Chimney sweep and cleaning in Birmingham

Wood, inserts and gas

In Barnum Park, a lot of the houses were built before 1940, and many of them have the wood-burning masonry fireplace they were built with. Plenty of those still burn wood. Others have had an insert put in, which turns an open fireplace into a heater and sends the smoke up a stainless liner inside the old flue.

The same neighborhood also has houses from the 1970s through the 1990s, and newer Birmingham houses in general are more likely to have gas. A gas fireplace doesn't build creosote, but its vent can still be blocked, and the top of the chase needs checking. We sweep and inspect wood flues and liners. We don't service gas logs, burners or controls.

What builds up, and what falls in

Every wood fire leaves soot and creosote on the flue walls. A hot, short fire leaves less. A slow fire with the door or damper partly closed leaves more, and the buildup inside an insert liner can get thick in a single season.

On the east side, on the streets around Pembroke Park like Eton, Buckingham and Windemere, mature trees hang over a lot of roofs and drop leaves, twigs and seed pods onto them. On a chimney without a cap, leaves and twigs end up on the smoke shelf, and squirrels and birds move in. In summer, chirping in the chimney is often chimney swifts. They're federally protected while nesting, so we wait until they've gone. Our guide to chimney swifts explains the timing.

When to book and what it costs

Book before the first cold weekend. Once people want a fire, the calendar fills up quickly. If you aren't sure how often your fireplace needs it, our guide on how often to clean a chimney goes through it by how much you burn.

The cleaning is $349. That covers sweeping one flue and an inspection on the same visit. If your house has more than one fireplace, set the number of flues when you book. A camera through the flue is a $75 add-on, and you see the same pictures we do.

After the sweep

We'll tell you what we found in plain language before we leave: what's in good shape and what to watch. If a crown, a cap or a chase cover needs work, you'll get photos and a written quote for the chimney repair. Nothing gets done until you approve it.