Family-owned chimney sweep serving Gotha
Your fireplace, cleaned from the cap screen to the hearth by a crew that protects the room first.
- Licensed & insured
- Locally run
- Family owned and operated
- Same-day service available
Your chimney cleaning, itemized
- Damper tested open and closed from the room
- Written record of deposits and areas cleaned
- Repair findings listed on separate estimate lines
- Ash dump opened and ash pit checked
How a chimney gets cleaned properly
Sweeping from the roof or from the firebox
A flue can be cleaned from the top down, with the crew on the roof, or from the bottom up, with rods pushed through the damper from inside. Top-down cleaning keeps most of the work outside and lets the brush follow gravity. Bottom-up cleaning avoids the roof and suits a short, straight flue or a roof that is unsafe to walk.
Many sweeps use both. The flue is brushed from one end, and the smoke chamber and smoke shelf are finished from inside, since they cannot be reached properly from above.
The direction is picked after the free inspection, based on the roof, the flue and any cap or damper at the top. It is a question of access more than method, and your Gotha estimate says which way the work will go.
Rental and vacation homes between guests
A fireplace in a rental or vacation home gets used by people who do not know it. Guests may burn wet wood, cardboard or a stack of wax logs, close the damper too early or leave ash in the firebox for the next arrival.
Sweeping between bookings keeps the flue and firebox ready for the next guest and catches problems early. Our crew works around your turnover schedule, protects the room and leaves it clean, and the written record helps owners and managers keep a maintenance file.
Simple house rules help. A short note by the fireplace covering dry wood only, no trash or cardboard in the fire, the damper fully open before lighting and ashes left for the cleaners cuts down on what the next sweep finds. We are glad to suggest wording based on what the flue shows.
Bats in the flue go to animal removal first
Bats sometimes roost in chimneys. Getting them out is wildlife work, not cleaning, and it has to be finished before any brush goes into the flue. Sounds in the flue in the evening, droppings in the firebox or a bat inside the house are all worth mentioning when you call.
Do not try to trap or handle a bat. If you can close the damper without touching anything, do it, and keep the room door shut. A bat that has reached a living area is also a job for our animal removal service, not for a broom.
Our crew in Gotha passes the job to our animal removal service first, which handles the bats and sets the timing. Once the flue is empty, it is swept, any droppings are bagged with gloves on, and a cap is quoted to keep the flue closed to the next visitor.
NFPA 211 and the yearly look at your chimney
NFPA 211, the national fire safety standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents, asks for a chimney inspection at least every year, looking at whether the chimney is sound, whether deposits have built up and whether its clearances are right. Cleaning, maintenance and repair follow when the inspection shows they are needed.
In other words, cleaning depends on what is found. A fireplace used every week may need a sweep at each yearly check, while one lit a few times may not. Fire safety advice from NFPA and the U.S. Fire Administration says the same in plain terms, with chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
We follow that order. The free inspection comes first, and a sweep is recommended when the deposits call for it. What the inspection found goes into your written record, so each year has something to compare against.
Other work in Gotha
-
-
-
-
-
Learn more about chimney sweep and chimney cleaningGotha services
Related chimney sweep work
Quick answers on flue cleaning
Can I use the fireplace the same day it is swept?
Usually, yes, once our crew has finished and the damper has been tested. The exceptions are a glazed treatment that is still drying and a repair finding that should be settled first, and we tell you about either before we leave.
What should I do before the sweep arrives?
Let the fireplace go cold for at least a day, clear a path to the hearth and move fragile items off the mantel. Keep pets in another room, and leave the damper and any insert as they are for our crew.
Request your free estimate
Share the job details and arrange a free inspection with our local team.
- Free inspection
- No hidden fees
- Family owned and operated
Need an answer now? Call (352) 675-6376
Your request is received
Thank you. We will contact you to discuss the job and confirm an appointment.