Winters in Houston, TX are usually mild compared to our neighbors to the north. However, many people use their fireplaces in the winter months to help heat their home. In order for your fireplace to work effectively and safely, chimneys should be inspected and cleaned, if needed, on a yearly basis.
Improper maintenance to the chimney can cause a number of problems which can lead to very expensive major repairs. One of the most common problems is a chimney fire that starts in the flue from a build up of creosote. These chimney fires generate extremely high temperatures that can cause the fire to spread to the rest of the house very quickly.
The Chimney Safety Institute recommends that if you use the fireplace three or more times a week during the heating season, you should have the chimney inspected and cleaned once a year. If you use it less than three times a week, you should at least have it inspected and cleaned if necessary. Some homeowners think that because they don’t use the fireplace very often during the winter that they shouldn’t have much creosote build up. However, the colder to flue, the greater the condensation, so creosote buildup is the greatest at the beginning of a fire, before the flue has fully heated up.
