Chimney Cleanout Doors and Ash Pits: The Part of Your Chimney Nobody Checks
A rusted chimney cleanout door leaks air into the flue, carries soot odor into the basement and hides water damage. What Joliet homeowners should check.
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Direct-Vent Gas Fireplace Terminations: The Outdoor Check Crest Hill Owners Skip
Direct-vent gas fireplaces quit when the outdoor terminal blocks. What Crest Hill owners should check for snow, ice, nests and clearances.
The Top-Down Fire: How Lockport Homeowners Burn Cleaner and Build Less Creosote
A top-down fire and an open air control make far less creosote. How Lockport homeowners burn cleaner all winter without smothering the fire.
Pellet Stove Venting and Fall Cleaning: What Woodridge Owners Should Check
Pellet stove venting needs annual cleaning, not just the burn pot. What Woodridge owners should check on the vent, cleanout tee and air intake.
Chimney Crickets: Why a Wide Frankfort Chimney Needs a Saddle on the Roof
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. When a chimney leaks and the flashing turns out to be intact, the answer is usually sitting on the roof behind the chimney, or rather it is missing from behind the chimney. It is…
Signs Your Mokena Chimney Has Already Had a Fire
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Most chimney fires are never reported, because most of them go out on their own before anybody realizes what happened. A homeowner in Mokena hears a roaring sound for a couple of minutes, it…
Furnace Filters in Bolingbrook: MERV Ratings, Sizes, and How Often to Change Them
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. The single cheapest thing that keeps a duct system clean is the filter sitting in front of the blower, and it is the thing homeowners in Bolingbrook get wrong most often. Not because anyone…
When Air Duct Cleaning Is Actually Worth It in Shorewood, and When It Is Not
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. We clean air ducts, so it would be easy to tell every homeowner in Shorewood that their system is overdue. That is not how we work. Duct cleaning is genuinely worth doing in specific…
Vented vs. Vent-Free Gas Logs: What Plainfield Homeowners Should Know Before Buying
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Every fall we get calls from homeowners in Plainfield who bought a gas log set at a big-box store, dropped it into the fireplace, and now cannot understand why the room smells or the…
Top-Sealing Damper vs. Throat Damper: Which One Actually Seals a New Lenox Chimney?
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. If you can feel cold air spilling out of your fireplace in January, or your furnace seems to run harder in the room with the hearth, the damper is usually the first thing worth…