Fire!

We had a chimney fire and didn’t really know it.  When John was gone, I had a good fire going, but I heard lots of crackling in the stove pipe, which really freaked me out.  I had a chimney sweep come out and inspect and clean the chimney and he said there was a hole in the terra cotta tiles that line the flue so large that he could shove his arm through it!  He seemed to think it had happened before I thought it did.  I feel like we’re lucky that our house didn’t burn down.   Now, I have a really hard time going to sleep.  I check the chimney from all different angles, which is really not pleasant since I have to go outside and it’s been below freezing for a few days. 

It should be safe.  The chimney sweep installed a new stainless steel liner  and repaired the crown of our chimney, which was cracked.  He said that rain could get inside the chimney alongside the flue and cause more condensation, therefore more creosote buildup.  What a nightmare! 

 Our insurance covers this sort of thing, but we have a $1000 deductible.  We already paid for it, so we’ll get $400 or so back from the insurance company.  I guess some is better than none.  We were going to use that money to cut down some oaks by our house that are keeping us from getting HD TV and growing a large garden this spring.  I guess we’ll just have to save up again.

 I really shouldn’t complain.  It  really could have been much worse.

Written by erin Filed under Homestead |