Your First Fireplace, Chimney, and Chimney Cover

Who doesn’t love sitting by a warm fireplace all bundled up when it’s below freezing outside?  If you’re going to be using your fireplace, chimney, and chimney cover for the first time in your home, you should take a look at these safety precautions before getting toasty by lighting the fire.

Safety Precautions for Your Fireplace and Chimney

Inspection

It’s vital to have a professional take a look at your fireplace on the inside before you begin making fires.  A proper inspector will be on the lookout for birds’ nests, sticks, and other loose remains. The outside chimney cover and chimney liner should also be checked for safety.  If there is any blockage, smoke will back up and clog the airways. 

Add a screen

Having a screen in front of your fireplace is important in case logs tumble over or a spark flies forward.  You can choose to have a glass screen and/or metal wire curtain.  Once you build your fire, you can cover it with the curtain to prevent the debris from landing on anything in the room.

Fireplace tools

You’re going to need fireplace tools to keep your fireplace going when it’s finally ready to be up and running.  These tools are created to make your fire as efficient as possible.  The andiron tool is a horizontal shape that allows you to feed wood into the fire.  Somewhat similar to this, there is the fireplace poker, which is a rod that allows you to move anything burning into the fire. The tool prevents you from getting burnt.  Bellows are more of a device with a type of puffy airbag that creates air when its two handles are pushed together.  You can hold this directly to the fire to enlarge its flames. Then there are tongs, which will allow you to pick up and move logs around without getting burnt.  Lastly, there is the fireplace broom. This will help you clean up ashes that may be around the fireplace when the fire goes out.

Chimney cleaning

Before you even make that first fire, you should do your own fireplace sweeping to make sure the chimney isn’t full of ashes when you’re lighting your fire.  A clean fireplace, chimney, and chimney liner is a priority!

Preparation and lighting the fire

Gather wooden logs for your fire and store them in one location where they’re easy for you to grab.  You can bring a few logs into your home and store them by the fireplace.  Gather up old newspaper and crumble it up.  Put it underneath the grate in the fireplace.  Put a couple logs on top.  Add a few thinner sticks.  Make sure the damper is open for ventilation. Using a lighter and match, light your fire.  Use your tools as needed.

There you have it — your first fire with your fireplace, chimney, and chimney cover!  Here’s to many great nights by the fireplace with friends and family.  After all, don’t all good memories begin by the fire?