February 2016 - Atlas Chimney

What to Expect From Your Chimney Sweep Appointment

When you own a home with a fireplace, you must keep up with maintaining the chimney to keep everything working efficiently and safely, and the most important maintenance task is scheduling an appointment for a professional chimney sweeping and inspection at least once a year. Recommended by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and other national fire safety organizations, these chimney maintenance services ensure that your chimney system poses no problems that could lead to hazardous situations. Atlas Chimney is proud to offer these services to the residents of the Austin area. All of our chimney sweeps have been certified by the CSIA, which means you can trust their training and experience to do the best job possible. We get a lot of questions from our customers about what they can expect from their chimney sweep appointments, so we thought we would let you know more about these services.

Atlas Chimney will arrive at your home within the time window you were given when you made the appointment.

We know how busy you are, and we value your time. We will never make you wait around all day for us to show up to sweep and inspect your chimney; however, we cannot guarantee that we can be at your home at a specific, precise time. This is why we will give you a time window of our arrival when you make your appointment. We hope you understand how important this flexibility is to us. Sometimes when we are sweeping chimneys, we run into an unforeseen problem that must be addressed, and this can cause us to run behind schedule. This is why that time window is so important. We are professional chimney technicians, not pizza delivery drivers who are able to get to your house in 30 minutes or less.

Atlas Chimney will take every precaution we can to keep your home clean.

Before we start sweeping, we will place tarps and drop cloths down around your fireplace to protect the area from getting dirty from soot. We also set up special vacuums that will be running during the entire process to keep soot and creosote from even entering your home. After we are finished, we will be sure to leave your home even cleaner than it was when we arrived.

Atlas Chimney will ensure you are safe from the hazards of a chimney fire or a carbon monoxide leak.

When we clean your chimney, we take great care to be sure that we remove every bit of creosote from the inside of your chimney. The CSIA has named creosote as the main cause of chimney fires because it is so flammable. Your risk of experiencing this type of fire is greatly reduced after we have swept your chimney. As we inspect your chimney, we will also be sure that your chimney contains no blockages or damage that could force carbon monoxide back into your home.

If you have not scheduled your annual chimney sweeping and inspection this year, contact us at Atlas Chimney to set up an appointment. We guarantee to keep your fireplace and chimney working efficiently and safely.

Chimney Leaks This Winter

Although we may not get a lot of snow here in the Austin area, we can get heavy amounts of rainfall. You may think your chimney can tolerate all of this rain, but, according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), water can adversely affect masonry chimneys by causing expensive damage and deterioration. The bricks and mortar of your chimney are porous and easily absorb water. Once water has begun to penetrate into your chimney, you could end up with serious water leak problems. Atlas Chimney takes water very seriously, and we offer several repair and preventive methods to keep your chimney working safely and efficiently. We have years of experience in inspecting chimneys for water leaks, and we would like to tell you the most common reasons of how water gets into your chimney.

You do not have a chimney cap installed on top of your chimney.

Without a cap, your chimney is a wide open door for water from rain and melted snow. Even if you do have a chimney cap, it could be damaged if it is older, and water can easily get through any cracks or gaps. Atlas Chimney sells and installs a wide variety of chimney caps, and we can help you pick out the best type of cap for your chimney if you do not have one or your existing cap is damaged. Not only do these caps keep water out of your chimney, but they also prevent birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals from entering to nest inside your chimney.

Your chimney crown has been cracked.

Most masonry chimneys are equipped with a crown at the top, but the constant exposure to the elements of weather can damage these crowns. When the crown is cracked, water leaks into your chimney through these cracks. Atlas Chimney can repair cracked chimney crowns to prevent chimney water leaks, and we can also construct brand new crowns if your existing crown is damaged beyond repair. We know how to properly design chimney crowns so that they have a slight angle that allows water to run off instead of accumulating to cause erosion damage.

You do not have a flashing system, or your existing flashing has been damaged.

The area where your chimney meets your roof is one of the most common locations for chimney water leaks, which is why you need a flashing system to protect this vulnerable area. If your flashing is damaged, it cannot do a good job of keeping water out of your chimney. In fact, it can cause water from rain to rush into your home. Atlas Chimney can create and repair flashing systems to effectively seal out water. We take sheets of metal that have been cut according to the measurements around your chimney where it meets the roof and wrap them around your chimney in layers to prevent water penetration.

Even if you have these chimney components installed on your chimney, water can still leak inside through the bricks and mortar joints. Contact us at Atlas Chimney to schedule a water leak inspection and to find out how our waterproofing services can give even more protection to your chimney against water penetration.

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