How Often Does a Crystal Lake Chimney Actually Need Sweeping?
Annual inspection is fixed; sweeping depends on how you burn. What sets the schedule for a Crystal Lake fireplace, stove or furnace flue.
Ice Dams Around the Chimney: What Marengo Homeowners Should Watch For
Ice dams do their worst damage right at the chimney. What Marengo homeowners should check on the crown, cap, and flashing before the first hard freeze.
Why Chimney Masonry Repairs Have a Weather Window in Bull Valley
Mortar and crown coatings will not cure below freezing. When the masonry season closes in Bull Valley, and which chimney work still runs all winter.
Two Appliances, One Flue: When Sharing a Chimney Is a Problem in Oakwood Hills
A gas furnace and a wood fireplace should never share a flue. How Oakwood Hills homes end up that way, what it damages, and how the problem gets found.
How to Build a Fire That Draws: Fewer Smoke Spills in Prairie Grove
Most smoking fireplaces are built wrong, not broken. How to prime a cold flue, build top-down, and keep smoke out of your Prairie Grove living room.
After the Wind: Storm Damage to Chimneys in Island Lake
How to spot storm damage to your Island Lake chimney after high wind, what you cannot see from the ground, and why to check before the first fire.
That First Furnace Run of the Season: What the Smell Means in Lakewood
Why the first furnace run of the season smells in Lakewood homes, how long it should last, and which odors mean shut it down and call.
Should a Stainless Chimney Liner Be Insulated? A McHenry Answer
Why a stainless chimney liner should almost always be insulated in McHenry homes, what it does for draft and creosote, and when a pour-in is used.
Renting Out a Woodstock Home With a Fireplace: A Landlord Chimney Checklist
Who is responsible for the chimney in a rental, what to inspect at turnover, and what belongs in the lease for a Woodstock home with a fireplace.
Fireplace Safety With Kids and Pets: What Cary Families Set Up Before the First Fire
Screens, gates, hearth padding and door temperature: the fireplace safety setup Cary families put in place before lighting the first fire of the year.