A properly functioning fireplace is an essential component to the overall safety of your home. Proper maintenance will ensure that your fireplace is ready for use each heat season and that any major hazards which could endanger those inside or around the home are avoided. Brick + Ember Outfitters is the go-to company for homeowners in the greater Indianapolis area requiring annual fireplace maintenance services.

What Does a Fireplace Maintenance Service Involve?

Proper fireplace maintenance includes (but is not limited to):

Annual Sweeps and Inspections

Just like any other heating or cooling system in your home, having a professional sweep and clean your chimney annually can prevent potential hazards for you and those in your home. Sweeps remove the creosote, which will have built up from burning wood, and ensure all fireplace components (firebox, damper, smoke-chamber, etc.) are in proper order.

Cleaning Out Ashes

While a thin layer of an ash-bed is not a bad thing during heat season (as it can help to insulate and keep the fire burning hotter), a mound of ash can reduce the breathability of a fire.

Burning Seasoned Wood

This may a greater tip for chimney maintenance, but as it concerns the place where wood is burned (the firebox), we wanted to throw it in there for you. Ensure that the wood you are burning is seasoned – not with salt or pepper. The term means wood that has been cut and dried for a significant amount of time. Long enough to allow the sap or any other moisture in the wood to dry up.

If you burn greener or unseasoned wood, you increase the potential for the highly flammable creosote to build up further down in the chimney’s flue system. Wood-burning fireplace maintenance can remove this build up and improve the performance of your fireplace.

The Condition of the Fireplace Walls, Damper and Smoke-Chamber:

This is a key responsibility as a homeowner who utilizes the fireplace! The walls of your fireplace will likely either be masonry (firebrick),  or what we in the industry call “refractory panels.” These line the walls of the fireplace and are extremely essential in containing the combustion (or fire) and can withstand the immense heat of the fires. Mortar joints between the firebrick can begin to erode from use, the firebrick itself can crack, and refractory panels can crack and split. Each instance allows smoke and any other byproducts of your fires (like the creosote mentioned above) to enter the surrounding structure of the home — fires that are not contained are not friendly fires, ever.

The damper should be capable of being opened and closed fully as to allow proper fire venting and to create an efficient burn when the fireplace is in use. The smoke chamber is the space which is located just above the firebox (where the fires are burned). Smoke from your fires head up to this space and circulates in a helical or spiral manner. There should not be visible holes, cracks or spaces which you can see, allowing the smoke to travel anywhere but up into the flue system (grab a flashlight for this assessment).

Generally you won’t see much past this point, which is why a camera inspection is always advised prior to heat season. Ensuring your fireplace is properly maintained is critical to the safety of your home. If you notice any functional concerns, such as firebrick cracking, missing mortar, or cracked refractory panels, give us a call. All of our chimney Outfitters are certified by The Chimney Safety Institute of America, possessing a working knowledge of your fireplace classification and industry regulations, codes and safety standards.

Gas Fireplace Maintenance Services

To keep your gas fireplace in tip-top shape, our Brick + Ember Outfitters experts recommend that you perform annual maintenance. For your fireplace to remain efficient and safe, always pay attention to gas fireplace and gas log maintenance. Gas fireplace maintenance has three categories, including:

Safety Inspection

Our qualified gas fireplace experts know the importance of a gas fireplace that works properly and safely. When our certified team of experts visit your home, they will start by testing the gas pressure and the main burner and adjust where necessary. They will also check for gas leaks and give your gas fireplace a clean bill of health. Other aspects of your gas fireplace that our professionals will check during the inspection include:

• The gas line
• Vents and smoke flumes
• Ignition system

Gas Fireplace Cleaning

Cleaning your gas fireplace is important for aesthetics and safety. For safety purposes, ensure that you clean your gas fireplace every month. Because it’s not wood-burning, basic cleaning to get rid of cobwebs and other debris won’t take much of your time.

Quality glass cleaners are best for wiping the inside and outside parts of the fireplace screen to protect it from being stained or permanently discolored. While you can conduct basic cleaning by yourself, you will need to call a qualified Brick + Ember Outfitters technician to deep clean your gas fireplace.

Cleaning the Gas Logs

Another major step to maintaining a functional fireplace is cleaning the gas logs. Before your gas fireplace tune-up, we will ensure that both the gas and pilot light are completely shut off to allow the gas logs to cool. Then, we will carry the logs outside to remove the soot.

Contact Brick + Ember Outfitters for Fireplace Maintenance

At Brick + Ember Outfitters, we are dedicated to helping you achieve a fully functional and aesthetic fireplace. With our routine chimney and fireplace maintenance services, you can rest easy knowing your fireplace will stay in top shape. Contact us online or call us at (317) 500-1250 for more information about our fireplace maintenance solutions.