Odors

Nobody likes odd smells in their house, especially when you can’t figure out what it is. In the chimney business, we know it typically comes from one of the following:

• Dead Animals – if you don’t have a mesh over the top  of your chimney there’s a good chance your going to end up with a bird, duck, owl, squirrel, or raccoon in your chimney, and they won’t be able to get out without a fight or it’s too late.
• Creosote – the inside of a chimney contains some really nasty stuff and it has to be cleaned annually to remove as much build up as possible.
• Water Entry – when water has the ability to leak and then soak into the core of a chimney it can take days to dry out and, as that’s happening, odors may permeate the building.
• Negative Pressure – this is an odd one and has some other characteristics that go along with it.  When the air in the chimney naturally flows from outside to inside, you get smoky odors that just linger in your home all year long. 

So what is the SOLUTION for any of these odor problems?

In order to reduce the chance of these things happening, you should:

• have your chimney swept & inspected annually,
• install a chimney cap with animal screening in it,
• keep up with exterior maintenance items, and
• close your damper when the appliance is not in use.

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