The essential ingredient to a successful fire, the right firewood can provide you with convenient, effective, and safe heat all winter long. Many homeowners with a fireplace know very little about choosing and storing firewood correctly. Our customers at The Mad...
The most important maintenance task to ensure fireplace safety, chimney sweeping should be done at least once a year. According to The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), and other fire safety organizations, an...
All homeowners should be aware of the dangers that can lurk inside their chimneys. Many deprioritize chimney maintenance in favor of other, more easily accessible household chores. This is a huge no-no! Your chimney may appear fine on the outside but could be...
Parging 101: All You Need to Know First things first. Let’s define parging. What is it really? Parging is the age-old way of protecting, caring for, or the decorating of any wooden or masonry layer with a stucco material. To parge enables the structure to last years....
It is important to keep animals out of your chimney for many reasons, but we find that most of our customers don’t truly understand this until they have an animal that lives—or one that has died—inside their chimney. Not only are animals a nuisance in terms of the...
Many homeowners don't prioritize the maintenance of dryer vents. They often deem it as unimportant and not a top priority. But the fact is, dryer vents actually need to be cleaned regularly to reduce the risk of fires in your home.
Repairing a Leaky Chimney Water they say is the source of life; it nourishes our body and it is essential to all living things. But for chimneys, it’s totally the opposite. You see, it’s hard to have water inside the chimney. It creates all sorts of problems that I’m...
According to the CSIA, problems with your chimney’s flue can pose serious risks to your home and family, as it’s no longer able to perform its primary function: to safely contain and vent the products of combustion to the outside of your home.
Getting the most out of your chimney helps you save energy and ultimately, money. Understanding what your sweep is doing and why, may make decisions easier.
If there’s an element that comes to mind first when we’re talking about chimney systems, it’s fire — your chimney is there, after all, so you can enjoy a fire in your home. But really, the key to your chimney doing its job is air — it’s designed to carry hot air and...
