| If you're about to purchase a home with a fireplace already installed, you should make sure the fireplace is safe. Ask the homeowner to hire a professional to check the chimney as an independent part of the home inspection process. From Country Living:
How can you tell if a fireplace or woodstove in a house you'd like to buy is safe to use? "You really can't," says Carrie Swan, co-owner of Black Swan, a fireplace and stove shop in Newtown, Conn. "A dank creosote smell or water damage on the ceiling near the chimney may let you know something is wrong," she points out, "but nothing short of inspection by a professional chimney sweep will let you know if a fireplace or woodstove is safe to light." Swan advises buyers to hire a chimney sweep as an independent part of the home inspection process: Doing so may save big bucks in costly repairs. To locate a sweep near you, check out the National Chimney Sweep Guild's Web site at ncsg.org. |
