Our Services

Getting the flue truly clean in Forest City

How we plan a chimney cleaning at your Forest City home, from the drop cloths to the walk-through.

The smoke chamber above the firebox

Between the damper and the flue, the walls of a masonry fireplace slope inward to form the smoke chamber. Deposits cling to those rough walls, and they are hard to reach well from the top of the chimney.

We brush the chamber from below with tools shaped for its angles and look at the surface as it comes clean. Gaps, rough steps or loose mortar in the chamber walls are noted on your service record, since smoke chamber repair is a separate job. You get the finding and its price before anything is added, and a cleaning never hides a defect from you. A smooth chamber also draws better, so a rough one is worth knowing about even when the fireplace seems to work.

Wood stove connectors and baffles

A wood stove adds its own parts to the cleaning: the connector pipe between stove and chimney, and on many stoves a baffle or other removable panels inside the firebox. The stove maker's manual says which parts come out and how they go back.

We clean the connector and the chimney it feeds, reassemble the parts in order and check that the connector joints are fastened and the pipe is well supported. NFPA 211 addresses connector support, joint fastening and pitch, so a loose or sagging section is written up for repair instead of being left as found. Tell us the stove make and model when you book. If the stove door gaskets look worn or the door does not close tightly, we point that out as well.

A chimney smell that lingers

A smoky or musty smell from a cold fireplace often comes from deposits in the flue reacting with moisture. It tends to be strongest when the air is damp or the house is closed up and air is drawn down the chimney.

Cleaning removes the deposits behind much of that smell, and a well-sealing damper or a cap can keep damp air and rain out afterward. If the smell persists after a proper cleaning, we look for a leak or an airflow problem as a separate question. Gas odor is another matter entirely. Get everyone out, then phone the gas utility or 911 from the yard or the street. Keeping the damper closed while the fireplace is cold also helps, since it limits the air moving through the flue.