Ready 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.
But I’m Really Very Handy!
That’s great. We believe that homeowners should be handy, and there is a lot of pride and satisfaction to be had in doing jobs around your home yourself and in doing them right. And that’s just the point. Cleaning a chimney right is not something that a homeowner can do (unless, of course, you’re a homeowner that also happens to be a professional chimney cleaner!). There is a reason why our technicians are so extensively trained and professionally certified, after all. Consider the following:
- We will complete a basic level 1 inspection. This is not an incredibly thorough chimney inspection—which you should also be scheduling on a regular basis—but it does give us the chance to assess all accessible parts of your chimney to discover existing problems. We’ll give you a written evaluation for your records, answer your questions, and make our professional recommendations.
- We’ll keep your home clean. If you think that you’re going to order a brushing apparatus from some online dealer and do the job yourself, you are going to have some serious cleaning up to do afterward. When we clean your chimney for you, we are going to use the right tools for cleanup as we go. That will prevent serious cleanliness issues around the living space, on your furniture, etc.
- It’s all about accessibility—or lack thereof. Not all fireplaces are designed and manufactured the same. An old masonry fireplace may be fairly straightforward in terms of accessing the damper and other components. Factory-built fireplace may have damper plates installed, though, making access much more difficult and requiring the right tools to open it up without damaging anything.
- We deal with animals, too. While a lot of homeowners are concerned about creosote buildup, water damage, and other elemental issues with their fireplaces—and rightfully so—there are also issues such as animal infestations and nests to deal with. We can remove animals and their nests while sanitizing everything before the job is done.
The most responsible homeowners out there are the ones that realize their own limitations. Don’t risk serious damage to your fireplace or chimney—or personal injury, for that matter—by attempting to clean your chimney on your own.
Let 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. handle your chimney cleaning in Minneapolis, MN.