2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. Blog: Archive for the ‘Chimney Cleaning’ Category

The Biggest Benefits of Having a Clean Chimney

Monday, January 13th, 2025
fireplace-repair-chimney

At 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc., we know how much our clients in the Twin Cities love gathering around a cozy fireplace during Minnesota’s chilly winters. But did you know that keeping your chimney clean is just as important as enjoying that warm glow? Regular chimney cleaning provides more than just peace of mind—it ensures your home’s safety, comfort, and efficiency.

Let’s talk about the key benefits of maintaining a clean chimney and why we’re here to help you make it happen.

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Ways to Tell You’re Overdue for Chimney Cleaning

Monday, June 17th, 2024
chimney-cleaning

As a homeowner, maintaining your chimney is crucial for ensuring the safety and efficiency of your fireplace. Ignoring regular chimney cleaning can lead to various hazards, including chimney fires, carbon monoxide poisoning, and reduced heating efficiency. Here are some key signs that indicate you’re overdue for a chimney cleaning.

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What Sets Professional Chimney Sweeps Apart

Monday, September 25th, 2023
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If you have a fireplace in your home, you’ll need to have it routinely cleaned. This is an essential job because it helps keep the chimney working both effectively and safely. Allowing too much buildup to develop in a chimney will lead to bad venting and fire hazards.

But when it’s time for chimney cleaning in Bloomington, MN, who do you hire for the job? You have several options, but only one is the correct on:

  1. Get out some drop cloths, put on an old T-shirt, grab a broom and a ladder, and do it yourself.
  2. Find someone offering super-low prices to do the job.
  3. Hire professional chimney sweeps with proper certification.

The correct answer is “C.” We’ll explain why professional chimney sweeps stand apart from DIY and amateurs. Why they are the only people to consider hiring for your regular chimney and fireplace cleaning needs.

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Animals That Can Get in Your Chimney

Monday, August 28th, 2023
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Chimney cleaning in Minneapolis, MN is a job we recommend homeowners have scheduled regularly, especially for wood-burning fireplaces that leave behind creosote. But creosote isn’t the only reason you may need to have chimney cleaning: animals often get inside chimneys to nest.

Animals will not only create blockages, they can also be dangerous—and removing them often must be left to expert chimney cleaners. We have a lot of experience with the types of critters that like to set up homes inside Minnesota chimneys. Here are the most common ones that might choose your chimney for a temporary home.

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Can I Do My Own Chimney Cleaning?

Monday, August 14th, 2023
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On this site, we emphasize the importance of having regular chimney and chimney flue cleaning in Minneapolis, MN. We recommend a yearly cleaning along with a Level 1 chimney inspection to ensure the chimney is free of buildup of creosote and anything that may block it, and to check for possible damage and wear that needs repairs.

But are professionals like ours really necessary? You might wonder if you can clean the chimney yourself. Maybe you can find an online video tutorial. With a face mask, a set of old clothes, tarps on the ground, a few scrubbers on long handles, and a bit of elbow grease, you should be able to get the job done. Right…?

Although we encourage you to handle some chimney maintenance tasks on your own, the actual job of cleaning a chimney is something to leave to the professionals. We’ll explain why below.

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Common Misunderstandings People Have About Chimney Sweeping

Monday, June 5th, 2023
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Most people’s ideas of chimney sweeping come straight from Mary Poppins. That’s definitely a romantic image, and it does reflect something of what this job was like in the Victorian era, when combustion fires were used everywhere and had such efficiency problems that cleaning was an almost continual job.

Chimney sweeping is still necessary today for homes with fireplaces, but unfortunately most people have a limited understanding of the job, how it’s done, why it’s done, and when it needs to be done. 

We’re long-time experts when it comes to chimney sweeping in Minneapolis, MN, and we’d like to go through some of the common misunderstandings people have about this job.

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The Importance of Having a Professional Cleaning Your Chimney

Monday, May 24th, 2021

Would you let an amateur clean your teeth? Or would you make a DIY attempt at a major repair on your car? We certainly hope the answer to these questions would be no!

Some jobs are best left to the professionals. In the examples we just listed, you should visit a dentist or a car mechanic who is trained and licensed to perform the work your need. The same concept applies when it comes to cleaning your chimney. You need to work with a professional.

Professional services for your chimney aren’t just recommended, they’re necessary for the sake of your chimney’s wellbeing and yours too. Let’s look at the difference a professional can make when they perform your chimney cleaning in Minneapolis, MN.

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How Chimney Cleaning Helps You

Monday, October 12th, 2020
man-shadow-chimney-clean

Fall is finally here and you know what that means–it is time to decorate with some autumnal and Halloween themed décor if you haven’t already started! That’s right, you can break out the leaf wreaths, the pumpkins, and the cuddly blankets. But before you set everything up for the fall season, you likely will want to clean up a bit to make sure you aren’t adding dust onto dust.

While you are in the process of cleaning up around the house, it may be a great time to make sure that your chimney is ready for the fall season too. While, yes, the mantle might be ideal for that spooky vampire figurine, we are talking more about chimney cleaning in Edina, MN, rather than your dusting habits.

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Spring is the Best Time for a Sweeping!

Monday, May 13th, 2019

Spring has sprung! The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and homeowners all across the country are starting their spring cleaning extravaganza! Now is the perfect time to clean out your garage, sort through your summer clothes, and get rid of the stockpile nick-nacks that have accumulated in your home. Oh, and don’t forget! Now is the perfect time to schedule your chimney sweeping services!

If you haven’t already, be sure to schedule your chimney cleaning in Minneapolis as soon as possible! Spring is the perfect time to invest in these services, and if you keep reading below, we will explain why! So, what are you waiting for?

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What Do I Need to Clean My Chimney Myself?

Monday, May 14th, 2018

question-mark-blueReady to get your hands dirty? We hope so, because chimney cleaning can be a messy job! Of course, since we would never advise you to clean your chimney on your own, it’s only our hands that are going to be getting messy. We apologize for the fakeout, but there is absolutely no circumstance in which you are going to be able to clean your chimney on your own.

Chimneys may seem very straightforward. It’s just a brick tube jutting up through your house, right? Well, no. Not at all, really. If that were the case, then water would be pouring into your home when it rained, you’d have smoke blowing into your living space, and so on. It’s not just a matter of knowing how chimneys are designed and laid out, though. It is also a matter of knowing how to navigate that chimney in order to do a thorough job of cleaning it—not to mention having the tools to do so onhand.

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