Chimney Sweep in Phoenixville, PA | Brass & Burn Chimney Co.

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

Chimney Sweep in Phoenixville, PA

Phoenixville has spent twenty years bringing its old housing back to life. The chimneys did not always get the same attention as the kitchens, and stoves are going into flues that were never sized for them.

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Serving the borough, Mont Clare, Charlestown, East Pikeland and Schuylkill Township.

Common Phoenixville work

Stove and insert installations needing a liner
Renovated fireplaces that smoke into the room
Original clay tile that survived the remodel
Repointing on nineteenth century brick
Draft problems in tall narrow borough houses

The renovation gap

New kitchen, original flue

We are called into a lot of beautifully renovated Phoenixville homes where the fireplace was restored as a feature and the flue behind it was never touched. It is an understandable gap. The flue is the one part of the house that nobody sees during a remodel, including, often, the contractor.

The stove problem. A wood stove or insert dropped into an original open fireplace vents into a flue built for a much larger appliance. The gases cool, the draft goes slack, and creosote builds several times faster than it should. A properly sized stainless liner is not an upsell here. It is what makes the installation work.

The second thing we find is original clay tile that cracked years ago and simply carried on being used. Renovation does not repair a flue, and a camera scan is the only way to know.

The third is draft. Tall, narrow borough houses with modern air sealing behave differently from the leaky versions of themselves. A fireplace that drew fine in 1985 can smoke into a room that has since had new windows and insulation.

How a stove or insert job runs

Doing it once, properly

Measure the flue and the appliance
The manufacturer specifies a vent size. The flue has to be scanned, measured and checked for offsets before anything is ordered.
Scan for existing damage
There is no point running a liner past a structural problem in the stack. We find out what condition the chimney is in first.
Clear the flue
Old deposits, debris and any obstruction removed so the liner can feed cleanly.
Install the liner, insulated where needed
On an exterior wall chimney, insulation makes a real difference to draft and to how fast creosote accumulates.
Connect and seal
Appliance connector at the base, top plate and storm collar at the crown, and a cap sized to the new liner.
Test the draft
We light it and confirm it draws before we leave, and we hand over the warranty documentation for the liner.

Services in Phoenixville

What we are called out for

Liners and relining

Sized stainless liners for stove and insert installations, and full relines where original clay tile has failed.

Chimney cleaning

Annual sweeping for stoves, inserts and open fireplaces. Stoves in undersized flues need it more, not less.

Chimney inspections

Camera scan before you buy, before you install, and after any renovation that touched the fireplace.

Masonry and repointing

Nineteenth century brick with soft original mortar, repointed with a matched mix rather than a modern hard one.

Leaks and waterproofing

Exposed borough stacks take weather on all sides. Diagnosis first, then a breathable sealer.

Caps and crowns

Capping and crown rebuilds, plus top-sealing dampers that stop the heat loss an old throat damper never will.

Where we work

Phoenixville and around

We cover the borough from Bridge Street out through the residential streets on both sides of French Creek, across the river into Mont Clare, and out into Charlestown, East Pikeland and Schuylkill Township. Rural properties on the Chester Springs side are on the same route.

Questions from Phoenixville homeowners

Local answers

I am putting a wood stove into an old fireplace. What do I need?

Almost always a correctly sized stainless liner running from the stove to the top of the chimney. The original fireplace flue is far too large for a stove, which causes cold, sluggish draft and heavy creosote.

The chimney was rebuilt during our renovation. Is that enough?

Not necessarily. Rebuilt masonry says nothing about the liner inside it, and we have scanned plenty of handsome new stacks with original cracked tile still in them.

My renovated fireplace smokes into the room. Why?

Usually flue sizing, smoke chamber shape or draft. Old fireboxes that have been altered during a renovation often end up with a firebox opening too large for the flue serving it. It is fixable once it is measured properly.

Do you work in Mont Clare and across the river?

Yes, along with Charlestown, East Pikeland and Schuylkill Township.

Doing the stove properly

Liner sizing, installation, sweeping and masonry across Phoenixville and the surrounding townships.

610-620-2876

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