Chimney Cleaning in Somerville, NJ

Before a brush goes up, drop cloths are spread across the hearth and the floor beyond it, and a vacuum runs at the fireplace mouth to catch the soot that falls. The flue is swept with brushes matched to its size and shape, the smoke shelf and smoke chamber above the damper are cleared of loose creosote and fallen debris, and the damper and firebox are cleaned.

As the sweep goes, the flue is checked for glazed creosote, cracked or missing liner tiles, and open joints. Up top, the cap, the crown and the flashing get a look where the roof can be walked safely. The debris leaves in bags, and you get a plain account of what the sweep turned up, with photographs of the parts you cannot see from the room.

They need inspection and clearing. Census figures show that most homes around Somerville heat with utility gas, and in older houses the furnace, boiler or water heater often vents into a masonry chimney. Gas leaves little soot, but the flue still has to be open and its liner sound to carry combustion gases out, and a nest or a pile of fallen tile at the base can block it. Oil equipment leaves more residue in the flue.

When an older furnace is replaced with a high-efficiency model that vents through plastic pipe, the water heater can be left alone in a chimney flue sized for two appliances. A flue that large may not draft well for one small appliance, and the crew points it out so your heating contractor can look at a liner.

Wood stoves and fireplace inserts need the same attention, and more of it when they carry real heating duty. An insert set into an old masonry fireplace usually vents through a liner run up the original flue, and the connection at the top of the insert is where creosote tends to collect first.

A smoky smell in the room when the fireplace is cold, smoke rolling into the room when a fire is lit, a fire that struggles to draw, black flakes or glazed deposits in the firebox, and scratching near the top all point to a flue that needs attention. A chimney nobody has looked at in years is due regardless of the signs, and so is the chimney of a house you have recently bought.

For a fireplace used a handful of times a winter, the yearly inspection usually tells you whether a sweep is due, while a wood stove that runs through the cold months builds up faster. Early fall, before the first fire, is the easiest time to book, and a sweep then clears whatever last season left behind.

An uncapped flue also invites wildlife. Birds and squirrels move into an unused chimney quickly, especially on wooded lots, and a nest at the top can block the draft of a furnace or water heater sharing the stack. The sweep removes the nest, and a properly fitted cap keeps the next one out.

If the sweep turns up cracked tiles, a split crown, loose mortar at the top or flashing that has lifted, the crew tells you what the damage means and what a chimney repair would take, and shows you the findings before any quote. Where the sweep finds a cap missing, fitting one is usually the simplest fix on the list and keeps rain and animals out from then on. On the older masonry chimneys of Somerville, Raritan, Rocky Hill and Millstone, the top of the stack takes the most weather, and that is where the checks focus.

Chimney sweeps go on the calendar 8 AM to 8 PM, 7 days a week, booked with a veteran owned company that is licensed and insured. Every sweep starts with a free estimate. In the fall, a sweep and an air duct cleaning make a sensible pair ahead of the first cold night, and anywhere in the towns we serve a dryer vent cleaning can be done while the crew is in the house.