The chimney odors associated with burning a healthy fire are quite different than those associated with some type of problem. It is important to take note if something smells different than the scent of typical burning logs and to address it immediately. It could lead...
It is hard to overstate the importance of proper cleaning and maintenance of clothes dryers and their vents. Their contribution to single and two-family “residential building fires” has been dramatically reduced since the USFA’s 2009 report brought its importance to...
Chimney fires are scary in so many ways that the temptation to avoid thinking about them is almost irresistible. There are, however, good and bad ways to avoid thinking about these potentially explosive and massively destructive events. Mostly forgetting about chimney...
Spring is the perfect time to get your chimney in tip-top condition for the fall. When the last of winter’s fires is out, no new combustibles are going up the flue and no new creosote is forming. So far, so good! Now it is time to remove the creosote that is already...
Rumford fireplaces hold lots of paradoxes, not the least of which is the generally accepted superiority of its advanced design relative to modern ones. The unusual and highly efficient dimensions and curves of these revolutionary fireplaces were conceived by an...
We'd like to talk about what to call the maintenance of the mortar between the bricks in masonry construction. Technically, repointing is putting mortar between joints. Pointing is putting the mortar between the bricks to begin with, and tuckpointing is achieving a...
Even outdoors around a campfire, no one wants to be downwind of the smoke it puts off. It is more likely a survival instinct than watery eyes that causes all of us to keep moving as the wind shifts. Smoke, especially from wood, can impart a nice flavor to food but...
The dragging out of spring that we are experiencing this year is probably causing lots of unseen problems. One that we are aware of is the burning of wet wood, which produces more smoke, and which puts more toxic carbon monoxide in the air. Outside, this is an...
As we have recently learned too well, water can be as destructive as fire; our hearts still go out to those who suffered Sandy’s devastation. For chimneys, water can be more damaging than fire, and it does not have to reach flood level to cause it. Water is what...
Chimney swifts have been protected by federal law since 1918 with the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Interestingly, since they migrate over the Canadian border, they were first covered by a treaty between the United States and Britain. Part of the...
