Sylvan Lake, Oakland County
Chimney sweep and cleaning in Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake is a small, wooded city wrapped around its lake, and a fall sweep here often takes out leaves and nest material along with a season of soot.
Most of Sylvan Lake
We cover most of Sylvan Lake. If you're on the east side out by Telegraph, call before booking and we'll confirm we can get to you.
What people here burn
The older houses around the lake and in Wood Lawn mostly have open masonry fireplaces built for wood. Plenty of them have since had gas logs or a wood insert put in. Houses built later, in the 1950s and after, may have a brick fireplace with a clay-lined flue or a factory-built fireplace with a metal one.
Wood leaves soot and creosote on the inside of the flue every time it burns. Gas doesn't, but a gas flue still collects debris and nests from the top. Either way, the sweep clears what's in there and the inspection tells you what condition the flue is in.
Trees and the lake
When a party from Detroit rode through in 1818, the lake was ringed with tamaracks, and they named it Timber Lake before it became Sylvan Lake. Trees are still the thing to plan around. From Garland Street out to the shore, a lot of houses sit under big trees, and leaves blow into uncapped flues all fall. Raccoons and squirrels climb the branches to the roof and move into chimneys with no cap.
Birds use chimneys too. Chimney swifts nest from May to August and are federally protected, so we can't sweep or cap a flue they're using. Our page on chimney swifts explains what to do while they're there. Once they're gone, a stainless cap with a screen, like the one in the photo, keeps the leaves and other animals out.
The visit and the price
The sweep is $349 for one flue, with an inspection on the same visit. We cover the floor, brush the flue from top to bottom, check the firebox, damper, crown, cap and flashing, and clean up. A camera through the flue adds $75. If we find something that needs work, you'll get photos and a written quote for chimney repair in Sylvan Lake.
Book before the first cold weekend, when the schedule fills. For how often your chimney needs it, see how often to clean a chimney.
Questions
How do I know if my Sylvan Lake chimney has something living in it?
Scratching or rustling in the fireplace, a musty smell, or twigs and leaves dropping onto the damper are the usual signs. In summer, steady chattering is likely chimney swifts, which we have to leave alone until they go. Anything else, call us before you light a fire. We'll check it from the top and the bottom and tell you what we find.
Is a cap part of the $349 sweep?
No. The $349 covers sweeping one flue and an inspection on the same visit. If your flue has no cap, or the one on it is rusted through, we'll show you and quote a stainless cap with a mesh screen. A single-flue cap is $375. You decide whether to add it.
Chimney sweep in Sylvan Lake
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.