Novi, Oakland County
Chimney sweep and cleaning in Novi
In the late-1970s subdivisions along Meadowbrook Road, most fireplaces are brick and were built for wood. In the newer houses farther west you'll find more gas units and factory-built fireplaces. What a sweep finds depends on which you have.
Older subdivisions, wood-burning fireplaces
Meadowbrook Glens went up from 1976 to 1981 and Whispering Meadows from 1978 to 1987. A typical house from those years has a brick fireplace with a clay-tile flue, and plenty of them still burn wood. Some owners have since put in an insert to get more heat out of the fireplace. Every wood fire leaves soot and creosote on the flue walls, and a flue that hasn't been swept in years can carry a lot of it.
The sweep takes it off with brushes on rods. With an insert, the flue is usually a stainless liner connected to the unit, and we sweep it the same way.
Gas units in the newer houses
Some of the houses built in the 1990s and 2000s, farther west and north, have gas fireplaces. Gas doesn't leave creosote, so most of those don't need sweeping. What they do need is a check of the venting and the cap. If you have a wood-burning factory-built unit in one of those houses, it gets swept like any other wood flue.
What blocks a flue here
Novi's older subdivisions have had forty-plus years to grow tall trees, and leaves and seeds end up on the cap screen and in uncapped flues. Birds and squirrels move into chimneys with no cap. In summer, chimney swifts may nest in a masonry flue. They're federally protected from May to August, and our chimney swifts guide explains what that means for timing.
Price and timing
The sweep is $349, and it includes an inspection on the same visit. Adding a camera through the flue is $75. The $349 is for one flue, so if you have a second fireplace, or an insert in one room and an open fireplace in another, set the quantity when you book. Book before the first cold weekend, since that's when everyone in Novi calls at once. Our guide on how often to clean a chimney helps you decide whether yours is due. If you spot something wrong with the outside of the chimney while you're waiting, we cover chimney repair in Novi too.
Questions
How often should a Novi fireplace that gets used every weekend be swept?
A wood fireplace or insert that runs most winter weekends usually needs a sweep once a year. If you burn a few fires around the holidays, every couple of years may be enough. The inspection we do on the same visit tells you how much built up, and that's the best guide for when to book the next one.
There's a nest in our chimney. Can you clear it now?
It depends what built it. Chimney swifts nest in chimneys from May to August and are federally protected, so an active swift nest has to stay until they leave. Other birds and squirrels are a different story. Call us, tell us what you're hearing, and we'll tell you what we can do and when.
Chimney sweep in Novi
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.