Northville, Wayne County
Chimney sweep and cleaning in Northville
A good share of Northville Township sits close to woods, from Maybury State Park to the wooded lots along the Mile roads. That means leaves on the cap and animals looking for a way in, on top of the soot from your own fires.
Woods and wildlife
Maybury State Park covers 944 acres of meadow and mature forest at Eight Mile and Beck, and plenty of township houses have big trees of their own. Leaves and seed pods pile up on cap screens in the fall. An uncapped flue takes them straight down to the smoke shelf.
Raccoons, squirrels and birds all go looking for a sheltered spot in spring, and an open flue is an easy one. Chimney swifts nest in masonry chimneys from May to August. They're federally protected, so an active nest stays put until the birds leave. Our chimney swifts guide explains what that means for when we can sweep.
Fireplaces in 1990s and 2000s houses
Brooklane Ridge, south of Six Mile and east of Sheldon, went up from 1998 to 2002. Houses from those years often have a factory-built fireplace, and some have two. A wood-burning unit gets swept the same as any other wood flue, and we look at the firebox panels and the cap while we're there. A gas unit doesn't build up creosote, so it usually doesn't need sweeping at all. What it needs is the venting checked, and an inspection covers that.
If you burn in an insert or a wood stove, call before you book so we can tell you what to expect for your unit.
What the sweep covers
The sweep is $349. Drop cloths go down around the fireplace, brushes on rods take the soot and creosote off the flue walls, and we inspect the chimney inside and out on the same visit. Adding a camera through the flue is $75. You get a plain-language rundown of what we found before we leave.
When to book
Get on the schedule before the first cold weekend. Once the temperature drops, everyone wants a fire the same Saturday. If you just moved into a township house and the seller couldn't tell you when the chimney was last swept, assume it's due. The inspection on the same visit tells you where things stand. Our guide on how often to clean a chimney helps you work out whether yours is due this year.
Questions
We only burn a few fires a year in Northville. Do we still need a sweep?
Maybe not every year. A fireplace that sees a handful of fires a season builds up slowly, and every other year can be enough. But nests and leaves don't care how often you burn, and a fireplace that sits unused is where they collect. The inspection that comes with the sweep tells you which way yours is going.
Do you sweep chimneys on the old houses downtown?
Yes. On a house from the 1800s we look closely at what the flue is lined with before we put brushes in it, and we'll suggest adding the $75 camera if there's any doubt. If the flue needs work before it's used, you'll hear that from us first, with photos.
Chimney sweep near Northville
Chimney sweep in Northville
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.