When was the last time you invested in chimney cleaning for your multi-family apartments? If you're not cleaning your chimney before every winter, it could be a hazard. When it comes to chimneys, it's generally better to be safe than sorry. Here's why it's so important to maintain and invest in chimney cleaning.
Reduce Your Risk of Fire
When debris like leaves and twigs get swept up into a chimney, it increases the overall risk of fire. Chimneys are designed to contain heat, but they're not designed to contain an out-of-control fire: chimneys are largely a vent designed to vent smoke.
The major problem with chimneys is that there are a lot of animals that like to nest in them, especially during the spring and summer. And that means that birds and rodents bring dry kindling into the chimney, where it will remain until a thorough cleaning.
Improve Your Air Quality
When a chimney is full of debris, it can't vent properly. Harmful smoke and gasses can collect inside of your commercial location, leading to reduced air quality. Reduced air quality doesn't just lead to uncomfortable, unhappy customers: it can also lead to unhealthy employees.
You can't always know that your chimney isn't venting correctly. The smoke may appear to dissipate, but harmful gasses could still be collecting inside of the unit. That's not just unpleasant: it's dangerous. These gasses can replace air in the lungs, leading to lightheadedness and other major health issues.
Avoid Damage-Related Costs
If the chimney does end up catching on fire or otherwise causing damage, that's going to lead to some major structural costs. It's worth the trivial cost of a chimney sweep to protect yourself from needing to rebuild the chimney itself, or fix damage to the roof.
Protect Personnel
Your personnel could be at risk if a fire breaks out or if air quality is impacted. Every business wants to protect its employees, but it's also a matter of cost: the liability in this situation could be financially devastating.
If you want to protect your personnel, you need to make sure that your chimney is venting properly and properly cleaned. Most employees aren't going to notice that a chimney is malfunctioning, and consequently could be exposed to poor quality air for some time.
Employees are in a work environment for eight hours a day or more, so even a very small reduction in air quality could lead to an unhappy and unhealthy workforce. Likewise, that leads to more people calling out sick, and reduced productivity across the board.
Avoid Insurance Claims
If your chimney burns down or someone gets sick, it's going to lead to an insurance claim. But while an insurance claim may cover the costs of such an issue (less the deductible, or any coverage caps), filing an insurance claim itself isn't always desirable.
When you file an insurance claim, it's likely that your insurance amounts are going to increase. For a large commercial space, that could be tens of thousands of dollars in additional premiums. It's best to avoid the situation at all.
Multi-family apartment chimney sweeping is fast, affordable, and protects from all of the issues outlined above. If you want to learn more (or get a quote) contact the Exterior Medics today.
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