by Jeremy Biswell | fire safety
How to Remove Ash from Your Fireplace or Stove Is there a right and a wrong way to remove ashes and coals from your fireplace or wood stove? You bet there is. Just recently, a detached garage in North Carolina burned to the ground because the homeowner improperly...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, fire safety
Do you feel confident that everyone who lives in your household is knowledgeable enough to escape safely from a house fire? Are there steps you can take to help prevent this kind of catastrophe?
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance
All the proof you need of the power of water plus time: any of the many vast, deep-cut canyons and gorges you can see across our country. And the same types of weathering that carved out those canyons -- including the freeze/thaw cycle -- can do significant damage to...
by Jeremy Biswell | dryer vent maintenance
Laundry Never Stops If you are anything like the typical family, laundry seems to pile up all over the house leaving you to ask how it got there. Just when you get to crank out some major progress the worst happens, your washer or dryer breaks. It is important to have...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, fire safety
Chimneys Don't Last Forever Like just about everything else, chimneys get old. There are many parts to your chimney that may wear out over time. Sometimes, you have damage after a disaster that requires attention. And sometimes, water makes its way into your chimney...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, fire safety
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) develops, publishes, and distributes more than 300 codes and standards intended to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and other associated risks. One code in particular, NFPA 211, is the industry standard upon...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, home-post
Fighting Indoor Pollution From air and water to particles and substances, we are exposed to more pollutants than we like to think. And those of us living in the Kansas City area know a thing or two about the effects of environmental pollution. While it might be easy...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance
Carbon Monoxide and Your Chimney When moving into a new home, it is impossible to pass a safety inspection without having working carbon monoxide detectors. This is because carbon monoxide is otherwise impossible to detect but also can be deadly if it is found in the...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, home-post
A Look Behind the Curtain Most homeowners don’t know a whole lot about their chimneys. We come across some who’ve never once had their chimney cleaned or maintained and who take an if-it-isn’t-broke-don’t-fix-it type of attitude. They think, “I’ve used my chimney or...
by Jeremy Biswell | Chimney Maintenance, fire safety
Dirty Chimney or Not, Your House Probably Isn’t Going to Catch on Fire Psst, I’ve got something to tell you. You won’t hear this from many chimney sweeps, but I’ll shoot straight with you: Your house is probably not going to catch on fire, even if your chimney is...
