Services
What goes into a chimney cleaning in Heathrow
Points our sweeps check while cleaning in Heathrow, and the guidance behind each.
Sweeping from the roof or from below
Some chimneys are best cleaned from the top down, others from the fireplace up. Roof pitch, the cap, how the flue bends and how the fireplace opening is built all decide which way the brush travels on your chimney.
Either way, the room side is sealed first and the debris falls where we can collect it. If the cap has to come off for access, we check its screen and fasteners before it goes back on. On a steep or fragile roof we may clean from below and look at the top separately, and your service notes say which parts were reached from where. Whichever direction we use, the brush passes are repeated until the flue walls come clean.
Soot, flaky creosote and glaze
Chimney deposits come in different forms. Dry, powdery soot and flaky, crusty creosote come away with brushing. A hard, shiny glaze that looks like tar or dripped candle wax does not, however long the brush works on it.
When we find glaze, we tell you where it is and how much there is, and we explain the specialized treatment it needs. That work is a separate creosote removal service with its own steps; the label directions for the treatments we use call for applying the product and removing the residue on a later visit. A sweep that ends with glazed deposits still in the flue is reported to you as exactly that. Knowing where the glaze sits and how far it runs helps us plan the treatment and quote it accurately.
Signs of an earlier chimney fire
Some chimney fires are loud and dramatic, but others burn out without anyone noticing. Afterward the flue can show puffy, honeycombed creosote, cracked or shifted tiles, a warped damper or heat-streaked metal at the top.
If our sweep finds signs like these, we stop, explain what we saw and recommend that the fireplace stay out of use until the chimney has been fully inspected. NFPA 211 treats a chimney fire as a reason for a closer inspection before the system is used again. Cleaning continues only when it is safe to do so, and you decide on any next step. If you remember a loud roaring sound, heavy smoke or a hot smell from the chimney at some point, mention it, since it helps us read what we see.
