Despite popular culture, the chimney sweep you hire does not need to know how to spell “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Nor does your chimney sweep have to know how to sing “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins”. More seriously, though, several...
It’s only human nature to seek the easiest and least costly way of doing something. Such innovations are often, though not always, the mark of progress. Take the case of chimney sweeping, a traditionally dirty job, as any viewer of “Mary Poppins” can attest. Along...
Think of your house as a miniature Times Square. Imagine that at midnight the famous ball will slide down your chimney to herald the new year, 2017. It’s admittedly a corny and cheesy notion. It won’t happen, and it won’t be broadcast around the world. Bear with us....
Does Jack Frost nipping at your nose pose a fire hazard? Not likely. Not unless your nose is made of flint or unless Jack is nipping with a fire starter. To be less far-fetched but staying with the holiday theme, what about chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Can it...
Is your fireplace just another episode of “That ‘70s Show”? (Choose your decade of the past, as needed. Eighties? Nineties? Fifties? Tell us when your fireplace was built, or last remodeled.) In other words, does your fireplace facing give off a tired and worn vibe?...
You know that old saying about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted? Well, let’s play with a few wintry variations of the phrase. “Don’t shovel the snow after the snow has melted.” No, that doesn’t quite make sense. How about: “Don’t look for chimney leaks...
You’ve heard of the CIA. Perhaps you know a CPA. Maybe you know someone who is in the CSEA. But what do you know about the CSIA? The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certifies technicians so that they have the skills and tools to clean your chimney properly....
Perhaps you’ve seen them in coffee shops or libraries or maybe even in your own home. Students intensely reviewing huge books devoted to detailed depictions of the human body. “Gray’s Anatomy” is the classic textbook. (The TV drama employs a different spelling.)...
Picture you and your family sitting peacefully by your fireplace on a December evening. You look like a pioneer family, knitting or smoking a pipe. Well, not exactly. Maybe a football game is on the big-screen television. Without obvious warning, your fireplace starts...
Hot and humid days of summer are well known for a particular type of flashing: the thunder-producing flashes of lightning that accompany thunderstorms. When it comes to your chimney, though, we at Northeastern Masonry & Chimney are referring to flashing as the...
