Brick rowhouse roofline with tall chimneys

Your Local Chimney Sweeping Pros

Every fire leaves creosote on the inside of the flue. A sweep removes it before it narrows the flue, slows the draft or catches fire. Our crew cleans the firebox, the smoke chamber and the full length of the flue, then checks what we saw on the way up.

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About Chimney Sweeping

Wood smoke is full of unburned gases and tar. As it climbs, it meets flue walls that are cooler than the fire, and part of it condenses there as creosote. Early deposits are dry, black and flaky. Left alone, they turn crusty and tar-like, and in the worst case they harden into a shiny glaze that coats the tile like varnish. Every stage burns, and every stage narrows the passage the smoke has to use.

Older housing in New York, New Jersey and around Philadelphia makes this worse. Brownstone and rowhouse flues were often built large, for coal grates, and a wide flue stays cool, so smoke lingers and condenses. Exterior chimneys on colonials and capes lose heat to the wind on three sides. Short evening fires that fail to heat the flue properly, and logs that were split last spring, add more deposits each season.

A thorough sweep treats the fireplace as one system. The firebox and grate area are cleared, the damper is opened and brushed, the smoke shelf behind it is scooped clean, and the smoke chamber walls are scraped before brushes work the full height of the flue. The brush head has to match the flue: square heads for square clay tile, round ones for round liners, softer bristles for stainless. The soot is contained, bagged and carried out, and you hear what the light showed along the way.

What Our Crew Does

Drop cloths laid from the entry door to the hearth, with the fireplace opening sealed off
Grate, ash and loose debris lifted out of the firebox
Damper plate and frame brushed so the handle moves freely
Smoke shelf cleared of the soot and grit that settles behind the damper
Smoke chamber walls scraped where deposits cling to the brick
Flue brushed top to bottom with heads sized to its shape and material
Cap screen cleaned so the draft is not choked at the top
Debris bagged and removed, and a plain account of the flue's condition

When to Call Us

Smoke rolls into the room when the fire starts
A strong campfire smell on humid days
Black flakes falling into the firebox
You do not remember the last sweep
You bought a house with a fireplace you have never used

How the Job Goes

We protect the room
Drop cloths go down from the door to the hearth and the opening is sealed before any brush goes in.
We clean the whole system
Firebox, damper, smoke shelf, smoke chamber and flue, with rods and brushes sized to your flue.
We look while we clean
We check the damper, the flue joints and the crown and cap, and tell you plainly what we found.
You get it in writing
If anything needs repair, you get a free written estimate before any work starts.

Your Options

Hand rods and brushes

Sectional rods with a brush head pushed and pulled through the flue. Good control on old clay tile and in tight smoke chambers.

Rotary sweeping

Flexible whips spun by a drill, working from below or above. Useful for stubborn crusty deposits, used with care on cracked or fragile tile.

Creosote treatment before sweeping

Glazed creosote does not brush off. A chemical treatment applied over one or more fires turns it brittle enough to remove on a later visit.

Wire or poly brush heads

Steel wire bristles cut through deposits on clay tile and masonry. Poly bristles are the choice inside stainless steel liners, where wire would scratch the metal.

What Affects the Cost

How many flues need cleaning, since a fireplace, boiler and water heater flue are each their own job
How long since the last sweep and how heavy the deposits are
Glazed creosote that needs a treatment and a second visit
Roof pitch, height and whether a ladder can reach the top safely
A stove or insert that has to be disconnected or pulled out to reach the flue
Nests, leaves or fallen tile that have to come out before brushing

Every job starts with a free written estimate, so you know the price before we start.

When It Cannot Wait

A roaring or rushing sound in the chimney with the fire burning: get everyone out and call 911
Black, tar-like drips running down the inside of the firebox
Smoke pouring into the room even with the damper wide open
Your carbon monoxide alarm sounding: get outside first, then call 911

Make It Last

Burn only split hardwood that has dried under cover until the ends show cracks
Build fires hot enough to warm the flue, instead of letting them smolder for hours
Leave the damper fully open until the last ember is out
Get on the calendar while it is still warm out, ahead of the first cold night
Keep the cap mesh intact so leaves and nests stay out of the flue

Questions About Chimney Sweeping

How often should a chimney be swept?

NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys and fireplaces, calls for an inspection at least once a year, with cleaning when deposits build up. A fireplace used every winter weekend usually needs a sweep every year.

Do gas fireplaces need sweeping?

Gas burns cleaner than wood, but flues still collect debris, nests and corrosion. A yearly check keeps the vent clear so exhaust leaves the house.

Will it be messy?

No. We cover the floor and seal the opening before we start, and we leave the room the way we found it.

Do you sweep from the roof or from inside the house?

That depends on the chimney. Many open fireplaces are cleaned from the top down, with the opening sealed below so soot stays in the flue. On a steep, icy or slate roof, or when a stove is connected, the work is often done from the firebox up. Either way the whole flue gets brushed, and the smoke chamber is cleaned by hand from below.

Where does the creosote go once it is out of the flue?

It falls to the smoke shelf and the firebox floor, where it is scooped and vacuumed into heavy bags and carried out of the house. Creosote can hold heat and still burn, so we do not leave it in a trash can by the door or in the yard. If ash in the firebox is still warm, it waits in a metal container.

Will a sweep fix a fireplace that smokes?

Sometimes. When heavy deposits or a nest have narrowed the flue, cleaning restores the draft and the smoke stops. When the cause is an undersized flue for the opening, a short chimney or a house pulling air down the flue, the sweep alone will not cure it, and we explain which cause we think you have.

Guides From Our Crew

Why homeowners call Pro 1

18,000+ Chimney Jobs. One Standard.

15+ years and 18,000+ chimney jobs taught us what homeowners want: a crew that shows up, explains it plainly and leaves the house as clean as they found it.

$500 OFF any chimney service

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Our own local crews
The people at your door work for us and live in the area. We never send subcontractors.
Licensed and insured
Your home and our crew are covered on every job, from a sweep to a full rebuild.
Free written estimate
You see what we found and what it takes to fix it, in writing, before any work starts.
Upfront pricing
The price we write down is the price you pay. No hidden fees and no surprise add-ons.
Fast response
Open 24 hours Sunday to Friday, with a real person on the phone and same-day visits when we can.
Clean, careful work
Floors and furniture covered, the roof and yard cleaned up, and a walk-through when we finish.

Chimney Sweeping Near You

Limited time offer

$500 OFF

Any chimney service. Mention it when you call or book online.

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Mason working on a brick building from a lift — **18,000+** projects completed by our own crew

Simple from the first call

How It Works

Your callCall, text or book online
Tell us what you see or smell. A real person from our team answers and sets a time that suits you.
The visitFree chimney inspection
Our own crew arrives in a marked Pro 1 van, covers the floor and inspects the chimney from the firebox to the cap, free of charge.
The estimateFree written estimate
We walk you through what we found, in plain words, and put any repair in writing before work starts.
The workThe job, done right
We do the work, clean up the roof, the yard and the room, and walk you through the finished job.

Book before the holidays. Fireplaces get their heaviest use from Thanksgiving to New Year. A free inspection now catches nests, creosote and cracked flue tiles before the first big fire and the family gatherings.

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Get a Free Estimate

Leave your details and our local team calls you back to set a time.

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