The Importance of Chimney Safety and Chimney Inspections

Two weeks ago, the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) celebrated National Chimney Safety Week. This event is held every year to help raise the public’s awareness about the importance of chimney safety. You know you can trust us for a thorough chimney inspection in Bergen County, so we thought we would give you a few reasons that chimney safety and regular chimney inspections are so important.

An annual chimney inspection is the most important thing you can do to make sure your chimney and fireplace are safe for use. An inspection will show if there are any problems with the structural integrity of your chimney. If the structure of your chimney is compromised in any way, we can take care of the necessary chimney repairs to ensure it is properly fixed.

A chimney that is not in good shape poses a variety of hazards. It could leak carbon monoxide, potentially causing health issues. It could also catch on fire, and you definitely want to avoid that! A chimney inspection now could save you a lot of time, money and hassle in the long run.

No matter what kind of chimney you have, a routine chimney inspection is important. Even if your chimney is a gas-burning or coal-burning, it needs an inspection. Almost all of your home’s heating appliances rely on your chimney to safely transport toxic gases out of your home. Making sure your chimney is in good working order is an important part of protecting your family’s health and safety.

A chimney inspection should be done by a CSIA-certified professional company like Guardian Chimney. These inspections are especially important if the chimney has ever caught on fire. 

Do you need a chimney inspection in Bergen County? Call Guardian Chimney at 1-888-688-1388, or you can Contact Us.

The Three Levels of Chimney Inspections

Chimney inspections can be a fairly confusing topic. Most people think that there is only one type, but there are actually three! We here at Guardian Chimney provide chimney inspections for Bergen County homes, so we thought we would briefly outline each type of inspection and what it looks for.

Level One Chimney Inspections

These are the most common type of chimney inspections. A technician will come to your home and inspect the readily accessible parts of your chimney, including the interior and exterior, crawl spaces, attics and more. This is a great way to figure out if your chimney needs any basic repairs. The technician will use a flash light and, if needed, a screwdriver or pliers to examine any openings. There are no other special tools required for this kind of inspection.

Level Two Chimney Inspections

A homeowner needs this type of chimney inspection after a big event, like a severe thunderstorm, or if the homeowner is trying to sell the home. These chimney inspections are also used when changing the way the fireplace is being used, like if you are having it converted from a wood fireplace to a gas fireplace. Level two chimney inspections use a video camera. The camera is lowered into the chimney and the technician will look at the interior of the chimney to look for damage or needed repairs. These chimney inspections are more detailed than Level One inspections.

Level Three Chimney Inspections

This is the most intense type of chimney inspection because it involves removing parts of the chimney when needed. Only used after serious damage has been sustained, level three chimney inspections are great for assessing damage after a catastrophic event, like a structure fire.

For more information on chimney inspections in Bergen County, call Guardian Chimney at 1-888-688-1388 or Contact Us.

How to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

A colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, carbon monoxide is responsible for hundreds of deaths each year. It is possible, however, to protect yourself and your family from this harmful gas. One of the best things you can do to ensure your safety and your family’s safety is to get an annual chimney inspection. Bergen County homes will greatly benefit from this service.

One of the most obvious ways to protect yourself and your family is to get a carbon monoxide detector. This alarm will go off with an audible warning if it detects carbon monoxide. They are designed to sound the alarm before an average and healthy adult would start to feel symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Bear in mind that your fuel-burning appliances can emit carbon monoxide. Some examples of these appliances are charcoal grills, wood-burning furnaces, gas-fired appliances, fireplaces and motor vehicles. Charcoal grills and your oven range should never be used as a heat source for your home. You should also never use an emergency generator indoors. They should always be used outdoors only in a dry area that is away from your home’s windows, vents and doors.

Your fuel-burning appliances should also be checked at least once a year by a professional. Your chimney should undergo a regular chimney inspection (at least once a year), and it should have a level 2 chimney inspection if it has undergone any damage because of severe weather or another event like that. A chimney inspection should also be done if you are buying or selling a home. A professional like the ones at Guardian Chimney should be the one to take a look at your chimney and perform the chimney inspection.

For more information on getting a chimney inspection in Bergen County, call Guardian Chimney at 1-888-688-1388 or contact us to Schedule an Appointment.

What Happens During Chimney Inspections?

We here at Guardian Chimney are a chimney inspections company serving Essex County, and we are often asked this question. What happens during level II chimney inspections?

Level II chimney inspections start with a visual examination of all of the easily and readily accessible parts of the chimney and venting systems. We then visually inspect the exterior of the chimney. 

After that, every single accessible area surrounding the chimney is inspected. This includes attics, basements and crawl spaces. We will also inspect any parts of the chimney itself that are accessible and any parts that connect to it.

Then the real fun begins! We insert a camera into the chimney to inspect the interior to see if there is any damage that is not visible from the outside or naked eye. The “Chim-Scan” camera is inserted into the chimney through a damper. The camera is controlled on the outside by one of our workers.  The camera will be moved throughout the entire chimney: all of the bends and turns, if any, and from the top to the bottom. We can keep an eye on the interior of the chimney by looking at the camera’s feed on a TV screen, and this also helps us to see hard-to-reach areas. 

When we finish with the camera part of the chimney inspections, we head up to your roof (if it is safely accessible) to see if there is any damage that is not visible from the ground.

Thanks to these kinds of chimney inspections, we are able to see any needed repairs almost immediately. If you get chimney inspections done at least once a year, you can usually get any damage repaired before it becomes a bigger hassle.

So for more information on chimney inspections in Essex County, call Guardian Chimney at 1-888-688-1388 or Contact Us.

Special Announcement – Guardian Chimney has a New Website!

We here at Guardian Chimney are happy to announce that we just launched a new website! Our new site is a definite improvement over our old one, and we hope you find it even more informative and easy to navigate. 

Our new website is a lot more inherently user-friendly, we think. The navigation has been improved, so it’s easier for our customers – new and current – to find the information they are looking for about Guardian Chimney and our services. We also think it is easier on the eyes in terms of layout and graphics. We want to make sure you can get directly to the information you’re seeking.

And don’t worry! We are still offering the same great services that we did before: chimney cleaning, relining, masonry repairs, level 1, level 2 and level 3 video inspections, chimney maintenance and more! We’ve been in business for nearly 20 years, so New Jersey residents know they can trust us for all of their chimney needs. It’s easy to contact us for a free estimate either through our new website or over the phone.

So take a look at our new site and let us know what you think. Leave us a comment on our Facebook page or Tweet at us on Twitter!

And when you need chimney cleaning, relining, repairs, or inspections within Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Union, Morris, or Ocean counties call Guardian Chimney at 1-888-688-1388 or Contact Us.