by Carey, James
In areas where the climate gets unusually cold, we’ve actually seen unsealed brick on chimneys shatter. Water enters the pores of the brick, freezes, and then expands, causing the brick to explode.
You can prevent water seepage and the damage to bricks and mortar caused by freeze and thaw cycles by applying a coat of top-quality masonry sealer to all the brick or stone surrounding the fireplace and chimney. Apply the sealer with a pump garden sprayer, roller, or brush. Chimney sweeps usually keep masonry sealers in stock.
Arresting sparks and other hazards
A spark arrestor is a cage-like device with a solid cap, which is secured to the top of the chimney (see Figure 15-3). It prevents sparks and ash from escaping and causing a fire on the roof or on other potentially flammable substances. It also keeps squirrels, birds, and raccoons from nesting in the chimney. Nesting materials can cause a serious safety hazard; plus, the animals’ droppings pose health risks, because diseases may be transmitted through fecal matter.
Figure 15-3: Arresting chimney problems with a spark arrestor.
The solid cap — usually metal — prevents rainwater from entering the chimney. Rainwater can cause significant damage to the interior of a chimney by combining with the creosote to produce an acid that breaks down the flue lining and mortar. Rainwater also causes the damper to rust.
If your chimney doesn’t have a spark arrestor, install one. If your chimney already has one, make sure that it’s in good condition (no holes in the mesh and no rust or deterioration on the cap) and securely fastened to the top of the chimney. If you find holes (or if you accidentally make a hole or two while trying to remove rust with a wire brush), try patching the holes before replacing the entire unit. The method used to patch the spark arrestor screen is similar to the process used when patching a window screen, except that you use galvanized wire mesh rather than window screen material (see Chapter 6 for more information).
You can patch a rusting chimney cap using a small piece of galvanized sheet metal that is slightly larger than the damaged area. Attach the patch using pop rivets. You’ll need pop rivets, a pop-rivet gun, and an electric drill with a bit that corresponds to the size of the pop rivets. If rust is a problem, see Chapter 19 for tips on how to remove rust. After it’s clean and repaired, paint the spark arrestor to prevent future rust and to slow deterioration.
Cleaning a Soot-Covered Brick Fireplace Face
Oils and soot make an otherwise handsome brick fireplace face look tired and tattered. To reduce the effect of oils and soot, regularly vacuum a brick face and hearth, and periodically wipe them down with a damp sponge. To prevent smoke from staining your fireplace face, elevate the fire by adding a layer or two of firebrick at the bottom of the firebox.
If the hearth is so soiled that you can no longer determine what material it’s constructed from, then it’s time for a more serious cleaning. All you need is a 10 percent solution of muriatic acid. (That’s one part muriatic acid to nine parts water. Add the acid to the water, not the other way around.) Use a bristle brush to clean the affected area and rinse with fresh water. More than one application may be required for extra-dirty areas.
You can buy muriatic acid in the swimming-pool supplies section of your local hardware store, home center, or pool-supply store.
Working with acid is dangerous. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and safety goggles, and have plenty of ventilation.
Making the Most out of Glass Doors and Screens
A fireplace exhausts smoke in a sort of siphon action. When heat begins to rise through the stack, the siphon continues to draw air from within the house. The end result is that the draw in your fireplace can actually remove warm air from the home. And because fires burn oxygen, in a tightly sealed home, a fireplace drains a home of oxygen.
To offset both problems, do the following:
Install glass doors. Glass doors act as dampers when the fireplace isn’t being used and reduce the amount of warm air that is drawn out of the home and into the fireplace when a fire has been reduced to embers.
Glass doors are designed for energy efficiency and not to prevent sparks from flying onto the carpet. Consequently, doors are left open when a fire is burning. There is an exception to this rule. Glass doors can be used as an added layer of protection when you need to leave the house while hot embers remain in the fireplace.
Add outside air ducts to the inside of the firebox. Outside air ducts — also known as combustion air ducts — are required in the construction of all new fireplaces and can be retrofitted into existing ones. Outside air ducts provide air from the exterior of the home, leaving oxygen in the home for you to breathe. Naturally, if the fireplace draws air from ducts, it won’t need to draw warm air from within the home.
Periodically check these ducts to make sure that they’re clean and free of spider webs and other debris.
Cleaning glass fireplace doors
Here is a neat trick that keeps glass fireplace doors clean and neat year-round:
1. After the doors have cooled, spray them with glass or window cleaner or your own mixture of vinegar and water.
2. Spray a clean soft cloth until a wet spot is created.
3. Dip the wet spot into the fine gray ash left by your last fire and rub the ash onto the dirty surface.
The ash fills the microscopic pores of the glass, thus reducing the surface tension, making it easier to clean than ever before.
4. After the ash has dried to a haze, buff the glass clear with a clean, dry cloth.
Oven cleaner also works well for cleaning smoke-covered glass doors.
Make sure to wear rubber gloves and eye protection, have plenty of ventilation, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions when working with oven cleaner.
Giving sluggish glass doors a pick-me-up
If your fireplace doors are operating less than smoothly, some cleaning, a little lubrication, or a slight adjustment usually fixes the problem.
Most doors can be raised and lowered or adjusted from side to side using a screwdriver or a small open-end wrench. Make a small adjustment and open and close the door until it operates smoothly. Lightly lubricate tracks, hinges, and other moving parts with a high-temperature lubricant (available from most fireplace dealers).
Because not all doors are alike (some are swinging, others are bi-fold), your best bet is to refer to the owner’s manual for specific information on how to adjust the doors. If you’re unable to find the manual, visit a local fireplace shop.
Screening out difficulties
A fireplace screen is essential for a safe fire. The mesh screen prevents sparks from flying onto the carpet or flooring in front of the fireplace and causing a fire.
Some screens are freestanding, others are bolted to the fireplace face, and still others are an integral part of the glass-door system. Although the freestanding models can be decorative, they offer the least amount of protection; we suggest replacing or augmenting a freestanding screen with one of the other alternatives available.
Most screens include a metal rod. As the screen and rod become dirty, the screen becomes increasingly difficult to operate. To keep the screen gliding smoothly, periodically vacuum the top of the screen and rod using an upholstery attachment, and then wipe with a damp sponge followed by a touch of high-temperature lubricant.
Just as with every other surface near the fireplace, the screen can develop a buildup of soot and oils from combustion. Rust can also be a problem. Although many cleaning products can cut the grease, some screens are just too dirty to be cleaned this way. If yours happens to be the latter, try either of the following (both are best performed in a bathtub or outdoors):
Use oven cleaner. To get rid of rust on the screen, first remove as much rust as you can with a wire brush. (Remember: Make sure to wear eye protection and gloves, and work in a well-ventilated area; outdoors is good.) Next, apply a light coat of oven cleaner to the entire surface of the screen. Allow the oven cleaner to do its thing, and then rinse thor
oughly with fresh water. After the screen has dried, paint it with a heat-resistant, matte-black spray paint. Doing this every few years keeps your fireplace screen looking like new.
Use ammonia. Remove the screens from the fireplace and place them in a large plastic trash bag. Pour in 1 cup of ammonia, seal the bag, and allow it to sit overnight. The ammonia takes all the elbow grease out of cleaning the screens. Remove the screens, rinse, and paint.
Chapter 16
Maintaining Your Home-Safety Systems
In This Chapter
Keeping your home and family safe from fires
Warding off carbon-monoxide poisoning
Keeping your natural-gas lines leak free
Looking at electrical safety
Tightening up on security
Making sure your garage door is safe
Protecting your home from natural disasters
In the following pages, we offer time-honored, proven safety practices blended with a host of new innovations, contemporary Carey Brothers’ concepts, and the very best of today’s high-tech, space-age, electronic wizardry. When all these measures are used together, they can give you greater peace of mind.
Preventing and Dealing with Household Fires
Fire has been a number-one household danger ever since the day, eons ago, when our prehistoric ancestors got the idea to bring fire indoors to heat their caves and cook their mammoths.
So what is your best defense against fire? Quite simply: good old common sense! Here are some specific strategies to employ in your home:
Exercise great care with all flammable materials near high heat sources and be especially careful with combustible liquids (like solvents, cleaners and fuels), both when using and storing them.
Keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from flammable items. Only buy units with tip-over shut-off switches, and never operate a space heater while sleeping.
Don’t overload electrical circuits or put too great a burden on individual outlets or lightweight extension cords.
Don’t use a bulb with a higher wattage than a lamp or fixture is rated for.
Watch for faulty electronic equipment, malfunctioning appliances, frayed electrical cords, flickering lights, or fuses that blow and circuit breakers that trip repeatedly.
Never smoke in bed or when you’re tired or lying down, and make sure any ashes have cooled before you throw them away.
In this section, we tell you how to maintain your smoke detectors and fire extinguishers so that, if fire does strike, you and your family have the best possible chance of getting out of your house without harm.
Smoke detectors
Smoke detectors (also referred to as smoke alarms) are among the least expensive, and best, forms of protection you can buy. Check this out: A working smoke detector doubles your chance of surviving a fire.
For minimum coverage, have at least one smoke detector on every level of your home and in every sleeping area. Alarms can also be added to hallways outside every bedroom, the tops and bottoms of all stairways, and often-forgotten places such as basements, attics, utility rooms, and garages.
Battery-operated smoke detectors are inexpensive and easy to install. Make sure you check the batteries frequently.
AC-powered units are much more dependable than battery-powered detectors due to their direct-wired power source; they should be installed by an electrician or by someone with a good working knowledge of electricity. If you opt for an AC-powered unit, make sure you buy one that has an independent battery backup so it continues to operate when the power is interrupted (during a blackout or electrical fire, for example).
Regardless of which type of detector you have, follow these tips to maintain it properly:
Once a month, make sure the batteries and alarm are working. Get up on a chair, or use a broom handle for extra reach, and push the test button. If you don’t hear anything, your battery is probably dead. If after changing the battery, the smoke detector still isn’t working, immediately replace it with a new one.
All smoke detectors have a test button, which, when pushed, causes the alarm to sound. Also, most detectors have either a blinking or solid light that glows to let you know that the alarm is getting power.
Make sure the smoke detector is operating properly. Once a month, put two or three lighted matches together (the wood kitchen type is best), and then blow out the flame, holding the matches so that the smoke wafts up toward the unit. (You may also use synthetic smoke in an aerosol can, which can be found at most hardware stores.) If the detector doesn’t go off, and you’ve checked the batteries, replace the unit immediately.
Every six months, replace the batteries. You can easily remember to replace the batteries if you replace them when the time changes to and from daylight saving time, in the spring and fall.
Never remove a battery from your smoke alarm to use it in another item — like a radio, toy, or TV remote. First, you don’t really know how much power those batteries still have. Second, you’re likely to forget to replace it in the smoke alarm.
Brush or vacuum the alarm to keep dirt and dust out of the mechanism. Do this at least four times per year or more often if you live in a dusty area. Never use cleaning sprays or solvents that can enter the unit and contaminate sensors.
After ten years of use, replace smoke detectors. At that point, a smoke detector has endured more than 87,000 hours of continuous operation, and the internal sensors probably have become contaminated with dust, dirt, and air pollutant residues.
Fire extinguishers
Most fires start small. If you have a working fire extinguisher on hand, you may be able to easily and quickly put out a fire. Manufacturers of home safety products recommend having one fire extinguisher for every 600 square feet of living area. The kitchen, garage, and basement each should have an extinguisher, too. It’s a good idea to keep one in your car, too.
When you’re shopping for a fire extinguisher, be sure to purchase one that has a pressure gauge. Check the gauge once a month to ensure that you have a working extinguisher when you need it. If you find that the extinguisher’s pressure is low, and it’s a model that can’t be recharged, dispose of it and replace it with a new unit.
By the way, we shouldn’t have to tell you why “testing” an extinguisher by pulling the pin and squeezing the trigger is a bad, wasteful, and dangerous idea.
If you can’t practice, though, how will you know how to use a fire extinguisher when you’re faced with a fire? Remember this acronym: PASS.
Pull the pin.
Aim at the base of the fire.
Squeeze the handle.
Sweep the base of the fire from side to side, starting with the closest edge and working away from yourself.
Preventing Carbon-Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon monoxide (CO) is the number-one cause of poisoning deaths in the United States. CO is an invisible, odorless, poisonous gas produced by the incomplete combustion of any fuel — such as gasoline, kerosene, propane, natural gas, oil, and even wood fires. CO in your home can be fatal, killing in minutes or hours, depending on the level of CO in the air. At low concentrations, CO produces a wide range of flu-like symptoms, including shortness of breath, mild nausea, and mild headache. At moderate concentrations, the symptoms are headache, dizziness, nausea, and light-headedness. At high concentrations, the “symptoms” are unconsciousness and death.
One telltale sign of mild CO poisoning is flu symptoms that go away when you’re outside the home in fresh air.
The typical sources of CO in homes are malfunctioning gas furnaces, gas stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, and even improperly vented fireplaces. Other major dangers include using a gasoline-powered generator in or too near the home, using a barbecue unit indoors (or in the garage) to cook or heat during a power outage, and letting a car run in the garage or carport where exhaust fumes can collect and enter the home. Making matters worse, many of today’s energy-efficient homes minimize outside air exchange and cross-ventilati
on, giving CO no chance to exit once it enters the home.
Maintaining your carbon-monoxide detector
CO wafts through a room like perfume — only you can’t smell or see it — which is why having a working CO detector in your home is critical. If you don’t already have a CO detector, you should buy one. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends that every home with fuel-burning appliances of any kind be equipped with a least one CO detector. Place your CO detectors anywhere from 14 inches above the floor to eye level, and never where there is a draft (such as near a window, doorway, or stairwell).
