Chimney Sweeps

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Now that winter has arrived so emphatically, it seems appropriate to caution readers about their chimneys—check them often, especially if you have a wood-burning stove. That kind of stove achieves its efficiency by means of a restricted air supply, which nearly smothers the fire and produces a slow, smoldering source of heat. That’s good for fuel conservation— properly banked, a stove-full should last all night—but it’s also good for the production of creosote which rises, cools in the chimney flue and collects there. Creosote is basically tar (I think) and burns fiercely when ignited. When I lived in Bangor, Maine, years ago, we lost more houses to chimney fires than everything else: faulty wiring, smoking in bed, insurance fraud, combined. If you have a wood stove, have your chimney cleaned at least once a year. Open fireplaces, because they burn hotter, produce far less creosote but should still be inspected occasionally to check for defective flue liners and soot build-up. And if you’ve switched from oil to gas heat, be especially certain to clean the furnace flue; the gas exhaust can loosen old oil residue and create an inflammable condition.

Assuming you don’t care to crawl around your rooftop this winter, who should you call? There are a number of good, reliable firms locally but unfortunately, there are also some fly-by-night gypsy types who will show up, sell homeowners unnecessary repairs and then disappear. One man who’s going nowhere (as his mother used to scold, no doubt) is Billy Ingraham, of Bill’s Chimney and Fireplace — 869-5242. Billy’s a life-long Greenwich resident, a professional fireman here in Cos Cob, and has been inspecting, cleaning and repairing chimneys since at least the mid-70’s. If he says a repair is needed you can be sure that it is. If he says that he’s cleaned the flue, you can be sure that he has. Good guy.
Heroes
While on the subject of firemen, I note with sorrow that two of them, Kennard Little and Mike Puterbaugh, were grievously injured the night of the blizzard when they re-entered a burning home to search for two children. I’m sure any parent would rush into danger to save her own child; we are blessed to have individuals in town with the courage to perform that same act for complete strangers.
Buy That House!
The flip side of a seller’s lament, “no one’s going to steal my house” is the George Foreman declaration that “I’m not going to over-pay for this muffler!” I’ve previously addressed the fearful seller in this column, pointing out that a low bidder is offering to buy the house, not steal it, and often at a more realistic price than that of which the seller is dreaming. On the other hand, buyers can lose a good deal on a good house by analyzing it to death and balking at a price that they have decided is too high. I am not advocating over-paying for houses; I am suggesting that it is pretty much impossible to determine to the penny what a house is worth and, at least in this town, two to five percent either way is not fatal. Buyers can fret, worry and lose sleep over paying a small percentage more that they “know” a house is worth, only to discover a year or so later that their house’s value has increased twenty percent or more. The real losers here are not the buyers but the non-buyers, the ones who miss out on deal after deal and then discover that they’ve been priced out of town. Regular readers of this column know that I enjoy skewering ridiculously-priced houses and so will recognize, I hope, that I’m not being Pollyannaish. Never grossly over-pay, but don’t lose a house you want over a matter of a few percentage points.
Well, isn’t Greenwich Part of New England?
In a previous column I mentioned a house on 26 Shore Acre Drive in Old Greenwich that “New England Land Company’s” Paul Pugliese had brought to market for $1.865. That house is still available as of this writing, a phenomenon I attribute to the Thanksgiving holiday rather than its location, condition or price, all of which are excellent. Mr. Pugliese has gently reminded me that he and his partner, Peter Lauridsen, are part of Greenwich Land Company, an enterprise entirely distinct from that other fine firm. True enough, but given Paul’s uncanny resemblance to Paul Simon, I think he should be grateful I didn’t refer to his company as “Greenwich & Garfunkle”.