Services

What goes into a chimney cleaning in Slavia

Points our sweeps check while cleaning in Slavia, 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.

Cleaning around the damper

The damper takes a steady coating of soot, and a thick layer can stop it closing fully or opening wide enough. Our sweeps clean the plate, the frame and the handle linkage so it moves freely again.

Once it is clean we check that it opens fully, closes to a reasonable seal and stays where it is set. A warped, rusted or broken damper is written up as a repair with its own price, since damper work is a separate service. A damper that seals well also keeps warm, damp outside air from drifting down into the house through a cold fireplace in the months you are not using it. If the handle is stiff, we look at the linkage first, since a careful cleaning often frees it.

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.