Chimney Sweeps Working Long Hours Now That Winter's Here
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - With a frigid blast of freezing cold air rolling toward Texas, many are racing to ensure they're able to stay warm safely.
"Everybody waits until it gets cold to call the chimney sweep," said chimney sweep Chris Overbey of Canterbury Chimney Sweep. "But of course we are here year-round!"
Overbey has seen far worse chimneys than the house he was working on Monday afternoon.
"I've had some chimneys so stopped up they won't function," Overbey said. "They won't draw at all."
But even the amount of black soot and creosote tumbling from the chimney into the fireplace as he spoke could cause a fire in a chimney, warping dampers, cracking chimneys or even catching the roof on fire.
"Most chimneys when they start to have trouble start to smoke before they catch fire," he said. "But some won't and that's when they have chimney fires because they don't know that they need to have it swept out."
Just today, Overbey has had 30 people trying to schedule his service.
John Patak of Cody Air Conditioning and Heating checks smoke and carbon monoxide alarms as part of his heating and air conditioning service.
He's busy checking out heaters to make sure they don't have carbon monoxide leaks, which can be deadly. And to make sure the heaters are working efficiently.
Patak and his coworkers are working long hours and it's still not too late for a safety check.
"We want to make sure that all of our customers are ready before the cold spell hits," Patak said. "But we know there's going to be a huge amount of calls coming in in the next couple of days."
And how long will that make Patak's work days?
"Twelve hour minimum," he said.
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