As Home Inspectors a very large portion of our job is to identify unsafe situations. One of the most frequently overlooked items in need of correction on the exterior of a house is the lack of a fireplace spark arrester.
If you have a wood-burning fireplace, or wood stove install a spark arrester on the fireplace chimney or wood stove flue. This is an important fire safety item required on wood burning fireplace chimneys and wood-burning stoves. Its purpose is to help prevent fires caused by sparks or burning paper landing on your property or on the neighbors’.
Be a good neighbor and install an approved spark arrester on your chimney. A rain cap version (shown in the lower photo) is preferred to help prevent damage to the interior of the fireplace chimney or to the metal fireplace damper. A home seller would often be well advised to correct this situation before a home inspector arrives for their own personal safety, and to keep it off the home inspection report.
For further information about commonly overlooked items that sellers often fail to correct before a home inspection go to www.beattheinspector.com
No spark arrester on fireplace chimney
Spark arrester installed on chimney with metal rain cap
