Chimney Maintenance for Warmth and Safety

Article From Houselogic.com

By: Wendy Paris

Published: 31, 2009

Maintaining your chimney and fireplace can make the difference between warm safety and drafty danger.

Your fireplace, the most low-tech piece of equipment in your house, may seem like a simple load-and-light operation, but ignoring annual maintenance can impair its performance, leading to heated air (and dollars) blowing out the chimney, harmful smoke inside, and possibly even a chimney fire.
The average number of annual U.S. home fires caused by fireplace, chimney, and chimney connectors between 2003 and 2005 was 25,100, and the average costs for those fires was $126.1 million, based on the most recent statistics from the Chimney Safety Institute of America. That’s roughly $5,024 in damage per home. An annual inspection and sweeping removes flammable creosote, the major cause of chimney fires, and identifies other performance problems.
Is it worth the $205 fee, two-hour service call, and all that ash possibly blackening your carpet? Here’s what you need to know to decide.

Purchasing a Home is the Best Investment You Can Make

We all have to have a place to live and whether you’re paying rent or paying a mortgage payment, your cost of housing is probably the single largest cost item in your budget.  There are some very important differences between paying rent and paying a mortgage payment however.

$8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

The federal government is offering a tax credit of up to $8,000 for people who purchase a home before December 1, 2009 subject to some restrictions.  It is often called a “First Time Buyer” tax credit but this isn’t really accurate since it’s available to anyone who has not owned a home in the past 3 years.

The credit is for 10% of the sales price up to a maximum of $8,000 so as long as the home sells for at least $80,000, the buyer will get the full $8,000 credit.  It is also a refundable credit meaning that if the buyer doesn’t owe $8,000 when they file their 2009 tax return, they can get the rebate as a refund.