How to Prepare for a Chimney Sweep Visit

Why preparation matters

A sweep is part cleaning, part inspection. The crew needs a cold chimney, room to protect your floor, and access to every part of the system that vents into the chimney, from the firebox to the basement cleanout to the cap on the roof. When any of that is blocked, the visit either takes longer or something gets skipped, usually the part you cannot see. Twenty minutes of preparation the day before makes the visit faster and the report more complete.

When you book, say what vents into the chimney: a wood fireplace, a stove or insert, a gas fireplace, a boiler, a furnace, a water heater. Mention how many flues you think there are and roughly how often each is used. That lets the office send the right equipment and allow enough time, and it avoids the crew discovering a second or third flue on arrival.

The day before

Stop using the fireplace or stove early enough that it is fully cold when the crew arrives, which in practice means no fires for at least a day. Embers hide in an ash bed much longer than people expect, and nobody can brush a warm flue or vacuum a firebox with live coals in it. Leave the ashes in place; removing them is part of the job, and the crew will look at what is in them.

If heating equipment or a water heater vents into the chimney and its flue is being cleaned, ask the office whether it should be turned off beforehand. Oil and gas appliances need to be off and cool before their connector is taken apart. In the heating season, plan for the house to be without heat or hot water for part of the visit.

Clearing the space

The crew needs room in front of the fireplace for drop cloths, the vacuum and their tools, plus a clear route in from the door.

Keep pets and small children in another room. The vacuum is loud, brushes rattle in the flue, and doors will be open while equipment goes in and out. Birds and other pets sensitive to dust are better on another floor for the duration. Cats in particular have a way of investigating an open fireplace.

• Move furniture back several feet from the hearth
• Roll up rugs near the fireplace and along the path
• Take photos, candles, clocks and decorations off the mantel
• Set aside the screen, glass doors or tools if they come off easily
• Clear a path from the entrance to the fireplace and to the basement
• For a stove, clear around the stove and along the stovepipe

Basement, cleanout and heating equipment

Many chimneys in older homes have a cleanout door near the base, often in the basement, where soot and debris from the flue collect. Boilers and water heaters connect to the chimney through a pipe and a thimble lower down. If those are part of the visit, make sure storage is not stacked against them. Boxes in front of the cleanout are the most common reason a basement flue does not get finished on the first visit.

A working light in the boiler room helps, as does knowing where the appliance switches and the gas or oil shutoffs are.

Roof access and parking

Some chimneys are swept from the top, and all of them should be looked at from the roof. Tell the office in advance about anything that affects access: a locked roof hatch, a bulkhead that only opens from inside, a skylight that is the only way up, a flat roof shared with neighbors, a steep slate or tile roof, or a chimney that can only be reached across an adjoining building. Rowhouse and brownstone roofs are often reached through a hatch in a top-floor closet, which needs to be cleared too.

Parking close to the house helps, since the vacuum and brushes are heavy. If your street has alternate-side or permit parking, mention it when you book.

Gas fireplaces and inserts

Gas fireplaces and gas inserts need a little extra notice. The gas to the unit is shut off for the visit, the glass front usually comes off, and the logs or media may be removed and set aside to reach the burner and the vent. Clear a spot on the floor nearby, covered with a towel or cardboard, where those parts can rest. If you have the manual, leave it out.

Wood inserts are often pulled forward from the fireplace to reach the liner connection. That takes floor space in front of the hearth and sometimes a protective board under the insert, so allow a wider clear area than for an open fireplace.

Write down what you have noticed

The most useful thing you can give the crew is a short list. The sweep sees the chimney once a year; you live with it every day.

• Smoke coming into the room, and when it happens
• Smells: campfire, musty, rotten, chemical
• Noises in the flue: scratching, chirping, rattling in wind
• Water in the firebox, stains on nearby walls or ceilings
• Black flakes or pieces of tile on the hearth
• Any change of heating equipment since the last visit

Is chimney sweeping messy?

Done properly, it is not. The fireplace opening is sealed or covered, drop cloths go down, and a vacuum runs the whole time so dust is pulled away from the room rather than pushed into it. You may notice a faint smell of soot afterward, and a little fine dust on the hearth itself, but the room should look the way it did when the crew arrived.

Whether the flue is brushed from the top down or the bottom up depends on the chimney, the roof and the liner. Either way, the room end is sealed first. If a flue has heavy glazed creosote, the crew may recommend a separate treatment rather than forcing it with brushes, and they should explain that before doing it.

At the end of the visit

Ask the technician to walk you through what they found: how much was removed, the condition of the flue, damper, firebox, crown and cap, and anything that needs repair or watching. Ask to see anything unusual, such as cracked tile or a rusted damper. A written report should list each flue and its condition. Repairs come as a separate free written estimate, so you can decide without pressure. Keep the report with your house papers; insurers and buyers often ask for it.