You have seen chimneys all your life, if not in person then in the media, but how much do you really know about them? Here are three fun chimney facts you may not have picked up:
1. Chimney Sweeps are Good Luck!
If you have watched Mary Poppins, you know that cleaning a chimney makes you a lucky person — or at least cleaning chimneys as a career does. After all, “a sweep is as lucky as lucky can be!” This isn’t just true in the Disney film, though — it is also true in real life! Or so people think, anyway. In the United Kingdoms, it is thought to be good luck for a bride to see a chimney sweep on the same day that she gets married. Whatever the correlation is between cleaning your chimney and good luck, you may be better of if you call someone to take care of cleaning the chimney for you around your wedding day… just in case.
2. Chimneys are a Good Investment as Well
More than just good luck, though, being able to call a chimney sweep can mean good things for your home value. Chimneys are a nice looking, cozy type of architecture that has been around for what seems like forever. Because of that, it is very desirable to have one in a home — so desirable that it actually raises the home’s price by as much as twelve thousand dollars! Building one is a sort of investment in your home’s value, not a cost. If you do build a chimney or get a home with one, though….
3. … Make Sure to Call the Sweep!
Even steel chimney liners can become very dirty over time, and when the steel chimney liners accumulate too much dirt, they can cause serious fires! It can be very easy to forget to have your steel chimney liners cleaned since they are out of site, but be sure that they are not out of mind because that can mean being left out of house and home! Chimney fires are fierce and put your home at risk as well as everyone in it. When properly maintained, however, there is no reason for a chimney to ever have one of these fires! What do you think of chimneys?