A wood-burning fireplace can give you many hours of enjoyment, but your chimney requires some routine maintenance and attention. Just how often or when to conduct this maintenance depends on several factors.
How Often Should I Clean My Chimney?
There is no firm rule on how often you should clean a chimney. You cannot base a schedule by the number of years of service, nor can you break it down to the number of fires you have had in the fireplace. An inspection of the chimney is required to properly determine if a cleaning is required.
How To Inspect Your Chimney
Use your fireplace poker or other metal device to scrape away some of the black substance (creosote) from the fireplace lining. If the creosote buildup is paper-thin, no cleaning is required. If the buildup is 1/8 of an inch, you should schedule a cleaning. A buildup of 1/8 to 1/4 inch requires an immediate cleaning. If there is a buildup of more than 1/4 of an inch, you should not use the fireplace until it has been properly cleaned. (Make certain to wear eye protection and a dust mask when making your inspection.)
For new-built house nowadays, is there any builder providing wood-burning fireplace? Can I ask builder to build one? Concerned electrical and/or gas outage in serious storm, the gas fireplace would not start...