| By :
Nick Messe
Cool fall, winter, and spring evenings provide the perfect opportunity to stoke up the fireplace for a calming, chill reducing atmosphere in your home. Cool fall, winter, and spring evenings provide the perfect opportunity to stoke up the fireplace for a calming, chill reducing atmosphere in your home. Curl up with a good book or enjoy a game with the family or a movie together around the pleasant crackling of the warm blaze. Regardless of how you like to enjoy your fire, it produces a great feel of warm comfort during chilly weather. The pleasantries of a fireplace make for an inviting venue, but neglecting the safety of your fireplace can turn a great evening into a disastrous tragedy. With the long winters in Chicago, contacting a trusted fireplace repair company could make the difference when enjoying your wood-burning fireplace. Consideration of wood-burning fireplace safety consists of several different elements. The easiest preventative measures of fire safety for your fireplace entail the actual fire area. Tiling the floor immediately in front of the fireplace, especially if the room contains carpet or a wood floor, will prevent small sparks from creating major safety hazards. Placing a screen or glass doors in front of the opening allows unmitigated enjoyment of the fire and creates a natural barrier for small children. Occasionally, insurance companies require certain specifications for fire safety around a wood-burning fireplace. The internal aspect of chimney safety proves more difficult to investigate. Usually, professionally licensed companies provide the most accurate evaluation of chimney needs. Chimney cleaning and chimney repair companies have the ability to give region specific suggestions for homes that use fireplaces for several months each year. Following evaluation of a fireplace and chimney, choosing the right products to insure the safety of the home and its inhabitants is crucial. Numerous options and varying regulations can leave the homeowner in a quandary. A fireplace repair expert provides direction regarding the type of damper and chimney spark arrestor required by code and appropriate for the individual chimney. Chimney spark arrestors sit on top of the chimney and allow necessary airflow, but keep debris from entering and sparks from escaping. Normally, a chimney spark arrestor is made with a metal frame surrounded by mesh and a metal cap on top. These tops come in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as metals. Chimney spark arrestors do require regular maintenance, similar to cleaning out gutters. Debris caught in the mess must be cleaned so positive airflow will not be inhibited. Any chimney cleaning company will provide this service along with other regular maintenance responsibilities. The proper damper will allow the homeowner to control the flow of air into the wood-burning fireplace area. Dampers also hold warm or cool air in the house when the wood-burning fireplace is not in use. Lock top dampers both lay on top of the chimney stack and are operated from inside. Lyemance dampers swivel from the middle, while lock tops rise up and down, usually sealing air flow with a gasket. Spider dampers provide replacement in pre-fab metal chimneys. Contacting a chimney repair company to evaluate and advise on chimney safety provides security and peace of mind for the enjoyment of your wood-burning fireplace all season long.
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