If you haven't had your chimney cleaned, this year, you might want to make an appointment, soon. Some chimney cleaning companies have received a lot more calls for service over the past three months. ABL Chimney Sweep will clean and inspect 8-12 chimneys per day, depending on how far away the house it. The owner, Lee Squire, says business has tripled this year.
"It's been crazy," Squire said. "Ever since like the middle of July, we have been booked out four or five weeks."
Squire says it is critical to get your chimney cleaned, at least once a year, if you burn wood. The maintenance gets rid of flammable, and potentially dangerous buildup.
"The creosol that builds up in there is like a heavy tar," Squire said. "The thicker it gets, and if it heats up, it turns back into a liquid, puts off a gas that is highly flammable, and it can cause a chimney fire."
One of Squire's customers is Kathleen Gonzalez. She booked her appointment more than a month ago. She uses her fireplace at least twice a week, during the winter and spring months.
"It's one of those things that I do to get ready for the holidays before you want to put up the stockings and the material items around your fireplace," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says ABL Chimney Sweep does a good job of cleaning her fireplace and chimney, but also offers helpful safety tips.
"Before, I was cleaning the fireplace a little too much and now I'm not cleaning it enough," Gonzalez said. "So, I'm gonna find the right balance to keep from having a fire within my own home."
Preventing house fires is the main reason Squire tries to educate his customers.
"The more I see them, the safer I can keep them," Squire said. "The more information I have, the more I can teach them how to burn right and what's going on because it's not like burning a campfire."
Squire says hard woods like almond, madrone and oak are the best for your fireplace, but he likes to mix it with a mixture of softer wood, too.
"Juniper or tamarack or some kind of pine, so you get a hotter burning, longer lasting fire that leaves less creosol," Squire said.
He says it is best to avoid burning cardboard or paper with colored ink, like wrapping paper.
"Remember those political ads that everybody was really happy to burn? You want to be careful with those because they're inked and they're glossy," Squire said. "That ink, when you heat it up, just really turns into glue for the smoke."
Squire says it is also important to place the fireplace grate as far back as possible. If it is closer to the front, more smoke will go into the house, while more heat escapes up the chimney.
"You've got to remember, if you're burning inside, you're also breathing what you're burning, a little bit. So, we want to make it as efficient and safe as possible," Squire said.
With Christmas approaching, it is important to keep your tree away from the fireplace, and keep flammable materials like curtains away. One spark can ignite a catastrophic fire.
