What Not To Burn
You probably don’t believe that you’ll ever burn anything other than wood in your fireplace; yet, just in case you ever find yourself short on fuel and tempted to throw something else into the hearth, you should give it some serious thought. Have a look at this list of the top 10 items that should not be burned in the fireplace.
Wet Wood
Nearly half of firewood that has been saturated or that has not been seasoned properly may actually be composed of water. When this kind of wood is ignited, it produces a great deal more smoke, which in turn causes a potentially hazardous substance known as creosote to build up along the interior walls of your chimney.
In any event, damp wood just will not create the same quantity of that as dry and seasoned wood will, so you may as well just bite the bullet and walk down to the petrol station to pick up a duralog rather than picking some wet wood out of the rain-soaked pile in the backyard.
Holiday Trees
Although we aren’t entirely clear why these items would wind up in the fireplace, we think it makes sense that they would… If you’re one of those people who likes to ignore the fact that the holiday season is over until Valentine’s Day, then having a supply of firewood sitting right in your living room during the middle of January or the beginning of February may seem like a convenient supply of firewood sitting right there.
In point of fact, though, burning any remaining Christmas trees may be rather hazardous. The evergreen wood has high quantities of resin, which burn and ignite fast, making it more likely that a fire may go out of control and do significant damage. You shouldn’t throw your tree into the fire if there’s any chance it wasn’t a natural one to begin with, especially if it’s artificial.
Surface-Treated Wood
If you have the want to suddenly redecorate your home and rip it apart in quest of firewood, you should resist that urge. Toxic compounds may be found in painted and treated wood found in and around your house (such as stairwell railings). These chemicals can give off the odor of death, physically filling your home with this stink.
Even in the event that the chemicals do not cause any harm to the human occupants of your dwelling, they are nonetheless capable of doing significant damage to your fireplace.
It is not a good idea to burn colored print magazines, wrapping paper, or food boxes in the fireplace since these materials can generate poisonous vapors that are corrosive and even carcinogenic. Other things that are not suitable to burn in the fireplace include: Even if you believe that the content of the magazines contains blasphemy and heresy, you should consider selling your son’s collection of MAD magazines on eBay rather than throwing them into the fireplace if you are weary of finding them scattered over the home.
Plywood or particle board used in the construction of the furniture
Inside of furniture made of plywood and particle board, one can find a veritable banquet of cancer-causing and poisonous gases…
The most recent one is constructed with wood chips that have been reconstituted into a “solid” piece of wood by being glued together and crushed.
If it is not something that your grandpa would put in a corn cob pipe and smoke while rocking back and forth and talking about walking to school through the snow uphill both there and back, then we recommend that you do not toss it in the fireplace to inhale the fumes that are produced by it.
All these reminders are best practiced when you are also assured of having a reliable company at your side. Contact Local Chimney Sweep Cleaning today for Chimney Cleaning Klamath and repairing.