Staging a house fireplace is one of the most overlooked gems in selling your home. A clean firebox and spotless screen or glass sells a home. Often, the fireplace and chimney are centerpieces of a large den or living room. If the fireplace screen, glass door or wood stove are dirty, the buyer may assume the chimney and chimney cap are also not well maintained.
Use a glass cleaner designed to remove the soot and ash from the glass if the fireplace has a glass door or you have a wood stove with a glass door, The glass will shine once the soot and grime are removed. This is the first level of cleaning in staging a house fireplace.
Cleaning the glass is number one for a well viewed fireplace
The second most important part of the fireplace is the bricks of the chimney or the flue pipe of the wood stove. Over time, the bricks can build up soot from the fumes of the fireplace. Use a highly diluted bleach and water solution to scrub the bricks. Pay attention to the mortar of the fireplace and chimney. The often white mortar will turn dark over time.
This difference in color between the upper and lower areas of the chimney and fireplace are noticeable. A buyer or prospect looking at the home will make a judgement, good or bad, as to the maintenance of the overall house based on the dirt of the fireplace.
Use binoculars to view the chimney from outside of the house. Is the chimney cap clean and in place? Is there any dark spots of soot or mold on the chimney? Can the flashing be seen and is it in place?
Most home inspectors do not do a thorough inspection of fireplaces. Therefore, many are not qualified to make a judgement about the safety and efficiency of wood stoves and fireplaces with chimneys.
Viewing a chimney and cap from the outside for staging.
In conclusion, make the fireplace and chimney a focal point of your living area. Keep it clean and inspected at least yearly for optimum operation and your family’s safety.
Creosote buildup on chimney cap is very dangerous. This highly combustible soot tar mixture is devastating during a chimney fire. Clean it up as soon as possible.
This is an actual customer’s chimney cap completely covered in creosote build up. Years of wood burning without a professional chimney sweep allowed this buildup to happen. It is amazing any smoke or fumes were leaving this chimney at all.
A chimney fire caused by creosote buildup near the chimney cap.
Burning more than a cord or rick of wood a year will develop a creosote buildup left unattended over the years. This tar like substance is very flammable. Cleaning and sweeping this out is NOT a do-it-yourself weekend warrior job. The chimney is often high off of the ground. The roof pitch is not easy to walk on for most people.
Our customers tell us the biggest reason they hire out the chimney inspection and cleaning is fear of heights and their safety. When cleaning the creosote buildup on a chimney cap, our team always wears a 5 point safety vest and safety glasses with cut proof hand gloves.
The best option is completely removing and replacing the chimney cap with a new stainless steel custom chimney cap. Designed, cut, installed and sealed, a new chimney cap will serve your home for decades. Creosote is simply too hard and dangerous to remove completely.
We are often asked how often to clean my chimney with normal use. We recommend yearly and have a Big Ass Cleaning special for a limited time. More importantly, the yearly inspection determines if future problems are starting to show up.
Our special includes a chimney camera with video capabilities. We run this camera up and down the entire chimney flue and record the results. This shows us any mortar or degrading in the bricks.
The special we are running now includes a full chimney sweep, a camera inspection, a 30 point inspection with a certificate (if you are selling your house soon) and free travel expense within 50 miles of Knoxville, TN. Therefore, it is a sweet deal to jump on our special during this season.
How often to clean my chimney?
Don't let your chimney get this much soot and creosote buildup.
Free travel expense within 50 miles of Knoxville, TN
Again, so many customers ask us how often to clean my chimney, we ask how much wood do you burn a year. If you burn a cord (or ric) a year, we recommend yearly inspections and cleaning. 3 cords or more of wood should be inspected twice a year.
