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Up until municipal natural gas systems and easy rural propane delivery become common, burning wood in a stove was one of the most common methods of home heating.
That means that many homes still contain fully functional wood-burning stoves and chimneys.
Of course, like any home heating system, wood-burning stoves and chimneys need maintenance. Without periodic cleaning, you risk a buildup of a flammable substance called creosote in your chimney.
Creosote can ignite and create a chimney fire.
While this might sound like a call for DIY chimney cleaning to prevent fires, there are several good reasons you should leave chimney cleaning to the pros. Keep reading to learn more.
1. DIY Chimney Cleaning Is Dangerous
The chimney cleaning process almost always involves going up on your roof. Unfortunately, going up on your roof is dangerous if you don’t have the right training and gear. It’s incredibly easy for you to lose your balance and fall or roll off your roof.
Even a one-story fall can break bones or leave you with other serious injuries. Professional chimney cleaners, such as Almex Construction Inc., use ropes and even harnesses to ensure their safety on a roof.
2. It Can Get Expensive
While a chimney cleaning kit will get you some bare essentials, there is a big difference between DIY chimney cleaning tools and professional chimney cleaning tools.
Professionals will use powered rotary tools, specialized chemicals, and even camera equipment to ensure they remove all the creosote from your chimney.
While you could invest in all of the same equipment, it’ll likely cost more than you’ll want to spend on a project that happens once a year.
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3. It’s Messy
Accumulated creosote isn’t just hazardous in terms of chimney fires, it’s actually bad for your health. That becomes especially problematic with open wood stoves during cleaning. The accumulated creosote and soot can spill out into your home.
That cleaning debris can prove very difficult to clean. Professionals know the best methods for preventing the mess from spilling into your home.
4 You Might Miss Other Problems
Some DIY homeowners will go for a clean chimney from the bottom approach. While this sounds good, it also means you never get a close look at the state of your chimney.
A structural problem with the chimney in terms of damaged masonry or a damaged flue is also a danger to your home.
Chimney cleaning professionals know the danger signs and can alert you to the problem.
Leave Chimney Cleaning to Pros
DIY chimney cleaning sounds good at first blush. After all, people DIY home improvement projects that look a lot more difficult than that all the time.
Yet, an improperly cleaned chimney can become a dangerous fire hazard, where so many other DIY projects are comparatively safe.
Leaving chimney cleaning duties to professionals helps ensure that your stove works properly, your chimney is safe, and you won’t get hurt in the cleaning attempt.
Looking for more home improvement tips, tricks, or ideas. Check out our home improvement articles in the Home Improvement section.
