Are you looking for a chimney sweep near you that offers reliable services for an affordable price? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Apex Air Duct Cleaning & Chimney Services is a premier Levittown, PA chimney cleaning company that has been maintaining the efficiency and ensuring the safety of Bucks County chimneys for more than 30 years. Our professionally trained, fully licensed and insured technicians are certified by The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) and adhere to the most stringent standards. Using the most advanced techniques and state-of-the-art technologies, we’ll ensure that every nook and cranny of your chimney is thoroughly cleaned and that every component is functioning properly. We charge the fairest and most affordable rates, too. For the best chimney cleaning services in Bucks County, don’t waste your time searching online for “chimney sweep near me”; contact the team at Apex Air Duct Cleaning & Chimney Services!
4 Telltale Signs You Need to Schedule an Appointment with a Levittown, PA Chimney Cleaning Professional
Whether you rely on a fireplace to heat your Bucks County home or you use it to create ambiance, making sure that the chimney is properly maintained is essential. The chimney exhausts smoke and carbon monoxide out of your home, and it feeds a fire the oxygen it needs to burn efficiently. Each time you light a fire, the byproducts of combustion, including creosote, soot, and ash collect on the walls of the liner. Debris from the outdoors, such as leaves, twigs, and acorns can collect inside the chimney; animals, like squirrels, raccoons, and bats can nest in it, too. All of these elements are highly combustible, so if they’re trapped inside your chimney, each time you light a fire in the fireplace, there’s a chance that they could ignite.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), between 2014 and 2018, one in seven house fires were caused by heating equipment. Failure to clean the heating equipment was the leading factor that contributed to these fires, and a common cause of chimney fires was the ignition of creosote. House fires aren’t the only problem that a dirty chimney can cause; a blocked chimney can also increase the risk of carbon monoxide exposure. Fires produce carbon monoxide, and if the chimney is blocked, instead of exhausting out of your Bucks County home, the odorless, colorless, and tasteless toxic gas can build up in your living spaces.
In order to protect yourself, your family, and your Bucks County house, hiring a Levittown, PA chimney cleaning company on a regular basis is vital. A reputable professional will conduct a thorough inspection of the structure to ensure that it’s functioning properly and will use the most advanced techniques and state-of-the-art technologies to remove obstructions, creosote, soot, ash, and all other debris. As per the NFPA, chimneys, fireplaces, and vents should be cleaned and inspected at least once a year; however, if you use your fireplace on a frequent basis, you may need to have it cleaned more often.
How can you tell when it’s time to hire a Levittown, PA chimney cleaning professional? Here’s a look at four warning signs that indicate you should get in touch with a chimney sweep near you.
Fire Issues
The chimney feeds the fires you light in your fireplace with the oxygen it needs to thrive. As long as the chimney is clean, the fires you light should be powerful and warm. If the liner is coated with creosote or there’s an obstruction in the chimney, the fires you burn won’t receive the oxygen they need to burn efficiently, and as a result, they’ll be slow to start, they won’t burn as powerfully as they should, and they won’t create as much heat – if you’re able to get the fires to take off at all. Furthermore, instead of exhausting through the chimney, smoke will pour back into your Bucks County home.
Whenever you light a fire, if you’re experiencing any of the above-mentioned issues, it’s a surefire sign that you should get in touch with a chimney sweep near you. A certified Levittown, PA chimney cleaning professional will get rid of any obstructions that may be blocking your chimney. They’ll also remove all creosote, soot, ash, and any other debris from the walls of the liner, the firebox, and all other components of the chimney and fireplace.
Damper Troubles
The damper allows air to flow through the chimney. It’s important, as it feeds fires with the oxygen that’s needed to burn efficiently. It also allows the smoke, carbon monoxide, soot, and creosote that fires product to exhaust through the chimney. Since it’s so important, a damper needs to work properly. If you’re having a hard time opening and closing it, you’re definitely going to want to get in touch with a chimney sweep near you.
Dampers can become damaged and stop functioning for a number of reasons. Creosote, soot, and ash buildup can jam the damper, preventing it from opening and closing. If moisture is making its way into the chimney for any reason, the damper can rust, making it difficult to operate. A licensed and experienced Levittown, PA chimney cleaning professional will assess the damper to determine the cause of the problem. If built-up dirt, debris, and creosote are the cause of the problem, a chimney cleaning pro will remedy the problem. If rust is the cause of the issue, a chimney cleaning tech will find the source of the moisture that is causing the rust, will recommend the repairs that are needed to correct the problem, and can even replace the rusted damper for you.
Dirty Walls, Floors, and Furnishings
Do the walls, floors, and furnishings near your Bucks County fireplace seem dirty? Do they have dark spots on them? Are they coated with what looks like soot and ash? If so, that could be a sign that your chimney needs to be cleaned.
As mentioned, when a chimney is obstructed, it doesn’t exhaust properly. Whenever you light a fire, instead of exiting your house through the chimney, smoke, soot, and ash can pour out of the fireplace and settle on the nearby floors, walls, and furnishings. As soon as you suspect this problem, get in touch with a chimney sweep near you. The longer you put off having the chimney cleaned, the worse the problem will become and the more damage your Bucks County home and furnishings will sustain.
Strange Noises
Do you hear strange sounds coming from your chimney? Does it sound like scratching, banging, gnawing, chirping, growling, or any other odd noises? You aren’t imagining things; those sounds you are hearing could be the result of little critters that are nesting may be nesting in your chimney.
Squirrels, raccoons, bats, birds, opossums, and other pests often seek shelter in dark, compact places, which means your chimney is a prime location. As they climb, scurry, scratch, and claw, you’ll likely hear those sounds coming out of the fireplace, the surrounding walls, or the chimney itself. As soon as you hear any unusual noises, contact a chimney sweep near. A reputable Levittown, PA chimney cleaning professional will analyze the structure and if it turns out that animals have made their home inside, the technician will have them safely and humanely removed.
Need a Chimney Sweep Near You?
Whether you’re having one of the above-mentioned issues or any other problem, or you just haven’t had your chimney cleaned in a while, if you’re looking for a chimney sweep near you, contact Apex Air Duct Cleaning & Chimney Services! As a premier Levittown, PA chimney cleaning company, our fully licensed, insured, and certified technicians have more than 30 years of experience and will make sure that your chimney is thoroughly cleaned, and that it is functioning properly and safely. To learn more, browse through our website, or to request a free price quote, submit our online contact form or call us directly at 215-608-2442 today!
Levittown (L-Town) is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census. It is 40 feet (12 m) above sea level. Though not a municipality, it is sometimes recognized as the largest suburb of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Starting with land purchased in 1951, it was planned and built by Levitt & Sons. The brothers William Levitt and architect Alfred Levitt designed its six typical houses.
The majority of the land on which it is built was purchased in 1951. Levitt and Sons only built six models of houses in Levittown, all single-family dwellings with lawns: the Levittowner, the Rancher, the Jubilee, the Pennsylvanian, the Colonial and the Country Clubber, with only modest exterior variations within each model. The homes were moderately priced and required only a low down payment. Construction of Levittown began in February 1952, soon after completion of Levittown, New York, located on Long Island. Levittown, Pennsylvania was the second ‘Levittown’ built by William J. Levitt, who is often credited as the creator of the modern American suburb. To speed up construction, Levitt & Sons perfected a 26-step rationalized building method that was essentially an assembly line type of home building. The house remained stationary, while the construction workers moved from house to house. Each worker had one task such as pouring slabs, framing, installing electric sockets or installing washing machines. This highly regimented process enabled Levitt’s workers to produce a finished house every 16 minutes. Construction of the homes commenced in 1952 and when completed in 1958, 17,311 homes were built.
What set Levittown apart from other developments at the time was that it was built as a complete community. Levitt & Sons designed neighborhoods with traffic-calming curvilinear roads, in which there were no four-way intersections. Each neighborhood had within its boundaries a site donated by Levitt & Sons for a public elementary school. Locations for churches and other public facilities were set aside on main thoroughfares such as the Levittown Parkway, likewise donated by the builder to religious groups and other organizations. Other amenities included Olympic-sized public pools, parks, ‘greenbelts’, baseball fields and playgrounds, and a shopping center located in neighboring Tullytown borough that was considered large and modern at the time of its construction (and in fact was the largest east of the Mississippi). The first set of four sample homes were put on display in a swatch of land near the future Levittown Shop-a-Rama, and an estimated 30,000 people viewed them in that first weekend.
Aerial view of Levittown circa 1959
Residents (who are sometimes called Levittowners) were first expected to comply with a lengthy list of rules and regulations regarding the upkeep of their homes and use of their property. Two of these ‘rules’ included a prohibition on hanging laundry out to dry on Sunday and not allowing homeowners to fence off their yards. These proved unenforceable over time, particularly when backyard pools became financially accessible to the working class and privacy concerns drove many to fence off their yards. In the years since Levitt & Sons ended construction, three- and four-story ‘garden apartments’ and a number of non-Levitt owner-occupied houses have been built in Levittown.
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