When you buy a home, sell a home, have a change in fuel type, after a chimney fire…

We sweep chimneys across America everyday. One of the common questions we get is in the title of the blog today: When should I have a Chimney Inspector look at my Fireplace? So here goes:

• When you are buying or selling a home you should definitely have the chimney inspected by a Qualified Chimney Professional
• When you are buying or selling you should have a Level 2 inspection completed.
• When you update your appliance- that is your wood stove or gas stove or pellet stove. Have the sweep inspect the flue and use his live scan video camera to look up in the middle section of the flue, not just a quick look down from above and up from below.
• When the fuel type is changing. This is important. Such as switching from a gas log set back to a wood burning fireplace. Or when switching from a wood burning fireplace to a gas log set. Get a Level 2 inspection done, it’s the code (NFPA 211 Chapter 14)
• When the need arises while performing a Level 1 inspection. If the technician sees a need to inspect deeper and farther, why not let him? He just might find a problem that was lurking just out of view- perhaps an unlined flue, or a breach in the flue tiles, or an improperly constructed fireplace or chimney system posing a hazard to life or health.
• When you have a chimney fire. You should always run a camera up the inside of the chimney after a high heat even such as a chimney fire!

Is it necessary to always have a chimney inspector look at my fireplace?

Sometimes a professional chimney inspector is not necessary for identifying some issues. Such as the incorrectly installed wood stove in today’s blog post! This beauty is missing legs, but our client’s previous home owner didn’t let that stop him. That is what all thread is for. Also we noticed that the flooring underneath was plywood- not code and also not a good idea. Furthermore the wood stove  pipe appeared to be single wall pipe passing through the structure above, and finally through the combustible wood roof with no roof support box. We recommend keeping your eyes open and thinking carefully and reading thoroughly when you install a wood stove in your own home. Reading the manual is always a good start, and was not apparently done in this case.

Midtown Chimney Sweeps of Omaha, Nebraska,  Seattle, Washington Los Angeles, Boulder, Grand Rapids, Michigan Lancaster, California Santa Clarita, Topanga Canyon, Denver, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Aspen, Vail, and Littleton, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Bremerton, Des Moines, Iowa, Davenport and Clear Lake, Iowa wishes you and your family a safe burning season this spring!

We look forward to serving you today!