A Little About Us

The truck shows up with drop cloths, a HEPA vacuum, a rod-and-brush set sized to your flue, and a camera on a flexible rod for looking up the chimney. The floor and hearth get covered first, then the vacuum runs at the firebox opening to hold dust in the fireplace while the brushes work from below or from the roof, depending on the chimney. After the sweep, we inspect: smoke chamber, damper, firebox, liner joints, crown, cap and flashing, with the camera going up the flue so you can see what we see. If the fireplace is gas, different tools come out — manometer, combustion analyzer, log placement gauges, cleaning for the burner, pilot assembly and oxygen depletion sensor. We work on open masonry fireplaces, sealed gas inserts and factory-built prefab units, including Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Majestic, Napoleon, Superior and Empire. We also tell people when a chimney does not need sweeping yet. If you burned half a cord last season and the deposit is thin, we say so, finish the inspection, and you pay for the visit, not for work that was not needed.

Greater Boston burns for comfort more than for primary heat. Most homes run gas or oil central heat, so fireplaces see occasional evening use across a five-month season rather than daily loading. That light, irregular use still matters: unlined or clay-tile 19th-century flues, abandoned coal-era chimneys later reconnected to gas appliances, and long idle periods that invite moisture, animal nesting and loose mortar. Massachusetts DEP has no routine burn-ban day system like western states, but code enforcement and insurance drive the inspection work; many households have converted old masonry fireboxes to sealed gas logs or direct-vent inserts, which still require flue and liner checks for draft and carbon monoxide. Coastal salt air plus winter freeze-thaw cycles chew crowns, caps and flashing on exposed chimneys; chimneys that pass through unheated attics or run on exterior walls suffer worst. Annual inspection is standard regardless of use; sweeping frequency depends on cords burned, with creosote glazing common where seasoned hardwood is not used. Fall and early winter calls here run the same way most years: smoke rolling into the room on the first fire, a nest or debris blocking the flue, a cap blown off, a gas insert that will not light or burns with sooty tips. We handle sweeping, inspection, caps, liners, flues, fireboxes and gas fireplace service. We do not do masonry or brickwork. If the crown is spalling or the stack needs repointing, you will hear that from us plainly and you will need a mason.

On cost, a sweep on a straight, accessible flue that gets regular use is the simple end of the work. What moves the number on this job is access and condition. A three-story Victorian with a roof-only sweep takes longer than a first-floor firebox we can brush from below. A chimney that has sat idle for years often holds nesting material, fallen tile or heavy glazed creosote, and glazed deposit does not come off with a brush alone. Multiple flues in one stack means multiple sweeps. Gas work prices differently from wood because it is diagnostic time and parts rather than brush time. If the camera turns up a cracked tile, a gap at a liner joint or a failed cap, that becomes a separate conversation about repair and we will show you the footage before you decide anything.