In this episode of Creative Connections I’m interviewing Vince Decrisci with ChimneyTek about fireplace safety. Watch the episode to learn how often you should be cleaning your fireplace, plus the dangers of carbon monoxide in homes without a fireplace, that use gas or oil fuels.
James Bowerman:
Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Creative Connections, my name is James Bowerman with the Real Creative Group of Douglas Realty, and I’m here today with Vince Decrisci, with ChimneyTech and we’re going to talk a little bit about fire safety with your chimney and your fireplace. So Vince, thanks for being here.
Vince Decrisi:
Thank you for having me, James.
James Bowerman:
For those people who are watching who don’t know you, tell us a little bit about who you are, what does ChimneyTech do?
Vince Decrisi:
Okay, ChimneyTech is full service chimney sweep and inspection company. We actually just celebrated our 25th anniversary. [crosstalk 00:00:40] Yeah, that was a huge accomplishment for us. We specialize in chimney inspections for real estate transactions, but we also do fireplace and chimney restoration.
James Bowerman:
with the changing seasons, we’re getting to that time of year, people will want to start using their fireplace. Safety concerns, we don’t want them to burn the house down.
Vince Decrisi:
Right.
James Bowerman:
So tell us a little bit about what should somebody look for as far as fireplace safety, to make sure that that doesn’t happen?
Vince Decrisi:
One of the common questions that we do get is how often should I have my chimney cleaned? Well, it’s not necessarily the cleaning part, it’s the inspection part. The national standard is that all chimneys should be inspected annually. Sometimes folks will say, “Well, I don’t have a fireplace.” Another thing is if you heat your home by gas or oil furnace, or gas or oil water heater, that vents into some sort of chimney. The danger with that is not a chimney fire but carbon monoxide and you can’t see it or you can’t smell it.
James Bowerman:
Tell us a little bit about the inspection. What does that process look like?
Vince Decrisi:
Right.
James Bowerman:
Our inspection, we do a level two chimney inspection, that’s our most comprehensive inspection. We start at the top, inspecting the chimney cap, the concrete crown, the brick work, flashing on the chimney where the chimney meets the roof line, a lot of times, you can get leaking there. And then, if it’s a fireplace we’ll end up on the inside, we have what we call a lighthouse, a video camera. It’s like Roto Rooter for chimney. And it can see a 360-degree view of the inside of the fireplace or furnace flue. You just can’t see up a chimney 15 feet or 10 feet sideways. This thing spins and it’s pretty cool.
Vince Decrisi:
That’s cool.
James Bowerman:
Yeah.
Vince Decrisi:
Using technology.
James Bowerman:
Right.
Vince Decrisi:
Right up my alley. One object of curiosity I hear is maybe it’s this Mary Poppins reference, but a chimney sweep up on the top with the broom.
James Bowerman:
Yeah, it’s not like that anymore.
Vince Decrisi:
What does that process look like as far as getting a chimney cleaned?
James Bowerman:
Most of our cleaning occurs from the bottom nowadays. We use a mechanical cleaning system that’s hooked to a drill and it has flexible rods that attach to that drill and we use the vacuum system and it’s like I said, Roto Rooter, goes up the chimney, the drill spins it back and forth and cleans it out. Once the cleaning process is done, that’s when we’ll do that video scan and finish that inspection.
Vince Decrisi:
You’re very involved in the community, this is a time of year we’re all giving thanks, and you’ve been giving back now for a while. You’ve kind of built your business on that, so tell me a little bit about what your involvement with the community has been.
James Bowerman:
Well, that has to do with our core values and our why. ChimneyTech’s why is to help other people, whether it’s my customers have safer homes or help my employees, or help with non-profits and ministries in the community. So we partner with four ministries in the community. Burgers and Bands for suicide prevention, as we all know, suicide is at an all-time rate for youngsters and even adults. The last event that Burgers and Bands had raised over $80,000 which stays right in the school system. The other ministry that we’re proud to partner with is Be More Caring. They feed and clothe the homeless in Baltimore. They go out every Tuesday. We also support Drink at the Well, which is a non-profit in the Brooklyn area that helps women in crisis. A place to stay, they mentor them and things like that, and we also support Youth for Christ, which is in the public school systems, mentoring young men and young women and building character. Things like that.
Vince Decrisi:
That’s great. That’s a lot. If anybody would like to assist you in those causes, contributions, anything like that, what’s the best way for them to get a hold of you or if they’re interested in your services to get their fireplace inspected, cleaned?
James Bowerman:
So they can send an email to [email protected]. They can call the office, 410-796-8450.
Vince Decrisi:
All right, well, that’s going to do it. Thank you Vince, appreciate you being here.
James Bowerman:
Thank you for having me, James, I appreciate it.
Vince Decrisi:
My pleasure, and again, if you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you. Thanks again for watching. We’ll see you again soon.