Family-owned chimney sweep serving Delaney Park

Stove habits that coat the flue faster

How a wood stove is run changes how much creosote it leaves in the flue. EPA guidance points to a few habits. Turning the air down to stretch a load into a long, smoldering burn starves the fire of air. Packing the firebox full for a longer burn also adds to the buildup and can damage the firebox.

The same guidance says to keep the stove doors closed except when loading or stoking, and to build hot fires rather than smoldering ones.

When our crew sweeps a stove chimney, the deposits show how the stove has been run, and they share what they see along with any change that would help.

• Hot fires instead of smoldering loads
• Doors closed except when loading or stoking
• No overloading the firebox for a longer burn
• Only dry, split, seasoned wood

Clearing an old nest once the birds have gone

Nest material left in a flue is dry twigs, grass and feathers packed into a narrow space, often right above the damper or on the smoke shelf. It blocks part of the passage, and it burns easily. Some nests are packed in so tightly that the flue is nearly closed.

Once the birds have gone, our crew removes the nest by hand from the smoke shelf and pulls what sits higher up with rods and a brush. The flue is then swept top to bottom, because nesting debris often comes with droppings and soot stuck to the walls.

Droppings are handled with gloves and bagged with the rest of the debris, and the firebox is cleaned last. The estimate lists the cleanout and, if the flue has no cap, a cap to keep the next nest out.

What should never go into the firebox

A fireplace is not a trash burner. EPA guidance lists materials that can release toxic or harmful chemicals when burned and may damage the appliance they burn in.

If any of these have gone into your fireplace, tell our technicians, since it helps them to know what is being cleaned out of the flue. EPA's list also calls out the colored ink on magazines, boxes and wrappers, so glossy paper stays out of the fire too.

The sweep clears what those fires left behind in your Delaney Park home, and the written record notes anything unusual in the deposits so the next cleaning has a point of comparison.

• Household trash, cardboard, plastics and foam
• Coated, painted or pressure-treated wood
• Ocean driftwood, plywood, particle board or glued wood
• Wet, rotted, diseased or moldy wood

Save 10% on chimney cleaning booked within 72 hours

Any service booked within 72 hours after your free inspection is 10% off, and a chimney cleaning is a good place to use it. The discount is written onto your estimate, so you see it before you approve anything.

The offer does not change the work. The free inspection comes first, the room is protected, every part of the flue the brushes can reach is cleaned and the visual check ends the visit. The crew and the tools are the same as on any other visit. Any repair found is quoted on its own, and you decide on it on its own.

Mention the offer when you set up the visit in Delaney Park. If the sweep leads to a repair you approve within 72 hours after the inspection, the 10% discount applies to it too.