02/03/2020
This is a top post.
Why should you get your chimney swept in the Spring?
Every year in October as soon as it gets chilly our phone get ridiculously busy. It remains pretty relentless until about February.. Then it dies! Some days we have to ring our own number because we're not sure if the phone is working or not 😅. It's strange, because the Autumn and Winter aren't the best times to have your chimney swept at all..
In spite of this fact, which has been the case ever since phones became a method of booking us (prior to that, our Granddads, Great Granddads and Great Great Granddads would walk streets knocking on each door and sweeping every chimney in the road), it's the same every year. As more Chimney Sweeps have been popping up around us in the past decade or so, it's become even more noticeable.
We thought it might be an idea to reinforce some of the reasons we give to our customers why you should have your chimney swept in the Spring/Summer, or simply as soon after you've finished using it for the season as possible.
1. In the summer the air temperature outside is hotter; this means the air outside is warmer than the air inside the flue - this causes the air in the chimney to sink. The result of this is a horrible sooty smell in your house. The hotter it is, usually the stronger the smell.
2. In long periods of disuse, the soot in the chimney will get damp. Soot is very good at retaining moisture - this means that even when it's not roasting hot outside, the air in the chimney will be cooled - causing the air in the chimney to sink for the same reasons as in number 1 - except damp soot is even more stinky than dry soot.
3. Soot is very acidic. If soot sits inside your chimney all summer, it will eat away at the mortar in your chimney, or will corrode the steel if your chimney is lined (often the case if you have a stove/wood burner). Relining your chimney is very expensive - it ranges from a thousand to several thousands of pounds.
4. In the Spring, appointments are more widely available, so we can fit around your schedule better. It's not unusual to have to wait several weeks in the Autumn, and be offered a very specific time.
5. If there's a cold snap in September, how confident are you about lighting your fire? If your chimney is dirty, do you really want to risk a chimney fire? If not, you'll have to live through the cold snap without a fire, while you're waiting for your appointment which could be a couple of weeks wait.
6. If there's a problem with your chimney, you've got plenty of time to have it rectified before you want to start using the fire. If we arrive in October and let you know your chimney isn't safe for some reason, you will have to wait weeks or even months at that time of year for repairs to be carried out - everyone dealing with chimneys is busy that time of year. If you have repairs carried out in the summer, you'll have plenty of time before you need to use the fire.
7. We have more time. If we arrive to carry out a basic sweep in the Winter, we will have another job booked straight away afterwards. That means that if you need basic repairs such as replacement of fire rope, repairs with fire cement etc, you'll likely need another appointment. If it's the summer when we're not so busy, we will likely be able to sort the problem out there and then - saving money and time.
8. You're only insured in case of chimney fire or fireplace related problem for 365 from the date your chimney was last swept. This means if you routinely have your chimney swept in the busiest time of the year, you make the possibility of goung over the 365 days more likely. If you have your chimneys swept in the summer, it won't matter if you miss it by a few weeks as you won't be using the fire anyway.
9. You will give a poor old chimney sweep some summer spending money!! Chimney sweeps are POOR in the summer!! 😂
Finally, number 10. When we sweep your chimney, we will show you the brush sticking out of the top(unless your chimney is covered). It's usually a pretty green brush. Who wants to go outside in freezing and wet temperatures to see the brush? It's much nicer going out in the warm summer sun to see our pretty green chimney flower!!
There are more reasons than this, but to be honest, I'll be surprised if you got this far. If you did, I'll give you 50p. Seriously I will. Send me your PayPal and I'll get it right over!!!! Have a good Bank Holiday everyone.
