Romulus, Wayne County
Chimney sweep and cleaning in Romulus
Romulus has wood-burning fireplaces in its older houses near downtown and factory-built ones in the newer subdivisions, and both build up creosote if you burn wood in them.
Old flues and new ones
The historical park in downtown Romulus has a one-room schoolhouse from 1839 and a farmhouse from 1855, and some of the oldest houses in the city are on the streets nearby. Plenty of those still have a wood-burning fireplace with a brick chimney and a clay-tiled flue. Every fire leaves soot and creosote on the tile.
The houses from the 2000s usually have a factory-built fireplace with a round metal flue. Those get the same buildup. The photo shows a round flue coated in rough, bubbly creosote, the kind that comes from wet wood or a fire kept low and smoky for hours.
Gas logs and direct-vent gas fireplaces don't make creosote. Their vents can still fill with nests and debris, so we look at them on the same visit if you ask.
What gets into Romulus chimneys
The airport, I-94 and I-275 split Romulus into separate neighborhoods with open ground and industrial land between them. Birds, squirrels and raccoons live on that ground, and a flue with no cap on top is an easy place to den. Leaves and twigs blow in too and pile up on the smoke shelf above the damper.
From May to August, chimney swifts nest inside open masonry flues. They're federally protected, so if you hear chirping in the chimney in summer, the sweep waits until they've gone. Our guide to chimney swifts explains what to expect.
When to book
Book before the first cold weekend of fall. The weeks just before it fill up quickly, so late summer gets you a wider choice of times. How often you need it depends on how much wood you burn and what kind. Our guide on how often to clean a chimney goes through the signs.
What it costs
A sweep is $349, and it includes an inspection on the same visit, so you find out what condition the chimney is in while we're already there. A camera run through the flue is $75 more. We put drop cloths down before we start and clean up before we leave. If we find damage, you get photos and a written price for the repair, and nothing gets done until you approve it.
Questions
We only burn a few fires a year in our Romulus ranch. Do we still need a sweep?
Maybe not every year for the soot alone. But a fireplace that sits unused collects nests, leaves and the odd raccoon, and a chimney nobody has looked at in a few years can have a cracked tile or crown no one has seen. The $349 visit covers the sweep and an inspection, so you find out both at once.
Something is chirping in my chimney in July. Can you get it out?
If it's chimney swifts, we leave them. They're federally protected, and the nest stays until the birds leave, usually by late August or early September. After that we can sweep the flue and fit a cap so they don't move back in next spring. If it's a different animal, call and tell us what you're hearing, and we'll say what we can do.
Chimney sweep near Romulus
Chimney sweep in Romulus
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.