FAQ

Yes, you can still have a chimney for your HVAC unit to heat your home and in some cases also your water heater vents to a chimney

Once a Year - We even offer a Maintenance plan for that, that gives you 1 Annual Free Cleaning for either your Furnace/ Boiler Flue or your Fireplace Flue, a 3% Discount on all Chimney Re-builds, Fireplace Re-Facing, Furnace/Boiler re-lining and Fireplace Re-lining and a 10% Discount on all of our Service and repair work. You also get Priority Service, Guaranteeing Fast and Reliable Service, right when you need it, as well as reducing our Inspection to Repair from $149 to $99. All that for just $11.95/month

Yes, we offer Chimney, as well as Heater certifications.

The short answer is no. We will have clean tarps to lay around the work areas of the stove or fireplace. We will also have powerful soot/dust control vacuums running at the time of the sweeping to make sure your house stays clean. We strive to make sure that you do not have to worry about messes after they are done sweeping your chimney and to leave your home as clean or cleaner than we found it.

Yes, absolutely. Our trained technician will walk you through all your options and will help you come up with the right solution for your home.

Smoke coming into your home is certainly not enjoyable and indicates a problem with a poor draw up and out of the chimney. Smoke may also escape through leaks in your liner into other areas of the house. If you smell smoke in other rooms, your problem is likely with your liner. Remember, your liner must be the correct size for the fireplace, stove or furnace that you are venting – if it is not, the gases and smoke will not all escape the home. If your damper is not working properly or is closed, you will also get smoke back drafting into the home. Many of today’s homes are built very tightly, so the air that is taken out of the room during burning can’t be replaced. Outside air needs to be introduced, in order to remedy the imbalance and allow the smoke to be drafted out of the chimney. If your smoking problem goes away when you crack open a window, this might be your problem. If you have smoke in your home when you use your fireplace, it is not a safe situation. A cleaning could help this situation but not always. Additions added to home may cause chimneys to draft improperly.

The culprit that smells up your home through your chimney is creosote. Creosote is a natural by-product of burning fuel, especially wood. When the weather is humid and warm, the creosote odor gets stronger. Of course, chimney cleaning will resolve much of the smelly chimney problem, but not always completely. Odor neutralizing agents like baking soda or kitty litter put into the fireplace can help, but many times a deodorizing agent needs to be spread into the chimney. Sometimes ventilation fans can be installed to reduce these problems. The fact that you have these odors may also indicate that your venting system is drawing too much air down the chimney (downdraft) or that your damper may be defective. There are also several structural defects that can show up as a smelly chimney. So as always we advise a thorough inspection to determine the root cause.

This deposit is called efflorescence. When gases leak out through a defective liner and onto your brick interior wall they deposit salts on the surface of the masonry. Water then dissolves and transports these salts through the joints and mortar to the exterior of the chimney where you see the white deposits. These are the telltale signs of leaks in your liner and water problems in your chimney system. Repairs should be made immediately to prevent further deterioration of your chimney.