How A Chimney Sweep Can Protect You From Unnecessary Fire Hazard

Posted by SweepSafe on January 4th, 2023

Long winter nights may take you to cozy up in front of a crackling fire with a mug of tea and a good book. All those months of burning wood, still, can inflict fire on your fireplace, leaving you to call in a professional chimney sweep to clean everything out for you.

Yes, chimney sweeps do exist outside the world of Disney pictures. They are responsible for a wide range of duties that help to save us from fires, including removing creosote that has been built up in the walls, taking care of soot buildup, examining the structure, and recommending repairs as demanded. Creosote is a natural substance that’s released in small quantities by all woods when they burn. It tends to accumulate over time along the inner walls of the chimney, as well as in other areas, where it sticks and hardens. However, it can cause a fire to break out in the chimney stack If enough of it builds up in the chimney and becomes too hot. Unlike ash and soot, which can be removed by cleaning it with a wire brush, creosote requires more detailed hard work, including the use of certain chemicals to break up the solidified buildup.

As the name implies, a chimney sweeps UK is also responsible for sweeping to remove the residue that results from routine fireplaces. However, the accumulated debris can black up the flue, which would stop air from flowing in and out freely, If this isn’t done periodically. Sweeping also removes leftover bits of wood or ash that may catch fire again and become the reason for the fire.

The examination and maintenance of prefabricated fireplaces and fuel-burning appliances, including wood-burning fireplaces and stoves, are also in the chimney sweep’s job description and its chimney sweep training. The flues of both water heaters and furnaces must be observed, as well as any hearth particulars that use gas, similar to logs or fireplaces. A smokeshaft is meant to allow the smoke to exit a home even though the temperatures are meant to stay fairly low. Sometimes it’s possible to have a quite small fire that does not do major damage, but only cracks or shifts the tile lining the chimney flue’s. This is a quite dangerous situation, as it creates a path from the fire to the home’s walls. In the event of a second, more severe fire, further damage could result. The sweepers also make sure that prefabricated fireplaces have been installed duly, checking that the pipes are each connected and the unit is in good condition, as these are two of the leading causes of fires involving fireplaces and chimneys.

The main concern of rooftop cleansers when working on machines fueled by oil painting or gas is that they’re duly vented, as these chemicals released are vastly more dangerous than those produced by burning wood. Sweepers check the connection pipes for leaks, check that the flue is the right size, and look for cracked or shifted tiles or other damage in the structure that could lead to dangerous gases like carbon monoxide escaping into the home of people.

Original Source: Chimney sweep organisation UK