Chimney sweep and flue cleaning in Lockwood
Call our local crew in Lockwood for chimney sweeping backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
- Licensed & insured
- Locally run
- Family owned and operated
- Same-day service available
Parts of the fireplace we clean in Lockwood
- Visual check of everything the brushes reached
- Extra passes for heavy buildup priced up front
- Top-sealing damper gasket and cable checked
- Each flue matched to its fireplace or stove
Our approach to chimney sweeping in Lockwood
Glazed buildup inside the smoke chamber
The smoke chamber is the sloped space between the damper and the start of the flue. Deposits there can harden into a glaze just as they do higher up. Because the walls angle inward, a straight flue brush does not reach every face of it.
Glazed deposits in the smoke chamber get the same kind of removal treatment as a glazed flue. One product label describes a sprayer made for that space, and the treatment is applied per the label. Once it dries, the loosened material is brushed down and collected from the smoke shelf and firebox.
The smoke chamber is its own area on your estimate. You see whether it needs only brushing or a glazed treatment, and once it is clean you learn whether the mortar coating on its walls is still intact.
Smoldering fires and a half-open damper
A slow, smoky fire feels economical, but it is hard on the flue. EPA guidance calls a smoldering fire unsafe and wasteful in most appliances, and it names starved air as one of the conditions that builds creosote.
Air gets restricted in a few familiar ways. The damper is only partly open, glass doors are shut on an open fireplace, the fire is buried under too much wood, or a stove's air control is turned all the way down for a long burn. Each one slows the smoke and lets it cool.
Hot, bright fires with the damper fully open move smoke up the chimney quickly, so less of it condenses on the way. When our crew sees heavy buildup, they point to the habit that likely caused it so the next sweep finds less.
Tile, shingle and metal roofs under a sweep
Each roof type asks for its own care on the way to the chimney. Tile, shingle and metal roofing differ in how they take a person's weight and how slick they get, so our technicians look the roof over before anyone steps onto it and choose their route with that in mind.
Low-slope sections beside a chimney can hold leaves and debris, which get cleared while the crew is up there. Soot knocked onto the roofing during a top-down sweep is brushed off before anyone climbs down.
Before the ladder comes down, our technicians look over the roofing around the chimney. A cracked tile, a lifted shingle or a loose flashing edge is pointed out to you and noted on the record, so you know its condition when the visit ends.
An ash dump that has not been emptied
Some masonry fireplaces have a small metal door in the firebox floor that drops ash into a chamber below, with its own cleanout door lower down or outside. Ash dropped there is out of sight, and it can build up for years.
A full ash pit can back up into the firebox, hold moisture and give off a stale smell. The door in the firebox floor can also rust shut or warp so it no longer closes.
During a sweep our crew opens the ash dump, checks how full the pit is and empties it through the lower cleanout when it can be reached. A warped or rusted door is noted for repair on the estimate, and ash from the pit goes out in a metal container like any other ash.
Other work in Lockwood
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Chimney cleaning answers for Lockwood homes
Do you clean the stove pipe along with the chimney?
Yes. Wood stove chimney cleaning includes the connector pipe, its joints and the stove's flue outlet as far as the stove manual allows. A rusted or split pipe section is quoted for replacement instead of being cleaned.
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.
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