Chimney Cleaning & Sweeping
Ninety-nine dollars for a chimney cleaning, with the inspection included. Drop cloths down, HEPA vacuum running, and your floors the way we found them.
on site
included
What a real sweep involves
Cleaning a chimney properly means brushing the full length of the flue, not vacuuming loose debris out of the bottom of it. Creosote bonds to the flue wall. It has to be mechanically removed with brushes sized to your flue, and the material that comes down has to be contained rather than distributed around your living room.
- Floor and hearth protection before anything else
- HEPA-filtered vacuum running under negative pressure the whole time
- Full-length brushing of the flue, sized to your chimney
- Smoke shelf and smoke chamber cleaned out
- Firebox and damper cleaned and checked for operation
- Inspection included, with before and after photographs
Why creosote is the thing that matters
When wood burns it releases unburned gases and particles. When those hit a cool flue wall they condense into creosote — the dark, tarry residue that lines a working chimney. Creosote is flammable. A chimney fire is creosote igniting inside the flue, and it can reach temperatures high enough to crack a clay liner or ignite the framing next to the chimney.
The heavier your wood use and the colder your flue, the faster it builds. A cottage on Packanack Lake heated with the fireplace all winter builds creosote far faster than a house in Livingston that lights a fire on Christmas Eve. We'll tell you honestly which one you are.
How often
Annually is the sensible default for a chimney that gets any real use. If you burn wood as a primary or significant heat source, we may recommend more than once a season, and if we do we'll show you the photographs that led us to say so. If your fireplace gets lit twice a year, we'll tell you that too rather than selling you a sweep you don't need.
What happens on the visit
- We protect your floor and hearth before anything else
- A camera goes in the flue, bottom to top — not a flashlight
- We check the firebox, damper, smoke shelf and the crown above the roofline
- We confirm which appliances vent into which flue
- You get a written report with photographs the same day
Book Chimney Cleaning & Sweeping
Inspection $49 · Cleaning $99
Chimney Cleaning & Sweeping questions
Straight answers
How do I know whether the flue actually needs sweeping?
By the depth of the creosote on the flue wall, and that's measured, not guessed. The $99 cleaning includes the inspection, so if the flue turns out to be clean you'll see the photographs that prove it.
How messy is it?
It should not be messy at all. Drop cloths go down, the HEPA vacuum runs the whole time, and the room is left the way we found it. That's the part most people are actually worried about.
Can you sweep a chimney with a wood stove insert?
Yes. An insert takes longer because the liner has to be reached through the appliance, but it's routine work and the price is the same $99.
Do I need to do anything before you arrive?
Let the fire go completely cold, ideally overnight, and clear a few feet in front of the fireplace. That's all.
Where we work
New Jersey
Statewide