Fire Safety Tips For Homes With Wood-burning Fireplaces

It is important to always use fire safety when using a wood-burning fireplace. These are a few tips to make sure you are taking care of your whole home by preventing fires to spread anywhere else in your home. Protect the value of your home with just a few tips.

• BURN WOOD-Do make sure to use firewood and not leftover crate material from wooden crates, pallets, or containers that have cardboard. When you burn material other than firewood, you never know where the material came from and if there may be carcinogens embedded into the wood (preservatives). Choosing a starter log–these is fine if you only use one as they tend to burn hotter than wood. Cardboard, even though it is made from paper which comes from trees, uses glue and those carcinogens get into the air as they burn.
• PUT OUT FIRES BEFORE SLEEPING-Before going to bed, never EVER leave a fire burning until it is completely out and stopped smoldering. If you have fire resistant glass doors, you may close them if it is not too hot. This can prevent any loss of heat from the room due to an open damper. Check to make sure the fire is completely out and cold, then you may close the damper and close the glass doors first thing in the morning when you wake up.
• GET A MESH SCREEN-If you do not currently have a mesh screen, make sure you have one installed. It is only effective if it is pulled closed when the fireplace is in use to prevent any sparks from leaving the fireplace. Embers of fire can easily catch a carpet or nearby trash can on fire if left unattended.

October is Fire Safety Awareness month. Our job as home inspectors is to make sure you have full knowledge of the health of one of your biggest investments-your home. Even though we primarily do home inspections for home owners when they buy their home, some choose to get an 11th month checkup if they got a home warranty with their house. We can come in anytime to help you know what you need to fix in your home or give you a guide of things to plan to work on if you are deciding to move in the near future (1 month-2 years). Most importantly, the staff at Evergreen Property Inspectors want you to be safe and happy!

If you liked these tips, you might also like our Fall Home Maintenance Guide. Please feel free to contact us at 877-805-5255 or 618-531-9482 in IL or 314-620-6822 in MO or visit our website to schedule an inspection on a date and time that works for you.