Maintaining Wood Burning Fireplace – Handy Home Improvement

Always maintain a shallow level of ashes. The best depth for the ashes below the fireplace is an inch. This level will protect the entire fireplace well. Remove the ashes that will exceed the one inch requirement. Remember to use the proper gear when doing this. A metal shovel and a protected hand will do well in the job. Vacuums will be no good because some parts of the ashes may still be lit up. A plastic material will easily melt, and in this case, vacuum cleaners will only be destroyed. Never forget to cover your nose when you are going to remove the ashes. It will be a good start for asthma attacks and many other complications when it enters your body. It will be very harmful for the body to be exposed in so much dirt such as ashes. The explanation for setting up the depth in an inch is this. It is not good to take out all of the ashes because that can be very dangerous. It will be a very good prevention to fireplace break down. Ashes shield the bottom of the fireplace from too much heat the floor will have to bear. The right amount of ash will also be helpful in preventing explosions to happen. They have certain chemical combination in them that when a large amount of it is exposed to so much heat will result to outbursts. Ashes should also be at the right level because it will be blown inside the house if there is too much. You would not like to live in a house filled with a lot of dark spots due to excessive by products of combustion. Cleaning will be harder for you.
Use woods that are in season. Providing the right kind of wood for your fireplace will be very beneficial. It will help lessen the piling up of the different elements in the fireplace. Unseasoned woods will hasten the build-up of creosotes. Like the ashes piling up in the bottom of the fireplace, this element will be a good start for explosions to happen too. Creosotes are the materials from the wood that were not fully burned. They will not just cause you a lot of danger but they will also cause a lot of dirt to. This is an element that is very hard to remove from the walls of any establishment. Also choose types of wood that can release heat well and that takes pretty long time to burn and to be turned into ashes. Put the wood one at a time. Avoid burning so much of them at the same time because this will make the creosotes build up faster. Set up small fires and try going near where you feel comfortable. Just put on the protective screen required for fireplaces for you to avoid contact with different flying debris from the burning wood.
Ask for a professional’s help.It will still be better to let the learned people do the rest of the work. It will cause you no harm when you let them inspect the different parts of your fireplace. Their tips and other suggestions will help you maintain the fireplace well. You may ask them to inspect your chimney regularly to avoid different elements building up inside it. They surely know the different dos and don’ts when it comes to fireplace. They will also do well when the time comes that it is too late for the fireplace to still work well. You can always ask them to replace the fireplace when they think it has to be replaced. They can give the most delicate repair a fireplace can get. You also do not have to worry so much when you know that there is a professional backing you up with your work.