During the warm & humid summer months, some fireplaces will emit an odor that can make the whole house smell like there's a campfire burning - even though you may not have had a fire in your fireplace for weeks or even months! This is usually caused by soot and creosote that has accumulated up inside your chimney flue, combining with humid air being drawn down the flue (often made worse when Central air conditioning is in use.

The solution? Clean your chimney! By removing most of the soot that's in the flue, a thorough chimney cleaning dramatically reduces the most active ingredient in the soot/humidity combination. While it is impossible to remove every bit of soot in the flue, we can usually get enough out where the smell is significantly reduced or eliminated altogether. Not only will you have a less smelly flue, it will also be a safer chimney next fall when you begin to burn wood again.

If your house smells like a campfire give us a call, we'll gladly come over and check the flue for soot and creosote deposits. We can also make sure your damper is closing properly. This type of check-up is free, and should be done every year or two anyway.