Reader Pamm Cantey had a question about gas logs after a column a while back. To wit:

"You stated that you'd disassembled and cleaned your gas fireplace logs. How exactly did you clean them? ... Do gas logs ever need to be replaced? How do you remove and wash the catalytic filters?"

I told Cantey an expert should handle technical questions - but I did face some of the same issues.

Owner's manuals are generally available online. Go to the manufacturer's website and download a manual. Just check your unit for a model name or number.

Things I encountered:

Logs have to be placed properly for gas logs to function properly. Turned out mine were a bit out of place. One spot on a log was developing soot. I don't know how the logs got moved, but I fixed that. There was a picture of the proper layout in the manual.

Our logs do have those catalytic filters. The manual explained how to remove and clean them. Turned out they needed washing. That wasn't a tough chore, but there were specific tips. For instance, they should be rinsed in distilled or purified water, not tap water.

Of mice and mold

And speaking of gas fireplace logs, here's another reason you should clean them - with a bit of a yuck factor:

"I was bored over the weekend and decided to take off the trim around my gas fireplace insert and vacuum around," wrote Lisa Carlay, award-winning designer with International Kitchen and Bath in Davidson. "It was layered with dust, construction debris and cobwebs.

"A couple of years back I purchased a blower for the unit, which just goes in behind the insert and blows the warmed air out the front through the trim pieces. ... I have been blowing all this dust out into the room!

"But even more disturbing were the mouse droppings ... on top of the insert where the air would blow right across them and into the room!!!!! I can barely type that without getting grossed out! Mold was hanging out up there, too!"

All those exclamation points are Carlay's. (Mouse droppings earned five!)

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