Our Handy Homeowner Tip of the month is all about fireplaces. We know Santa has already come and gone from your fireplaces and chimneys but keeping them in shape for next year is important.

If you have a true mason fireplace, like most in New Albany, it is important to burn 1 good, hot fire a year. Not using your fireplace every year can compromise the fire brick inside of the chimney. Burning one fire a year dries out the masonry and prevents cracks from forming in the mortar joints. Cracks inside your fireplace are very costly, upwards of $4,000 to repair. You can save yourself quite a lot of money if you turn on the gas log, gas starter and build one fire a year to really dry it out in the wintertime, especially as we go into these colder months.

If you plan on burning a lot of fires, you should be sure to have your chimney checked out annually. We advise you not to burn pine or any softwoods, only hardwoods. Sap in softwood is what causes creosote on the inside of the chimney and will catch on fire. A common cause of house fires is the creosote build up inside chimneys due to using bad wood. For chimney cleaning services, we recommend Whempys or Blackburn’s Chimney Service.

If you need another professional service please don’t hesitate to reach out at info@thomasriddle.com. We work with the same trusted people time and time again because they do quality work for great prices!