Services

What goes into a chimney cleaning in Fern Park

Points our sweeps check while cleaning in Fern Park, and the guidance behind each.

Setting up the room before any brushing

A chimney cleaning starts indoors, well before a brush goes up the flue. Our sweeps lay heavy drop cloths from the door to the hearth, move light furniture back from the opening and seal the fireplace so soot stays inside the work area.

A vacuum made for fine soot runs while we work, drawing dust away from the room instead of letting it drift. Tell us about rugs, pale upholstery or anything valuable near the fireplace when you book, and we will plan around it. When we leave, the hearth and floor should look the way they did before we arrived, apart from a much cleaner firebox. If someone in the house is sensitive to dust, tell us, and we will take extra care with the seal around the opening.

Clearing the smoke shelf behind the damper

Just above the damper on many masonry fireplaces sits a flat ledge called the smoke shelf. Soot, flakes of creosote, leaves and even small nests fall onto it and stay there, out of sight from the room.

Brushing the flue from above often drops more debris onto that shelf, so we clear it by hand and vacuum it at the end of every masonry chimney cleaning. A shelf left full can smolder if an ember reaches it, and it can hold moisture that feeds a musty smell. It is a small step that is easy to miss, and it is part of every visit we make. If the shelf is cracked or badly shaped, we note it, since debris that cannot be cleared properly keeps coming back.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

A clean chimney lowers risk, but alarms are what warn you when something goes wrong. The National Fire Protection Association advises testing smoke alarms at least once a month and installing and maintaining carbon monoxide alarms in the home.

Our visit is a good moment to check that the alarms near the fireplace and the bedrooms work. If a carbon monoxide alarm ever sounds, leave the house and call 911 from outside. That situation is an emergency, and the chimney question waits until the fire department says the home is safe to enter again. Changing alarm batteries on the same date each year makes the habit easy to keep.