Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

Why Chimney Flashing is so important

Every movie has its unsung heroes: those, who without them, the show would be incomplete. Yet few know about them. They aren’t glamorous or showy and are often unseen. Your home has these same behind-the-scenes essentials, and chimney flashing is one of them. It doesn’t sport the stature of the majestic chimney or the glamour of a fireplace, but flashing is a key component that keeps both of these stars looking good.

Flashing: The unsung hero

The main job of flashing is to provide a waterproofing seal. When leaks occur in your home, the most common concern is that it’s a roof problem, but very often loose or missing flashing is the reason for a leak. Fortunately, it’s a very easy problem to solve. Flashing can become loose for a number of reasons. It could be the natural settling of your home or a breakdown in masonry around the flashing. Perhaps the roofing wasn’t installed well. Animals roosting on the roof may eventually disturb the flashing. It could also be that chimney flashing wasn’t fitted properly or completely. If the flashing is loose or missing and it isn’t addressed in a timely way, water will eventually make its way into your chimney. Frequent moisture infiltration aids in the breakdown of masonry.

A Simple Fix

So you see, the role of flashing is crucial in supporting your chimney. Chimney flashing should be installed in two parts, according to the American Society of Home Inspectors: the base flashing is installed on the roof around the chimney and the cap or counter flashing overlaps the base on the side of the chimney. The joints are caulked. This system seals out rain, snow, and other elements. If you notice water marks on your ceiling near your chimney, if you see or hear a flapping around the chimney, it could very well be you need to have the flashing repaired.

At Santa’s Friend Chimney Service, we’ll get up on the roof and look around and repair or replace the flashing so you don’t have unwanted moisture causing damage to your home. We will tell you what is really going on. We state in our Standards of Ethics and Business Practices that we won’t “manufacture problems”. Our customers know they can trust us, as shown by our 2011 and 2014 Angie’s List Super Service Awards. Our membership in the Chimney Safety Institute of America, as well as the National Chimney Sweep Guild, demonstrates our commitment to industry integrity and education. Contact us today by the online form or call 601-854-7563.

Home Fires are Preventable

Prevention is the Best Way to Avoid Home Fires

There’s nothing sadder than a tragedy that could have been easily prevented. Ask anyone who, helplessly, has watched while their house burned. When it comes to your home, so many fires are preventable and making sure two areas of your home are clean cuts drastically your risk of damage.

Hidden In Plain Sight

Of course, some causes of fires are obvious: overloading outlets, leaving an unattended candle burning, placing an object too close to a heat source. The US Fire Administration tracks such statistics. So you may be surprised by some other causes of home fires. A startling 84 percent of home heating fires occur in the chimney, flue, or fuel burner. Thirty-four percent of household dryer fires results from dryers that have never been cleaned. The really frightening side to this is that these fire hazards are hidden in plain sight. The hazards mount each time you light your fireplace and use your dryer, but you don’t see it happening.

Clean Clothes and Dirty Dryers

A more likely, but less apparent cause of fire is blockage and dirt in your dryer vent, the piping that leads from your dryer to the outside. Even if your venting is short and simple, and you can see where it begins and where it ends.  You still will need to have it cleaned out regularly. Lint is an excellent conduit to starting fires so you don’t want it accumulating in the venting. But your venting system may not be that straightforward and you may not be able to see to turns and bends that can keep the lint from moving forward. You may also not be able to see what else is your venting is harboring, such as animals. So if you think you need to call the dryer repairman because your clothes take longer to dry or your dryer keeps shutting off, it may not be the dryer; it’s probably debris in the piping.

Debris and animals are often well known causes of problems occurring in your chimney. Let unattended to build up, creosote, nesting materials, and animals themselves can causes fires to back up when you light your fireplace. Weak masonry from age or poor construction may also add to the risk of home fires.

Why Wait?

Regular annual maintenance takes care of the problems and eliminates the risk of these types of tragedies occurring in your home. Santa’s Friend technicians are CSIA trained and certified to spot and address the hazards you cannot see. An annual chimney inspection will find any leaks and weak areas in your chimney and annual sweeping takes away all the debris.
You don’t need to worry about unexpected work cleaning up after us. Whether we are cleaning your dryer vent or your chimney, we prepare the area so no debris ends up on your floors or walls. We use the latest equipment to make sure the job is done efficiently.
So, if there were something you could do to prevent home fires, wouldn’t you do it? You can, and Santa’s Friend Chimney Service is here to help! Contact us today to schedule an appointment and help get your home safe.