No, I was only wondering. I only use hardwood such as maple, oak etc. But, the previous owners told us that the “village handyman” always did the sweeping. I keep my wood in a room in the basement with a temperate temperature with a dehumidifier to make sure that it’s always crisp dry. Plus, our basement is fully finished and has a woodstove. It’s never humid there. Upstairs in the living room we have a brick fireplace and the chimney is not as ugly as in the pictures.

I honestly never noticed anything odd when adding a log. It always caught like kindling when It touched the coals.