The holidays are now over and 2015 has begun. Every year most of us make promises to ourselves to improve our lives in some way. Many of us try to lose weight or start working out more often. Whatever your goals are for yourself this is a great time to start.
The new year can also be a great time to improve your home. It is sometimes easy to live in our homes and not give them the love they deserve. I see many homeowners in the Portland area that just neglect their home or have no idea how to maintain it. Just like our bodies or our cars it takes time and money to keep them working properly.
I found myself guilty of this about a month ago when I decided to start the first fire of the year in my fireplace. I have lived in my home for 17 years and used my fireplace fairly regularly in the cold months. Every year I told myself I should probably get the chimney cleaned out. Every year I found an excuse not to do that. I knew that chimney fires could happen but for some reason I guess I just didn’t think it would to me.
I sat by my fire for about 10 minutes and then all of the sudden I hear a loud noise from the fireplace. The flames are going way higher than normal and it sounds really strange. Since I had never seen this before I was not sure what to do. I looked outside at the chimney and saw sparks coming out but no flames. I was not sure if I should call 911 or 411 or look to google for an answer.
We called for help and the fire department was at our house 10 minutes later. They checked everything out and we all had a good laugh this time but it could have been much worse. As a painting contractor with some construction knowledge I am constantly helping others with home advice. This was one time that I should have been more proactive and spent a few dollars to do the work I knew should be done. I will likely turn to Angie’s List for a good contractor to come clean my chimney and hopefully save myself from a scare like that again.
If you have any questions on painting or home repairs feel free to contact Absolute Painting & Power Washing and we will do our best to help you out.
