(Image courtesy: Burst)

Imagine the crackle of wood and the heat from a glowing fire and you’ll understand why we love a cozy hearth. It’s the focal point of many homes and makes our living areas what much warmer and more welcoming in Fall and Winter.

But along with the benefits of a wood-burning fireplace come some very serious responsibilities as well. Especially before you use your fireplace for the first time for the season, there are some maintenance needs and safety tips you should follow to help keep your family safe.

Clean the Interior of the Fireplace

A wood-burning fireplace can improve your home’s ambiance, but it also produces a lot of soot and debris which needs to be removed regularly. Experts recommend you have your chimney swept at least once a year, ideally before the first use of the season. 

This cleaning isn’t just for looks, it also will make your fireplace more efficient in providing heat. Hire a professional chimney sweep so they can only clean soot and debris, but also inspect the structure for cracks, loose bricks, or missing mortar. You’ll also want to check the chimney liners for cracking or deterioration and a properly installed cap.

Use Proper Wood 

It may surprise you to hear that you shouldn’t use just any wood in your fireplace. As a general rule, you’ll want to use manufactured fireplace logs or seasoned hardwood like oaks, maple, and birch, and stay far away  from softwoods like cedar and pine. Hardwood may be more expensive but they also produce more heat, burn longer, and they don’t produce as much creosote buildup in your chimney as softwoods tend to do.

Seasoned woods are those that have been properly dried — usually for 6-12 months — and are almost totally free of moisture. If you are splitting and drying them yourself, to make them dry faster, it’s best to split logs into small pieces of wood.

Learn How to Build Your Fire 

Even if you were never a Scout, you probably know that there’s an art to stacking logs to build your fire. A well-built fire helps direct smoke up your chimney and ensures sparks and embers don’t jump out of the fireplace and onto your floor. 

Open the damper before you light and use your fireplace and keep it open until your fire is fully extinguished. Use a metal grate to stack logs as far back in the fireplace as possible. Use bigger logs on the bottom of your fire and build up with smaller logs, using kindling at the top and in between. And yes — use smaller twigs or even unwaxed papers as kindling instead of flammable liquids to start your fire. 

You only need a couple of logs at a time and you can replace them as they burn down. While a roaring fire may sound great, a fire that burns too hot can crack your chimney, and no one wants an expensive chimney repair right around the holidays!

It’s Not Just What’s Inside the Hearth that Matters

Hearth guards aren’t just for show. These grates and screens protect you and your home from hot embers that may shoot out of the fireplace. This is especially important when the room is unoccupied since fire can spread quickly. 

It’s important to keep the hearth and your fireplace clear of any combustible items; this includes decorations but also kindling. And if you decorate your fireplace mantel seasonally with garlands, stockings, or greeting cards, you’ll want to remove these items before starting a fire, even if you have a screen. 

Use Those Ashes!

And just because we told you to clean them up doesn’t mean you should throw out the soot and ash from your fireplace after you’ve enjoyed your fire. 

Did you know that soot from your fireplace not only serves as traction for slippery walkways in winter, but can be used to deter pests like slugs, snails, and ants, and is also an excellent source of nutrients for plants in your garden?

If you use these tips, you’ll appreciate your home with its fireplace and all of the warmth and charm it brings to the cooler season.

Don’t have a fireplace but wish you did? LIST WITH ELIZABETH® can help with that! Let us show you our featured homes available in the Springfield and Burke areas that have hearths and other comfortable features that you’ll enjoy cozying up to.