How often should you clean your chimney?

• Every 36 fires or once a year, whichever comes first
• When you purchase a pre-built home or dwelling
• If you notice visible soot anywhere in your home
• Before each heating season
• Before installation of a new fuel burning appliance (furnace, hot water heater, etc.)
• Before purchasing a new home
• Immediately after a chimney or house fire
• If your home has been struck by lightning
• If your chimney has experienced impact (hit by a falling tree, etc.)
• If you notice staining on the inside or outside of your home in the vicinity of the chimney
• If the roof has been replaced

Just a few years ago it was not a common practice for a chimney sweep to scan your flue with every cleaning, however, technology is moving forward in all industries and ours is no different. We now scan every chimney we clean. In doing so, we can find hidden defects that we didn’t know were there before.
Our sweeps are also trained in Chimney Physics. This includes the principles of draft and flow, trouble-shooting draft problems, house pressures, home/building construction in relation to venting just to name a few.

Here is an almost horrific example of a chimney that we swept recently:

They called us because they noticed that their chimney was on fire! After putting it out with an extinguisher, we got out there and they told us it hadn't been cleaned in awhile. But upon inspection, there was creosote almost an inch thick along the chimney! They were extremely lucky that the fireplace was built correctly, or else the damage would have been way worse that it was.