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So  you want a high efficiency boiler for your home to cut energy costs and join the green movement right?  Good idea!  We can help you with that.  Chimney problems caused by high efficiency boilers are becoming more common as our communities move toward more energy efficient and cost effective methods of heating their homes.  One of the biggest problems created by these new boilers is the sense of false security.  Read on to find out what we mean by that.

Whether you are using an oil, propane, or natural gas fired condensing boiler, here is one thing to keep in mind. Ice, snow, and sleet from the outside freezes your bricks.  When the condensing air inside the frozen chimney rises it looses heat quickly.  Now, it's freezing.  One customer's  chimney in Portland Maine we serviced had a thick layer of ice forming on the inside of his chimney.  We couldn't even sweep it!  When Billy put the camera inside the flue to see what was there it was actually snowing inside, not outside, the chimney.  

What can happen next is called efflorescence and it's not good for your chimney.  Ever see a nice chimney with this kind of white film, barely noticible, and positioned vertically on one side?  The root of this chimney problem has to do with the fact that the bricks' core have a concentration of salts.  When the core of the bricks on your heating system side of the chimney get wet they begin to loose their integrity and let more water in, eventually spalling the brick face entirely.  As the salts move from the core of the brick out to the edges, they leave a white deposit called, efflorescence.  If this isn't caught in time, your chimney may fall apart.  You'll need a chimney sweep whose chimney services are expert at solving complex chimney problems.  You'll need to know the condition of your chimney lining system.  Call us, your plumber or heating contractor would.

This could happen to your chimney in a short number of years with a new high efficiency gas boiler so please make sure you have your chimney inspected annually for deterioration and efflorescence.  Proper maintenence of your chimney and it's lining system avoid you the trouble and inconvenience of a future emergency situation.  

Now, let's balance this out.  We love high efficiency in almost everything.  If you choose a high efficiency condensing boiler for your home, hire us to inspect, properly line, and warranty your chimney.  Our chimney lining products are warrantied for life and even our labor is unconditionally warrantied for one year.  Don't bargain your safety away by hiring the cheaper competition. We're here for the long haul, they may not be.  Get it done now.  Get it done right, the first time.

How in the world would you contribute to wildlife preservation by installing a chimney cap?  Well, lets see what we've pulled out of some local chimneys (dead or alive): families of birds, we've scraped raccoon carcases off of damper plates and flue tiles, a couple of cats, and several squirrels.  And then there are the nests that get knocked off of the flue tops by roofers and other folks that mostly end up in a toxic compost in some unspecified, and now unsanitary location.  These are just a few examples of how installing a chimney cap can contribute directly to the welfare of local wildlife.  Since, they can't get in, it will help your wallet too by reducing how many times you call pest control or emergency services.

Our chimney services include installing chimney caps of all sizes.  We even have special screens developed for masonry chimney caps that protect both your chimney from animals but also the animals from your chimney.  It's a win win scenario!  

If we install a chimney liner for you, we'll automatically include the cap and we'll warranty the materials for life!   That's right, not all caps are created equal.  We only install materials that manufacturers will waranty.  It's just not worth your money to go with anything else.  Live greener and in harmony with your neighboring critters and support a healthy ecosystem by protecting wildlife at home.

Having a certified chimney sweep, like Jon, install a cap for you will give you solid piece of mind.  Live greener and happier, knowing that you're protecting your environment and saving money by installing caps that may never need replacing.  Our chimney caps are warranted for life, our labor is guaranteed for a year, unconditionally. Let's face it, we install chimney caps out on Marblehead neck, Gloucester MA, Nahant MA, as well as other coastal towns that experience high winds.  We have special caps for those jobs.

We sell and install thousands of chimney caps.  People call us and mention that they hear scratching sounds, cooing, and all kinds of things from inside their walls.  Poor little fellas in there were just looking for heat and when they found your chimney they found an open trap.  We pulled an entire skelleton of a sea gull out of a gas heating system flue in Gloucester once, fully intact. 

Dan rescued a family of racoons with new-borns one time.  They had taken up residence in the smoke chamber of the family's fire place.  The home owner said, "Oh my goodness, we almost had a fire last night in our fire place.  We would have killed them all."  We were happy to see the family of raccoons set free.  Wildlife management wasn't really on our resumes but we're happy to do what we can.

Call us (800-248-4900), email us, or fill out one of our forms and we'll actually call you back, or email you back, whichever you prefer.  Each of us is an animal lover and advocate of wildlife preservation. Call us today to inspect your chimney.  If it doesn't have a chimney cap, we'll certainly recommend installing one.