Avoiding Leaves And Branches Over Your Chimney

Fall is known for lots of things. Football, harvest, cooler temperatures, and falling leaves. The latter is what we want to focus on today. Depending on the age of the trees in your yard, they may be exceptionally tall. It’s even possible that they’re taller than your house. However, there are some good reasons why you want to avoid leaves and branches over your chimney.

Let’s first look at some fall clean-up essentials for chimney maintenance and then unpack why these matter.

Annual fall chimney maintenance

Some of our Chimney Solutions Indiana customers contact us in the late summer and early fall for their annual chimney sweep and inspection. What we’ll find in many of these cases is that the effects of Fall have overtaken their flue.

To prevent this from happening, we always recommend that you contact a tree trimming company during the spring and summer for annual pruning. They can help divert tree branches away from your chimney so that this doesn’t become a problem for your home.

Nevertheless, it’s impossible to avoid leaves entirely — even with routine tree care. This means that during the fall you’ll want to remove any of them that have fallen into your gutter system. In addition, there are ways of keeping them out of your chimney too, namely a functional chimney cap.

Your cap is your first line of defense

Take a look at the very top of your chimney next time you’re outside. Is your cap damaged or missing entirely? If so, then you’ll want to contact our team to get this fixed ASAP. Without a functional cap, your flue is open season for a wide range of obstructions, including leaves, branches, other debris, and even animals.

The latter can be especially problematic. Animals love warm spaces and will often build their nests inside of your flue if your cap is missing. 

The impact of leaves and branches over your chimney

So far we’ve mostly focused on what you need to be aware of: leaves and branches interfering with your chimney, not to mention animals and other debris. But why does this matter in the first place?

A few moments ago, we used the word obstructions. Each of these problems can lead to blockages within your flue. Your flue is the passage between your firebox and the outside world. If smoke can’t escape up your flue, it will back up into your home.

In addition, the majority of these items are flammable. If they’re not dealt with, they could potentially lead to a house fire. Plus, the presence of animals can lead to both increased odors and health hazards for your home.

Finally, let’s talk about drafting. If leaves and branches are too close to your chimney, they can interfere with the flow of air in and out of your chimney. With poor drafting, the fire can’t draw air in and smoke can’t escape properly.

Assisting Hoosiers with their chimney needs

Our team can help clean up your chimney so that none of these problems affect your home. Would you like to get in touch with our team to schedule an appointment? Then contact Chimney Solutions Indiana by calling 317-757-6979 or get in touch with us with our online contact form.