Retired Chimney Sweep: 7 Things to Check Before You Light Your Wood Stove This Fall
Dean Bracket
494 views
A sweep who's seen thousands of flues shows you the seven things you can check from the floor and your driveway before the season's first fire.
Dean Brackett swept chimneys in Maine for twenty-eight years after his own chimney fire in 1991. He walks through smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the dollar-bill test for your stove door gasket, inspecting stovepipe joints and clearances, what to look for on the outside of your chimney from bricks to cap, the three-foot and two-foot height rules, and why a certified Level 1 inspection matters every year before you light up. He explains efflorescence, spalling, what chimney swifts leave behind, and the red flags that mean call someone before you strike a match. The through-line is dry wood and hot fires, and catching the second mistake before it stacks with the first.
Retired Chimney Sweep: 7 Things to Check Before You Light Your Wood Stove This Fall
Dean Bracket
494 views
A sweep who's seen thousands of flues shows you the seven things you can check from the floor and your driveway before the season's first fire.
Dean Brackett swept chimneys in Maine for twenty-eight years after his own chimney fire in 1991. He walks through smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the dollar-bill test for your stove door gasket, inspecting stovepipe joints and clearances, what to look for on the outside of your chimney from bricks to cap, the three-foot and two-foot height rules, and why a certified Level 1 inspection matters every year before you light up. He explains efflorescence, spalling, what chimney swifts leave behind, and the red flags that mean call someone before you strike a match. The through-line is dry wood and hot fires, and catching the second mistake before it stacks with the first.