4 Steps Needed to Maintain Your Fireplace and Chimney

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It is important to keep up with the maintenance on your fireplace and chimney to keep it working its best. If you have not been maintaining your fireplace, you may want to use a comapny of home inspection Tampa, such as Properly Inspected to come out and look at it. There are 4 steps that can be done to keep your fireplace and chimney running its best.

Tools and Materials Needed

• ·         Flat fireplace shovel
• ·         Bucket
• ·         Pair of rubber gloves
• ·         Soapy water in a spray bottle
• ·         Muriatic acid

1.    Remove the Ashes

In the cold weather season, you need to make sure that ashes do not build up more than 2 inches deep. Once the weather gets warm, you need to remove all of the ashes from the fireplace. To remove the ashes, you simply use a flat fireplace shovel to clean all of the ashes out of the fireplace. For easy removal, place the ashes in a bucket. If needed, you can use a shop vac to remove any ashes that you cannot get out with your shovel.

2.    Remove Soot and Fire Stains

To remove soot and fire stains from the fireplace, you need to first spraya mixture of soapy water on the surface area and let it sit there for 30 minutes. Once the soot and stains have had a chance to soften, you simple just scrub the area using a stiff wire brush.

3.    Getting Rid of Stubborn Stains

If you have stains that seem to not go away, you need to use muriatic acid, which is an abrasive chemical used to clean fireplaces. Warning: the acid is a harsh chemical, is toxic and complete care should be taken when using the chemical. You mix one part of the acid with 10 parts water and put the solution on the area. The chemical solution should remain on the area for approximately 30 minutes and you can then use a wire brush to the area. You can use the same process to clean the damper of the fireplace. When cleaning the damper, is the best to wear eye protection and gloves.

4.    Maintaining Chimney

The maintenance of your chimney should be handled by a professional. You can ask your Tampa home inspection tampa provided by companies they recommended to do this for you. There are simple things that a homeowner can do for their chimney. You can make sure that the chimney cap is in good condition by making sure it does not get clogged with leaves or other debris in it. Using a wire screen will keep all debris and animals from getting into your chimney. Yes, it is very common for animals to get into a chimney, especially if you do not use the chimney very often. You can also examine the mortar of the bricks to make sure it is not cracked or flaking away.  Finally, you can make sure that the flashing has a watertight seal around it.