2 Maintenance Tasks to Do to Your Fireplace in the Summer

Generally, you don't use your fireplace in the summer. It's too warm to have a fire, and if you really want to have one, then you can just have it outside in a fire pit. That makes summer the perfect time to do some maintenance tasks to make sure that your fireplace is ready to go for the next time you decide you want to have a fire. 

Clean the Firebox

One thing that you should do is to clean the firebox. This is the area where the fire actually burns. Before you do anything, you need to make sure that you are wearing some kind of dust mask, clothes you don't mind getting really dirty, and that you have placed some kind of sheet or tarp around your fireplace to catch all the soot and ash. The first thing that you want to do is to scoop out all the ashes and debris, and then you can vacuum it out to get rid of everything. Once you have done that, you can get a sponge or scrub brush with some dish soap and water and start scrubbing everything done. After you do that, you need to rinse everything off with clean water. 

Clean and Inspect the Chimney

This is a really important thing to do. The soot and creosote that build up in your chimney can actually catch fire in the wrong situations, which is not the way that you want your romantic fire to end. You want to make sure that you have a professional come in and do the job for you because they are going to have the right tools to do the job.

They are also going to know what to do in order to make sure that everything is clean. The professionals are also going to know what to look for to make sure that everything is in working order. If you have cleaned the firebox before you have the chimney cleaned, you may need to do some minor touchup work on the firebox in order to make sure that it still is nice and clean and ready to go for the next winter. 

Having a fireplace in your house can be a lot of fun, because you can use it for a romantic night, or gather your family together to just have a nice family night. For more information, be sure to contact local fireplace cleaning services.