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Keeping Your Business Immaculate

When we installed a suggestion box in the entryway of our business, I was amazed to see how many customers responded. After we started going through the suggestions, we realized that there was one request that we kept seeing--the need for a cleaner store. We decided to make a few changes to keep our place cleaner, including hiring a professional cleaning service. The results were incredible. Customers started to comment on how clean our place was, instead of the need for dramatic changes. We also noticed a boost in our sales because customers felt more comfortable in our store. Check out this website to find articles that might help you to keep your business cleaner.

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Keeping Your Business Immaculate

Don't Get Complacent About Your Chimney -- Inspect It Even If You Don't Use It

by Lee Porter

If you live in a region where it just doesn't get cold enough in winter to justify keeping a store of wood and using your fireplace, you might think that you can ignore your chimney. This is actually wrong -- if you never use your chimney, it's even more important to get it inspected. Letting a chimney sit unused and unlooked at for even more than one year can create some nasty, expensive problems for you that could affect the rest of your home.

Nests

The most immediate problem is animal and bird nests. No smoke or heat coming out of the chimney means that animals and birds can set up a home in there without fear of being toasted. That can lead to smells, mess, dead animals getting stuck in the chimney, and additional pests that are attracted by the animals and birds. Plus, if you do decide to use the chimney again suddenly and think you don't have to get it cleaned or inspected, you could wind up killing the animals or birds and starting a fire in the middle of the chimney, which could spread out to the rest of your home or send smoke back into your living room.

Cracks

Chimneys age just like every other part of your home; ignoring them doesn't put them in some sci-fi stasis. Bricks and mortar can crack, flashing can peel up, and mold and moss can take over the surface. You have to get the chimney cleaned and inspected periodically to ensure that none of these problems are starting to form and get worse. If you let them continue to get worse, your chimney could become structurally unsound and create a hazard in storms or quakes.

Flue Degradation

The flue inside your chimney can degrade over time, too, and if that happens, you've got a carbon monoxide risk on your hands should you try to use the chimney again without an inspection or cleaning. Remember, CO is odorless and colorless -- you won't know it's there unless you have a CO detector or unless you start experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning -- and that is something you do not want at all.

Contact a chimney cleaning company to get the chimney nice and clean. The company may be able to inspect the structure, too, or refer you to another company that can do that. Keep your family and yourself safe!

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