Creosote, the Unseen Fire Threat
When a qualified chimney sweep cleans your chimney, they extract a flammable, tarry substance known as creosote. When it is allowed to build up inside your chimney, there is a heightened risk of a chimney fire moving through your home. A substantial creosote buildup can also hamper your chimney’s draft. When creosote builds up, it constricts the flue passage and makes an effective draft unlikely. Our trained and experienced chimney sweeps have the equipment to dislodge and remove creosote from your chimney’s interior, so you can safely enjoy your fireplace.
Unsafe Blockages
If your Chambersburg home is blessed with a welcoming fireplace in the middle of winter, you can bet on local wildlife in your area seeing it as the perfect winter home. Warm air lofting from your chimney is the ideal warm, dry sanctuary for bird and squirrel nests; bats, raccoons, and any other wildlife that find it too much to resist. These nests can block your chimney’s venting process.
Your chimney can also collect clogs, like trash, leaves, and pine needles. These blockages can prevent smoke and toxic gases from leaving your chimney. That's dangerous; the smoke and gases can be pushed back into your home. Carbon monoxide and smoke are well-known causes of illness or death.
Water-Damaged Chimneys
If you've seen a chalky white film on your brick, that's efflorescence. Looks like nothing, I know. It tells you water is getting into the masonry, and every time it freezes and thaws, it pushes things apart a little more. Left alone, it stops being a cosmetic issue and becomes a structural one. Have a pro take a close look.
Damaged Chimney Crowns
The crown is the concrete cap on top of a chimney. You can't see it from the ground, so cracks can sit there for years without anyone noticing. Water will inevitably get in, work its way down, rot out whatever it touches, rust the metal parts, and end up pooling in your firebox. Just because you can't see cracks in a chimney crown doesn't mean it isn't there.
Meticulous Inspections in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Maintaining your chimney means routine inspections. We use a three-tiered inspection to ascertain if your chimney and its parts are damaged, such as worn chimney liners and rusted components.
Video inspections are an integral part of our technique. Our chimney experts inspect your chimney’s interior to find any potential issues.
Dependable Chimney Sweeping and Repair in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
If your chimney has been inspected and we find defective parts or wear and tear in your chimney liner that leads to tears, our chimney sweeps will perform any needed maintenance. Here are some of the repair types we do:
- Masonry brick and stone repair
- Waterproofing
- Chimney cap, flue cap, or chase cover replacement and repair
- Chimney crown repair
- Chimney refurbishing
- Chimney rebuilding
- Tuckpointing
Chimney Liner Repair or Replacement in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Your chimney has a protective liner inside. Chimney liners are required to guard your chimney’s masonry against scorching temperatures. If your chimney’s masonry is subjected to high temperatures over and over, it can cause it to be compromised, which will allow the heat from your chimney to set beams or insulation in your attic on fire and spread to the rest of your house instantly. If your chimney liner has been punctured, we will replace it with the right type of liner for your chimney.
Leaking Chimneys
If water gets into a chimney’s masonry, it can wreak significant damage. In Pennsylvania, temperatures can climb and plunge quickly, causing bricks or stones in your masonry chimney to expand and contract, leading to cracks and falls that can pose a hazard to your family and pets. We know how to stop chimney leaks, so your chimney will last for decades.
Anderson’s Chimney Sweep and Masonry Service Provides Unmatched Chimney Sweeping and Inspections in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Find out for yourself why your neighbors trust us to care for their chimneys. If you are in Chambersburg, PA; Carlisle, PA; Hagerstown, PA; Waynesboro, PA; or Shippensburg, PA, and are considering having your chimney cleaned and inspected, our trained, experienced chimney sweeps will clean and inspect it. Once we are done, we will give you a written summary of our findings. Don’t put off having your chimney cleaned and inspected. Contact us today before it becomes an expensive headache.