Wood Burning Fireplace Care

[SoonerTexan]

Our house has a wood burning fireplace--I'm so excited, but my family had gas growing up so I don't know how to care for it. I doubt we will get to use it more than 5 times (it is Texas), but anyone have any tips?

Our inspector did say it needed more fireplace mortar, so I plan to do that this weekend.

[Thirteen]

Mom and Dad have two: I'll call them.
In the meantime -- Angie'sList?

Someone should give you a free estimate, should you use them.

[Pollyanna]

I would have a chimney sweep come give it a good cleaning before you use it.

[poky]

I would have a chimney sweep come give it a good cleaning before you use it.

This. It should be cleaned and inspected by a trained sweep probably every year or two; they'll tell you if it's safe to burn in, and what needs to be done to make it so, if it's not.

[SoonerTexan]

Inspection it is

[SuzySunshine]

Yep, get it inspected. The house we bought has 3 fireplaces and one of them is so bad we've chosen not to use it rather then have it repaired for thousands of dollars and we'll be switching one of the other two from wood to gas and installing the insert in such a way that we don't have to spend thousands of dollars to make the chimney safe to use.

[Deebs]

After the inspection, if you're really going to use it infrequently, use some type of kreosote logs. They clean the chimney as they burn and keep you from getting buildup. We love having a fireplace (we live in the midwest), but maybe only have one fire a year now that our kids are mobile. My DH is a former firefighter, so if he could, we'd have a fire going in the house at any given minute, but we're just too nervous with the kids home.

[SoonerTexan]

Use kerosene logs instead of wood every time?

My guess is we will use it 5x max this season

[Deebs]

I should not be allowed on here while my two year old is in the room, anymore. Not kerosene logs, creosote (sorry). I'd at least do it once every six months, or at the end of the season.

[SoonerTexan]

Haha gotcha

[poky]

Also, if you're just going to have a few fires, I'd probably just use the duraflame-type "logs" for them, unless you already have wood you're wanting to burn; it's less hassle and less messy and less chance of bringing bugs in your house.

[SoonerTexan]

The fires they make are so wimpy though! And they are so pricey!

[poky]

The fires they make are so wimpy though! And they are so pricey!

True dat. It's been a long time since we used them; we put in a wood stove and used a pellet basket inside it for a long time before we moved, and then the house we were in the last 5 years didn't have working fireplaces (the current one might, but it needs work, and we're negotiating with the landlord on whether to do it or not). I was just throwing it out there as an option.

[Pollyanna]

So how those of you with little ones use a fireplace safely? Dh and I are so worried about them getting burned we never use a fireplace with little ones around. And kudos to those of you that can say, "don't touch" and have them listen

[Chrisada]

We use our wood fireplace only when DH is home. We've used it since they've been very little and they've never gotten close to it, but we've always been in the room too.