Chimney sweep and cleaning in Clawson

How Clawson uses its fireplaces

The fireplace in a Clawson house is usually brick or block lined with firebrick, set in a living room in a 1920s house near Main Street or in one of the 1950s and 1960s ranches off 14 Mile and Crooks. Many get a few fires around the holidays and not much else. Some have had gas logs put in, like the firebox in the photo, with the gas line run in along the back corner. Others have a wood insert. A few owners burn every night all winter.

Each of those gets swept differently. An open wood fireplace gets the clay flue brushed top to bottom. An insert gets swept through its liner. A firebox converted to gas logs gets the flue checked for nests and debris, and if it still burns wood some of the time, it gets swept too.

What builds up in a Clawson flue

Wood smoke leaves soot and creosote on the flue walls. Light use leaves a thin, dry layer. Wet wood and slow fires leave a sticky coat that can harden into a glaze. In an old clay flue, creosote also collects in open joints between the tiles.

The other thing we pull out is debris. On a street with big trees close to the houses, an uncapped flue collects leaves, twigs and nests. Squirrels and raccoons use open flues too. Chimney swifts nest in chimneys from about May to August and are protected by federal law, so a flue with an active nest has to wait until fall. The chimney swifts guide covers what to do in the meantime.

When to call

Early fall is the time, before the first cold weekend sends everybody to the phone at once. If you burn a lot of wood, our guide on how often to clean a chimney explains how to judge it.

The sweep is $349 and includes an inspection on the same visit. A camera through the flue is $75 more, and on a clay-lined Clawson chimney it's often worth it. If the inspection finds loose brick or a cracked crown, you'll get photos and a written quote for chimney repair in Clawson.