With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, the last thing you are probably thinking about is your chimney and fireplace system. However, after working hard all winter to keep you warm, your chimney is filled with creosote and soot, which can cause unpleasant odors during the hot and humid months. Winter weather can also damage the masonry materials of your chimney. Water that is trapped inside the bricks and mortar freezes and thaws throughout the winter, and this causes the masonry materials to crack, chip, break apart, become loose, and even fall from the chimney 
structure. If you do not have this damage repaired in a timely manner, the deterioration will get worse and lead to major water leaks and structural issues. For these reasons, Winston’s Chimney Service recommends that you schedule your annual chimney sweeping and inspection in the spring. Waiting until the fall can end up costing you more money as well as wasting your time. We would like to tell you why you should go ahead and take care of these chimney maintenance tasks now rather than later.
You will have an easier time scheduling the appointment you need.
National fire safety organizations like the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommend having your chimney professionally swept and inspected every year before you light the first fire. This means most people wait until the fall to schedule these services. At Winston’s Chimney Service, all of our CSIA-certified chimney sweeps have packed calendars in the fall, and it can be difficult to arrange an appointment on the date and time that is most convenient for you. You may have to wait for several weeks for your appointment, and this can cut into your fireplace time. On the other hand, the spring and summer is not as busy for our sweeps, which makes it easy to find an available appointment with us that is convenient for you.
You will not have to worry about unpleasant odors.
Having your chimney professionally swept in the spring will remove all of the creosote and soot that has accumulated inside your chimney over the winter. Winston’s Chimney Service takes great care to be sure all of the flammable creosote is gone because the CSIA names this natural compound as the leading cause of chimney fires. Not only is creosote hazardous, it also has a strong odor that gets worse in the hot and humid months of summer. Our professional chimney sweeping service will prevent those odors from invading your home.
You will protect your chimney from water leaks.
When Winston’s Chimney Service inspects your chimney, we will be looking for any damage to the exterior of your chimney that occurred over the winter that could be allowing water to easily enter your chimney. We will make recommendations for the repairs needed to keep your chimney safe from water leaks. If you wait to have the inspection in the fall, that damage could get much worse and very expensive. Taking care of this type of damage in the spring will protect your chimney from the heavy rains during the spring and summer.
Don’t wait until the fall to take care of your chimney. Contact us at Winston’s Chimney Service to go ahead and schedule your annual professional chimney sweeping and inspection this spring.
