Your local chimney sweep in Lake Terrace

Sweeping a factory-built fireplace and metal chimney

A factory-built fireplace is a metal firebox and chimney system made and tested together. Under the Florida Building Code, a factory-built fireplace must be listed, labeled and installed within the terms of that listing, and its factory-built chimney has to go in, and end at the roof, exactly as the manufacturer's instructions describe.

That listing shapes the cleaning. Our technicians read the label, follow the maker's care directions and use brushes that suit the metal flue. One maker's instructions warn against any brush that will scratch the stainless liner, so nothing abrasive goes into a factory-built flue.

The refractory panels in the firebox, the metal chimney sections and the cap are all part of the listed system. If any of them is cracked, loose or rusted, the replacement has to match the system, so it is quoted as separate prefab fireplace repair.

The first fire after your chimney is swept

After a sweep, the first fire is a good test of how the chimney draws. Build a small fire with dry, split, seasoned wood, open the damper fully before lighting and watch how the smoke rises. Keep that first fire modest instead of loading the firebox.

A clean flue with a working damper should draw steadily once the fire is going. Smoke that keeps rolling out of the opening after startup means something is still wrong, and the fireplace should wait until the cause is found.

Before they leave, our technicians in Lake Terrace tell you if anything from the sweep affects that first fire, such as a damper that needs a firm pull or a glazed treatment that is still drying. That note goes into the written record, along with where the damper handle sits when it is fully open.

Setting the damper before you light

A damper left partly closed is one of the conditions EPA guidance links to faster creosote buildup, because it restricts the air that moves smoke up the chimney. It can also send smoke out the front of the opening.

Factory-built fireplaces follow their own manuals. One owner's manual for a factory-built model, for example, calls for its damper to be fully open whenever the fireplace is in use. For a masonry fireplace, move the handle to its fully open position and confirm it by looking up with a flashlight before the match is struck.

During the sweep, our crew shows you the open and closed positions of the control if they are not obvious. That small step helps you avoid a smoky start and a flue that coats faster than it should.

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 Lake Terrace 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