Our Company Blog

Enjoy the Fireplace with These Holiday Drinks

During the holiday season, the fireplace is a traditional gathering spot for many families. While sitting around a warm and cozy fire while you catch up with visiting family and friends can be a perfect way to celebrate this time of the year, it can be even more festive when you serve special holiday drinks to your guests. You may already know that Atlas Chimney is the top chimney company in the Austin area. However, not only does our staff have the trusted knowledge and experience in professional chimney maintenance, repair, and installation services, but we also consider ourselves experts on the best holiday beverages to enjoy by the fireplace. We would like to share with you some suggestions of what to serve during your fireside holiday moments this year, along with a few fireplace safety reminders.

HOT HOLIDAY COCKTAILS

If you are hosting a holiday party at your home this year, you may be looking for the perfect cocktail to add even more cheer to the festivities. In Country Living’s “40+ Winter Drinks to Sip Around the Fireplace This Christmas,” you will find a nice variety of holiday-themed cocktails that will keep your guests warm and happy. Those who love the traditional eggnog drink will enjoy the Eggnog and Bailey’s, Cinnamon White Russian, S’mores Martini, and the Spiked Coconut Vanilla Steamer. If you would like to serve a more fruity type of cocktail, check out the recipes for the Vanilla Cranberry Mimosa and the Blood Orange Moscow Mule.

HOT HOLIDAY-THEMED DRINKS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

For family celebrations, Country Living also features a great deal of non-alcoholic holiday beverage suggestions that both the children and the adults will enjoy drinking by the fireplace. You will find several festive variations on hot chocolate, including Spiced Mexican, Nutella, Gingerbread, Mint White Chocolate, and Grinch. A favorite of our staff, the Peppermint Oreo Milkshake is the perfect addition to any holiday gathering. If you are looking for a new punch recipe for your holiday parties, the Christmas Day Punch not only tastes delicious; it also looks colorful and cheerful and will add to any seasonal party decor.

To be able to fully relax around the fireplace with your guests during the holiday season, you should follow a few fire safety tips. Have your chimney professionally swept and inspected before the holiday season begins. Make sure all of your holiday decorations, including your tree, stockings, and greenery accents, are placed at least three feet away from the fireplace. Place a screen in front of the hearth to protect children and pets from getting too close to the fire. Considering these fire safety practices can prevent an accidental fire from ruining your holiday celebrations.

Atlas Chimney would like to wish you and your family a very happy holiday. Contact us for any of your professional chimney maintenance, repair, and installation needs you may have this winter.

Beware of Poured Chimney Liner Insulation Mix

One of the essential components of your chimney system is the chimney liner. The chimney liner protects the wooden framework around the chimney from coming into contact with extremely hot temperatures that a fire produces inside the flue. Your liner also keeps the bricks and mortar joints inside the chimney from becoming damaged by the corrosive gases and vapors in the combustion process. A chimney liner provides a properly sized flue to match the size of your hearth heating appliance if you are updating your old masonry fireplace by installing a newer and more efficient insert. As fireplace inserts have gained popularity over the past decade, the need for chimney liner insulation has increased because of the space left between the old masonry chimney and the new stainless steel liner.

However, not every type of chimney liner insulation works properly. Our experienced chimney technicians at Atlas Chimney have discovered through our years working on chimneys in the Austin area trying to remove damaged liners and having problems because of the poured insulation job. This makes it difficult to get the liner out. We would like to tell you more about this faulty chimney liner insulation and why pouring insulation mix does not work. We will also share how we can properly insulate your new stainless steel liner with the right materials to work properly and meet zero clearance codes.

Why does poured liner insulation that does not work as it claims?

According to Chimneys.com, using poured insulation around a stainless steel chimney liner to get a zero clearance rating is just about impossible to do correctly. One reason is that the consistency of poured insulation mix makes it unable to flow consistently during the installation process. This causes the insulation to be uneven and unable to center inside the space between the older masonry structure and the new, smaller stainless steel liner. Unlike a cast-in-place poured liner, insulation mix does not come with a centering device from the manufacturer. In fact, some manufacturers do not even include the importance of making sure the mix is centered. This is why it can be so challenging to remove a liner that was installed with poured insulation mix.

How can Atlas Chimney properly insulate my chimney liner?

As chimney sweeps that are certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), our chimney technicians pledge to ensure every installation will meet all local building and safety codes and standards. We would never use shortcuts that could lead to a failure to get zero clearance. You can trust us to properly insulate your chimney liner with techniques like snap wraps and half-inch foil-faced insulated blankets and a guarantee that our installation of these chimney insulation products meets zero clearance.

Unfortunately, using poured insulation mix with stainless steel chimneys is being pushed and recommended by manufacturers and chimney technicians, even though it could fail to meet codes and lead to problems in the future. Contact us at Atlas Chimney to schedule our professional and trusted chimney liner installation and insulation services.