Your local chimney sweep in Merrimac

Protecting your room while the flue is brushed

Soot is fine and travels easily, so protecting the room comes before the first brush stroke. Our technicians lay drop cloths from the door to the hearth, cover the floor and furniture closest to the opening, and seal off the fireplace opening while the flue is brushed.

Loosened soot is caught behind that cover and then collected at the hearth, instead of drifting across the room. The seal stays up until the brushing above is finished and the dust has settled.

Tell us about rugs, light fabrics or delicate finishes near the fireplace when you set up the visit. We protect those first and move nothing heavy without asking.

• Drop cloths along the path to the fireplace
• Floor and hearth covered before any cleaning
• Fireplace opening sealed while brushes run
• Work area cleaned before the crew leaves

A cap screen choked with soot

The mesh screen on a chimney cap keeps animals out and stops sparks from leaving the flue. It also catches soot and creosote as smoke passes through it. A coated or clogged screen can hold back the draft and push smoke back toward the fireplace.

One chimney maker's instructions tell owners to check the spark arrestor screen for creosote or soot and to clean it when buildup is found, scrubbing it with a wire brush. On many caps the screen or the whole assembly comes off for cleaning and goes back on with the same fasteners.

Our technicians clean the cap screen on every sweep that goes to the roof. A screen that is torn, rusted through or pulling away from the cap is not something a brush fixes, so a replacement cap is quoted as a separate line.

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.

Roofing debris that dropped into the flue

Roof work around a chimney can send debris down the flue. Shingle granules, nails, bits of underlayment, broken tile and mortar chips can fall past an open cap during tear-off or when flashing is replaced. Roof crews do not always cover the flue while they work.

That debris lands on the smoke shelf or the damper, where it can jam the damper or block part of the passage. Nails and metal bits are picked out by hand, since dragging them with a brush could scratch a liner.

If your roof was recently redone, a sweep before the next fire clears it out. Our crew in Merrimac also checks the cap and the flashing while on the roof and tells you if anything was disturbed by the roofing work, so you can raise it with the roofer while the job is fresh.