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Home & Garden Articles
Choosing The Right Chimney Cap For Your Home
Sun 14 Jan 2007 - 20:38
Choosing The Right Chimney Cap For Your Home
By Joe Honea
Chimney Caps are a small amount to pay for the immense amount of work they do for you. A Chimney Cap does several different things. It keeps animals, birds, leaves, and snakes from entering your Chimney. It will also stop some "down-drafts" of air that would usually rush down the Chimney causing smoke to enter your home. Most of all, a Chimney Cap keeps rain from entering your Chimney, sometimes keeping you from having a small lake inside of your firebox area.
When rain enters the Chimney, it causes the fireplace to smell like an old damp cellar filled with smoke. If you are allergic to mold spores, this is one area you may want to check if you can not find the source of your allergy. Rain when mixed with soot creates a caustic acid that starts to deteriorate the mortar between the joints of the bricks. Mortar between the bricks has a life expectancy of around seventy years but, the rain can rapidly speed up the process.
If you have Gas Logs, you definitely need a Chimney Cap. A Chimney Cap keeps the rain off the expensive gas log burner unit. If it has a remote control system, the rain will cause it to fail, costing you several hundred dollars in repairs. If you are burning the gas logs while it is raining, the rain hitting the ceramic logs can cause them to crack or break under the extreme heat change.
Animals can be a nightmare in a fireplace. Not only for the homeowner, but for the poor ole' Chimney Sweep that has to get them out! I have taken out squirrels, birds, ducks, and once even released an Owl that was trapped for several days in the Chimney. Worst of all, a black snake once fell into my lap while sitting in the fireplace! If you want to see land speed records set..let a snake fall into my lap. I can promise you, you have never seen a six foot, one inch, 235 pound (Former Marine) squeal like a little girl, and outrun any deer in your county. So, do yourself, and the Chimney Sweep a favor and put a Cap on it!
Chimney Caps come in three types of metals. You have Galvanized, which does the job but, will require you to keep it painted so it does not rust. (Not recommended with gas logs due to caustic exhaust.) Stainless Steel, does not have to be painted, and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Copper, very pretty, will not rust, and will turn a nice green later (like an old penny) and can leave streaks on your roof shingles and Chimney. Copper is usually the most expensive, followed by Stainless Steel, and then, Galvanized. Just talk with your local Chimney Sweep to see what best soots your home. (Pardon the pun.)
And remember, it is "Good Luck to shake hands with a Chimney Sweep."
Joe Honea is a Chimney Sweep in South Carolina. He is married to an Italian girl, and they have three sons. Two are in the Military, and one works in automotive collision repair. They share their home with two German Shepherd pups, and have just recently opened a online Chimney Supply store.
www.Fireplaceandchimneysupplies.com
www.garagedoordr.blogspot.com
http://chimneysweep-joe.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Honea
http://EzineArticles.com/?Choosing-The-Right-Chimney-Cap-For-Your-Home&id=413340
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