may collapse and the hearth might sustain damage.  For all of these reasons, to insure optimal performance of your fireplace, you need to get service by a professional.

What will happen?

If you fail to properly service your fireplace, there will be an extensive buildup of soot and ash on the inside walls of the alcove.  This may lead to problems in the air quality of your home.  If the bricks get broken, or the hearth is damaged, this may lead to an ineffective fireplace, causing a leakage of not only smoke, soot and ash, but also the heat and warmth from the fire.   If the alcove is not properly formed and sealed, any potential heat may escape and not be concentrated into your home.  This will defeat the entire purpose of having a fireplace.  Every year you need to clean out the bottom of the metal grate, removing all soot and ash.  You need to thoroughly clean the walls of the fireplace, removing excess grime and debris.    During the winter season, routinely check the integrity of the bricks and hearth for any damage.  A professional Arlington fireplace service company can help you to accomplish all of these goals.  

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Easy flow for your fire

The day has ended and the night has fallen. There is a brisk wind rattling through the trees.  You can feel the cold deep in your bones, as the temperature drops towards the freezing mark.  You bundle yourself in warm clothing to create a nice cocoon of heat.   As you pass the hours of the night, you may need some additional warmth, so you get a few logs and throw them into the fireplace.   As you are stacking your wood, preparing to set them ablaze, you reach up and open the damper to allow access through the flue into the chimney.   Just when you open the damper, a collection of soot and ash tumbles down falling right onto your face.  

You shake your head, and accept it as inevitable, as a fire will always produce these particles.  You sit back and enjoy the comforting blanket of warmth pulsating from the dancing flames.  As winter progresses, you repeat the same procedure, not noticing the amount of ash and soot is growing larger each night you open the damper.  Finally, with two feet of snow surrounding your home, your fire blazing, smoke starts billowing into your living room.  It no longer is able to easily flow up through the chimney.  You panic. The only solution at this late moment in time is to put out the fire, and return the room to its chilly atmosphere.  This could have been avoided if you had used a chimney cleaning Arlington VA Company.

Never too early

Preventive maintenance is crucial for your home, especially for appliances and the structural integrity of the building.   You do not want to inspect a roof after it has sprung a leak.  You do not want to check the air filter on the furnace after it has stopped working.   You do not want to send for a chimney cleaner after your home is covered in soot and ash.  A chimney cleaning Arlington VA Company is on call all year round.  You can schedule an appointment at any time.  This is especially true for chimneys that are located above your furnace or boiler, as they are in use for the full twelve months of the year.  These appliances need to be properly ventilated through a clean chimney. 

Better safe than sorry

You may feel it is unnecessary to clean your chimney.  However, over time with continuous usage, there will be a buildup on the liner of the chimney of excess soot and ash.   Eventually, this grime and debris will grow until it obstructs the flow of smoke and ash through the chimney.  If you let this happen, your fireplace will be useless, unless you want to put a potted plant into it for decoration.  By being proactive, you can prevent any blockages in the chimney, allowing for a free and easy flow of toxins and contaminants out into the night air, away from your breathable living space.   A warm cozy fire is inviting.  In order to maximize your enjoyment, use a chimney cleaning Arlington VA Company to remove all obstructions inside your chimney. 


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Soot and ash in your living room

You cannot figure it out. Every day during the winter you find a layer of soot and ash on the floor of your living room where your fireplace is located.   The ceiling is turning a darker shade, with some evidence of blackening.  It makes no sense.  You sit in your chair, reading a book, before a warm fire.There is no smoke entering your home, no debris sparking into the room, and no ash emanating from the fireplace.Yet, every day there is more and more buildup in the room.   You are confused.  You stop using your fireplace.One day you go into your basement to do laundry, and you notice that there is a layer of soot on the floor by the furnace.  Now, you are really concerned.  Is your home producing soot?  Is someone sneaking into your house and throwing ash all over the place? No, the answer is much simpler.You need chimney cleaning service in Fairfax VA.

What is going on?

It is obvious that a fire produces ash and smoke that need to be sent into the night air.  In order to do this, a chimney is constructed over your fireplace.  In addition, any appliance that burns wood or gas, such as a wood pellet stove, furnace or boiler, needs to be ventilated.   The fireplace and these appliances create armful toxics which are expelled into the air.If there is no place for them to go, they will remain in your home, covering your flooring, ceiling and furniture.The toxics will also stay in the air, causing long term effects as you breathe the unknown substances into your lungs. If you take a look at your home, you have two chimneys, one for your fireplace, and one for other appliances, like the furnace.In order to make sure that these systems are properly ventilated, you need to get your chimney cleaned by a professional.
 
What will they do?

A chimney cleaning Fairfax VA Company will give you peace of mind when you operate your fireplace or wood burning stove.  They will use automated vacuums, brushes, and sweepers to clean the inside of your chimney.   They will insure that the chimney damper is working properly.  This is the device that controls the opening between the chimney and the appliance or fireplace. The liner of the chimney will be completely swept clean so that all debris and previous buildup of soot and ash is removed. This will enable a free flow of the smoke, ash, and soot from your fireplace and appliances through the chimney into the night sky.

Living in comfort

It is always the unknown obstacles and problems that cause the most concern.  Your chimney is hidden behind bricks and mortar, unseen by your eyes.  You only think about the liner of the chimney when it is not working, and that is too late.  Chimney cleaning may not be at the top of your priority list, but it should be very close.  By choosing a chimney cleaning Fairfax VA Company to sweep your chimneys, you are insuring the air you breathe in your home is free of contaminants. 
 

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