The book
A Homeowner’s Field Guide to Chimneys and Fireplaces
Understanding your system, spotting warning signs, and making sound repair decisions.
By Christopher Albert Aumiller · First edition, September 2026 · 35 pages
What’s inside
- 1.Know What You Own — and the IRC and NFPA 211 explained
- 2.Your First Safety Decisions
- 3.Burning Wood With Less Smoke
- 4.The Inspection That Answers a Question
- 5.What a Cleaning Can and Cannot Do
- 6.Water Enters From the Top and the Roof
- 7.Smoke, Draft, and the House — wind and summer reverse draft
- 8.Gas Fireplaces and Vented Appliances
- 9.Animals, Blockages, and Odors
- 10.Repair Proposals and Contractor Questions
- 11.A Practical Annual Care Plan
- 12.Understanding the Hearth and Firebox
- 13.Stoves and Inserts
- 14.After a Chimney Fire
- 15.Common Questions, an observation log, and questions to take to an inspection
In gratitude
This book is dedicated to my grandfather, Albert Mark Keane, who owned a Sinclair Oil heating oil business in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Heating homes was his trade, and he taught my uncle, James, how to be a chimney sweep. Uncle James, in turn, taught me. Every chimney I sweep carries a little of his work forward.
Published by
Christopher A. Aumiller, Chimney Sweep Master
426 Lloyd Street # B1, Cary, IL 60013
847-516-4139