Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

The Importance of Reviewing Our Services Online

Word of mouth has always been one of the best ways to promote a business, and technology in the 21st century has allowed this promotion method to reach a much wider audience. You may be familiar with online review sites like Angie’s List and Yelp. These sites are not only very helpful when you want to know more about a new local restaurant, but they are also beneficial when you are looking for home maintenance services, such as a chimney sweeping. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service is proud to have had a business page on Angie’s List for the past nine years as well as other review pages on Google+, Insider Pages, and MapQuest, and we greatly appreciate the reviews we have gotten from our customers. Of course, we love the positive feedback, but the negative reviews are just as important to us because they help us to do better work in the future to satisfy every customer. We encourage our customers to review our chimney services, and we would like to tell you more about the importance of reviewing our services online.

HELP OTHER CUSTOMERS

When you write a review of our chimney maintenance services online, you are helping other residents of Central Mississippi who may be looking for a trustworthy chimney sweep to clean and inspect their chimneys. Hiring a reputable chimney sweep can be difficult for people who may have recently moved to the area and for people who just bought a house with their first fireplace. Being able to read customers’ experiences with a chimney company can go a long way in helping these people choose the best sweep.

HELP OUR BUSINESS

As we mentioned earlier, word of mouth is a fantastic way of promoting a business. Your online reviews of Santa’s Friend Chimney Service have really spread the word about our honest, fair, and dependable chimney and fireplace maintenance, repair, and installation services. We also have learned a lot from the reviews that may be less than favorable. When we have received negative feedback, we used it as a learning experience on how to better serve our customers.

If you live in Central Mississippi, contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service for any of your chimney and fireplace needs. We are here to serve you, and we would greatly appreciate your feedback of the job we perform for you.

Does My Chimney Need Maintenance During the Off-Season?

During the warmer months of the year, the last thing you are thinking about is your chimney and fireplace system, but forgetting about this part of your home can lead to problems, including water leaks and unpleasant odors. Winter weather can damage the bricks and mortar joints of your chimney that can lead to water leaks and structural problems if this damage is left unrepaired. All of the soot and creosote that accumulated inside your chimney over the winter can cause stinky smells to invade your home through your fireplace during the summer. To keep your chimney and fireplace in good shape during the off-season, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service recommends that you schedule your annual chimney sweeping and inspection in the spring. We would like to tell you more about the benefits of taking care of these chimney maintenance tasks during the off-season.

How can a spring chimney sweeping and inspection keep my chimney safe from problems during the off-season?

Your fireplace and chimney work hard over the winter, and Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can check to see if any damage occurred during the colder months of the year. Since your bricks and mortar naturally absorb water, that trapped moisture freezes and expands during the winter. As this water thaws, its force can cause the bricks and mortar to crack and break apart. This kind of damage needs to be repaired as soon as possible because the cracks and gaps left behind allow water to easily enter into the chimney. Our Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA)-certified chimney sweeps will look for this damage and make recommendations for repairs. Our sweeps will also remove every bit of creosote and soot that has stuck to the wall of your chimney to prevent unpleasant odors coming into your home during the summer. This service also reduces your risk for a chimney fire because as the CSIA says, “dirty chimneys can cause chimney fires.”

What are the other benefits of a spring chimney sweeping and inspection?

The CSIA and other national fire safety organizations all recommend having your chimney professionally swept and inspected every year before you light the first fire. Many homeowners wait until the fall to take care of this chimney maintenance, and this means our sweeps at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service have extremely busy schedules in the fall. It can be difficult for you to get the date and time you need to have your chimney serviced, and you might even have to wait for a month to be able to get an open appointment that works for you. Scheduling these chimney maintenance tasks in the off-season allows you to easily make an appointment that fits with your schedule.

Take care of your chimney during the off-season to keep it working smoothly in the fall and winter. Contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to schedule an appointment for our professional chimney sweeping and inspection services today.

Maintaining the Bird Screens on Your Chimney Cap

If you have ever heard the sounds of chirping coming from your chimney, you know what a pain it can be to have birds living in the flue. Not only can they be noisy, but they can also bring germs and diseases into your home. Even when they leave, you will still have their nesting materials inside your chimney, which can block your flue and force carbon monoxide back into your home. The straw and other debris from birds’ nests also creates a dangerous fire hazard as these materials are extremely flammable. The best way to deal with birds and other wild animals and your chimney is to prevent them from being able to get into your chimney at all. At Santa’s Friend Chimney Service, we sell and install bird screens that we can add to your existing chimney cap to give it even more protection from animal and bird invasions. We would like to tell you a bit more about keeping birds out of your chimney as well as maintaining the screens to work at the highest efficiency level.

WATCH OUT FOR CHIMNEY SWIFTS

You may not know that it can be illegal to have a certain kind of bird removed from your chimney if you have one living inside. According to The Humane Society of the United States, chimney swifts and other migratory birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Anybody who knowingly destroys these types of birds or nests that could contain eggs or baby birds can be either penalized or fined, or even both. If you do find a family of chimney swifts living in your chimney, you will have to be patient and wait until the spring when they will leave on their own. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service can then check out the inside of your chimney and remove any nesting left behind. We can then add bird screens to your chimney cap to keep these birds from returning in the fall or winter.

KEEP YOUR SCREENS CLEAN

You need to be sure your bird screens are clean and not clogged to keep your chimney working efficiently and safely. Leaves and other debris can get blown into the screens and get stuck. Another thing that can clog up your bird screens is creosote. This substance is a natural residue produced during the combustion process of burning wood, but you can slow down its development by only burning seasoned firewood that has been dried for at least six months. If you burn wet wood, you will definitely have a problem with an abundance of creosote and soot accumulating in your bird screens because wet wood creates a lot of smoke and other byproducts of combustion. You also have cooler fires, which provides the perfect temperature for the rapid development of creosote. If you notice that your bird screens look as if they are clogged with a black or brown substance, give us a call at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to schedule an appointment for our chimney sweeps to clean your screens. When your screens are clogged, you will have draft problems, like not being able to get a fire started or smoke filling your home when you do get the fire started. You will also be at a higher risk for a carbon monoxide leak because this toxic gas will be forced back into your home if it cannot exit through the screen. We can help you keep everything working smoothly.

Keep birds and other wild animals out of your chimney all year long. Contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to talk to our staff about our bird screen installation and maintenance services.

Chimney Relining

Your chimney system consists of several components that are necessary for it to function properly and safely. Included in these components is your chimney liner, which has several important purposes, such as protecting your home from the extremely high temperatures that are produced within your chimney. Unfortunately, chimney liners do not last forever and can suffer damage over the years that can cause your chimney to be unsafe to use. If you live in an older home with a masonry chimney, your liner may not be in the best condition and could be in need of repair. At Santa’s Friend Chimney Service, we offer a couple of chimney relining options that will restore the safety and efficiency of your chimney. We would like to tell you more about our chimney relining services by answering some frequently asked questions we have received from our customers.

Why is a chimney liner so important?

According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), chimney liners serve three crucial functions. They prevent your home from catching on fire from the high temperatures produced when a fire is burning. They protect the masonry materials of your chimney from the corrosive byproducts of combustion. They also allow your chimney to function efficiently and safely by providing a correctly sized flue for your heating appliance.

What kind of chimney liner do I have?

There are three main types of chimney liners: clay tile, stainless steel, and cast-in-place. If you have a masonry chimney, you most likely have a clay tile liner, but it is possible to have another type. Our CSIA-certified chimney technicians can inspect your chimney to find out exactly what type of liner you have as well as to examine its condition.

What chimney relining services does Santa’s Friend Chimney Service offer?

To reline clay tile liners, we offer HeatShield, which is economical, reliable, and much less time-intensive than constructing a new clay tile liner. Also known as a cast-in-place liner, HeatShield is a specially formulated sealant that restores the integrity of your clay tile liner by filling in the cracks and gaps. Our chimney technicians have been trained on how to apply HeatShield and know exactly how to apply the cerfractory sealant to repair your liner and make your chimney safe to use again. You can trust us to restore your clay tile liner with HeatShield, which comes with a 20-year material warranty.

If you do not have a clay tile liner, we can reline your chimney with a durable stainless steel liner, which has a lifetime warranty. Durable and strong, a stainless steel liner is guaranteed to protect you from hazardous situations, including chimney fires and carbon monoxide leaks. This type of liner also allows us to create a correctly sized flue if you are converting your old fireplace to a new insert. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service has years of experience with installing stainless steel chimney liners, and we will ensure your chimney will function efficiently and safely.

Want to know more about our chimney relining services? Contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to talk to our staff about your options.

Common Masonry Repairs for Your Chimney

Whether you have an old, historical home or a modern house with a masonry chimney, you will most likely need to have masonry restoration work done at some point. The most common cause of masonry repair is water damage as water can leak into masonry joints and wear them down, causing deterioration. Other causes of masonry repair are weathering, earthquake damage, poor workmanship, and negligence. If you need masonry repair work done, it is important to find a company experienced in the different types of masonry restoration, like Santa’s Friend Chimney Service. Our masons know how to do each type of this repair work, and we would like to tell you more about the most common masonry repairs.

Tuck Pointing

One of the most common types of masonry restoration, tuck pointing is the process of removing damaged and deteriorating mortar in masonry joints, and then restoring those joints with new materials. A painstaking process, tuck pointing is made even more complicated when an older house is involved. Today’s mortar materials differ greatly in terms of hardness and permeability when compared to the bricks and mortars of years’ past. Experienced masons like the ones at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service know to think about the original materials when dealing with an older home because if they used modern materials, the chimney structure will be unsound as the new and old materials will not work together properly. Our technicians make sure the repairs are invisible and strong enough to last for years.

Chimney Crown Restoration

Since your chimney crown sits atop your chimney to protect it from the elements and animals, it is completely exposed to rain and snow, which causes water erosion damage. The sun causes more damage from the constant heat exposure. After years of these types of damage, your chimney crown starts to crack and spalling begins to occur. When this happens, repair is a top priority because you do not want water leaking into your chimney and penetrating into your masonry joints, which can cause even more problems. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service has experience working with chimney crown restoration, and we can recommend a couple of different approaches, depending on the condition of your crown. If you have minimal damage, our technicians can apply a crown coat repair, a flexible sealant which covers the entire crown, that will seal all cracks and create a waterproof barrier. If the damage is more expensive, we will most likely have to construct a new chimney crown for you; however, with our years of experience, we can build a crown to last a lifetime as well as coat the new crown with a waterproof sealant to protect it from rain and snow.

For more information about the different types of masonry repairs we provide, contact Santa’s Friend Chimney Service. Our expert staff is happy to answer any questions you may have.

Getting Your Chimney Ready for the Fall Season

In order to prepare for the colder weather ahead, getting your chimney ready for fall and winter early allows you to relax during the busy holiday season safely in front of your fireplace. If you wait too long to do certain maintenance tasks, you will have to deal with scheduling a chimney inspection during the busiest part of the year. According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) the greatest amount of chimney fires occur during the months of December, January, and February, and the main cause of these fires is creosote build-up in a chimney. A simple call to Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to schedule your annual chimney sweeping in late summer will rid your chimney of large creosote deposits. It will help to prevent a chimney fire from happening later in the winter. We at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service would like to give you a fall chimney checklist for both wood-burning and gas fireplaces.

Fall Checklist For a Wood-Burning Fireplace

• Schedule your annual chimney cleaning and inspection.  The NFPA, the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and other fire safety organizations recommend your chimney be swept and inspected at least once a year. Scheduling this essential maintenance task to be done before fall ensures you are safe to light your first fire in your fireplace. Our sweeps at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service will make certain your chimney is free from creosote deposits as well as check your chimney for any needed repairs.
• Arrange for essential repairs to be completed. If any damage to your bricks and mortar from water leaks is discovered during our chimney inspection, we can replace missing or damaged bricks and mortar to prevent structural damage. Your flue liner is also inspected, and if any cracks or holes are found in the liner, we can either repair or replace the liner to keep your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Have your chimney cap replaced if it is missing or damaged. The best way for keeping birds and animals from nesting in your chimney over the winter, a chimney cap should be on top of every chimney. Our chimney sweeps will check your chimney cap to be sure it is undamaged and properly fitted atop your chimney.
• Replace batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. This step can save the lives of you and your family.

Fall Checklist For a Gas Fireplace

• Just as with a wood-burning fireplace, schedule your annual chimney cleaning and inspection. Like a wood-burning chimney sweeping, your cleaning and inspection will include looking for essential repairs to be performed. A gas fireplace chimney sweeping should involve cleaning the airways of the pilot and main burners as well as the blower.
• Replace batteries. Not only should you replace the batteries in the all-important smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, but you also need to change the batteries in the remote control and the receiver.

If you are ready to schedule your annual chimney sweeping and inspection before fall arrives, contact Santa’s Friend Chimney Service today to arrange an appointment. Our experienced and certified staff is ready to prepare your chimney for the cooler months.