Chimney Cleaning
Every fire you burn leaves something behind. We remove the creosote, soot and debris that collect inside the flue, and we do it without leaving a grey film on your living room.
Booked most often between August and November. The calendar fills fast.
A standard cleaning covers
- Full flue sweep, top to bottom
- Firebox, smoke shelf and smoke chamber
- Damper cleaned and checked for travel
- HEPA vacuum and drop cloths throughout
- Basic visual safety check as we go
When your chimney is telling you it needs a sweep
- Smoke rolling back into the room when you first light a fire
- A sharp, tarry smell from the fireplace on humid days, even with no fire lit
- Black flakes or gritty debris on the damper or the smoke shelf
- A dark oily film on the glass doors of a wood stove or insert
- Fires that are hard to start or that never seem to draw properly
- It has simply been more than a year, or you cannot remember the last visit
Not just open fireplaces
Wood-burning fireplaces
The classic case. Open masonry fireplaces run cooler flue temperatures than a stove, which means more condensation and faster creosote build.
Wood stoves and inserts
Inserts burn hotter but run into a narrower liner, so a small amount of buildup restricts a lot of draft. These want annual attention without exception.
Pellet stoves
Lower creosote than cordwood, but fly ash packs into the vent and the exhaust path and will choke the appliance if it is left.
Gas fireplaces and appliances
Gas is clean burning, so people assume nothing is needed. Gas flues still collect debris, still rust out, and are still a favourite nesting spot.
Oil-fired heating flues
Oil leaves a fine, acidic soot that builds quickly and eats at clay tile and metal. These need clearing on their own schedule.
Furnace and boiler chimneys
The flue serving your heating appliance carries carbon monoxide. A blocked or deteriorating one is a health issue before it is a heating issue.
How it works when you call
If your chimney turns out to need more than a standard sweep, we stop, show you what we are looking at, and price it before we carry on. Nothing gets added to an invoice that you have not already agreed to.
Booking the cleaning together with the dryer vent on the same visit is the cheapest way to get both done, and it is what most of our repeat customers do each autumn.
- Chimney estimate service is $149.99, credited toward the repair if you go ahead
- Additional flues are charged per flue
- No upsell scripts and no scare tactics
- Late summer is the best time to get the date you want
Chimney cleaning, answered
How often does a chimney need to be cleaned?
Inspected every year, cleaned as the inspection dictates. If you burn most weekends through the winter, expect an annual sweep. If you light three fires a year you may go longer, but the annual look is still what catches a cracked tile or a failing crown before it becomes expensive.
How much creosote is dangerous?
A common industry threshold is roughly an eighth of an inch of buildup. Once you are at a quarter inch, the flue should not be used until it is swept. Glazed creosote is treated as unsafe at any thickness because of how readily it ignites and how hot it burns.
Will you make a mess of my house?
No. Drop cloths go down before anything else, and the HEPA vacuum runs the whole time we are working at the firebox. Thirty years of doing this in people's living rooms has taught us that the cleanup is the job.
Do I need this if I only burn gas?
Yes, though for different reasons. Gas flues do not build creosote, but they do collect debris, corrode from acidic condensate, and attract birds and squirrels. A blocked gas flue is a carbon monoxide problem.
Can I just use a creosote-removing log?
Those logs can help loosen light deposits, and they are not useless, but they do not remove anything from the chimney. Whatever they break loose still has to be swept out, and they do nothing about a blockage, a nest or a cracked liner. They are a supplement to a sweep, not a substitute.
How long does it take?
A straightforward single-flue cleaning is usually under an hour. Heavy buildup, a second flue, or a stove that has to be pulled will add time, and we will tell you that when we book rather than when we arrive.
Serving Chester County and the surrounding townships
We work out of Chester County and cover the boroughs, townships and rural stretches around it. Pick your town for local detail, or call and we will tell you straight away whether you are on our route.
Book this year's sweep before the cold sets in
One call covers the chimney and the dryer vent.