It's not so messy as Dick Van Dyke made it out to be

I didn't blog about this the other day…

We had our chimney cleaned and inspected.

I'm pretty sure it's state law to sing "Chim Chim Chimney" when you have a chimney sweep in your house.

Two winters ago, Bill had a gut feeling that we shouldn't have fires in the fireplace anymore. It was on my to-do list to call a chimney sweep. I'm really bad at researching and the last guy we called, pulled up in front of the house, sat in the street for a few minutes, and then drove off.

We'll never know why.

Maybe he knew something.

At any rate, I asked Bill to research who I should call. He found a reputable, local company and I made the appointment.

We don't know when the last time the chimney was swept.

Back to our chimney sweep appointment. They came in and swept. Then they used their fancy camera to inspect the inside of the chimney.

Oh, the cracks. They took photos (I haven't seen them). They also told Bill his gut feeling was right. If we had kept having fires, a chimney fire would have been certain. There are so many cracks that, he told us, our home owners insurance should cover it since we don't have a time frame [from the last inspection, if there ever has been one].

When Bill has the time, he is planning on calling our insurance to see what they say. If they will cover it, we will have it repaired. We've always enjoyed a fire, in the fireplace, and we'd like to continue enjoying them, safely.

I'm thankful that Bill had the gut feeling and that he listened to it.

For now it's not hurting anything to not have a fire.