Do you have a chimney in your house? Now's the Time to Get it Cleaned!

Here one can see an adult chimney sweep from Frankfurt, Germany, in 1959

Having your chimney swept regularly is an important step to take to improve the safety and livability of your home. An unattended chimney can accumulate deposits of soot along the entire length of the flue, and this can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals that aren't the best to keep around. A little preventative maintenance can help to improve the longevity of your chimney and keep your home healthy.

In the old days, chimney sweeping was often performed by children, but these days they are usually bonded professionals that normally demand relatively high amounts for their work, up to $100 per flue.

Having a chimney swept can be pretty pricey though, especially in the winter time when sweepers charge high prices for an in-demand service.

If you think ahead, and make a call in the summertime to prepare for the colder season, you can save quite a bit on having your chimney cleaned out. Sometimes the rates can be half those charged in the wintertime, and you can save as much as $50 per flue on a cleaning.

I'd assume that your chimney sweep won't be named Homer Simpson. He or she probably also enjoys the job.

The best part is, you'll be supporting a local business professional when the market is poor, so it's a win win situation.

And for a final bonus, you can likely have the work done whenever you want, since the sweeper will be unoccupied most of the time.

Getting a summer sweep likely will leave you with more money in your pocket and your chimney sweep happy to have the work!