Chimney sweep and cleaning in Detroit

Where we sweep in Detroit

We clean chimneys only on Detroit's northwest and west side, in the neighborhoods named on our Detroit page. We don't cover the rest of the city. If you're near the edge of that area, call before you book.

Fireplaces from the 1920s and 1930s

Old Redford grew up around Grand River and Lahser, where the Redford Theatre opened in 1928. On its older blocks, and across North Rosedale Park, the brick houses from the 1920s and 1930s usually have a brick fireplace in the living room with a clay-lined flue, and often a second flue in the same chimney for the boiler or furnace in the basement.

Plenty of owners still burn wood in them. Every fire leaves soot and creosote on the flue walls, and the photo shows what a clay flue looks like before it's swept. Our page on how often to clean a chimney has a simple way to tell when yours is due. If you have a wood stove or insert, call before you book.

Trees, parks and swifts

Eliza Howell Park covers 250 acres next to Brightmoor, and the older streets across this part of the city have big trees over the roofs. Leaves and seeds land on the chimney top in the fall, and an uncapped flue catches them. Squirrels, raccoons and birds go in from the same branches.

Chimney swifts nest in masonry chimneys from May to August, and they're federally protected. If we find an active nest, we leave it alone and come back after the birds have left. Read our page on chimney swifts if you hear chattering in the flue in summer.

What $349 covers

The cleaning is $349 and includes an inspection on the same visit. We cover the floor, sweep the flue, inspect the chimney inside and out, and clean up before we leave. A camera through the flue is $75 more. If something needs fixing, you get photos and a written quote for the repair, and nothing is done until you approve it. Book before the first cold weekend of fall, when the schedule fills.