Preparing Your Home for a Chimney Sweep

When you book: tell the whole story

What you say when you request the visit shapes what the technician brings and how long the visit takes. Useful details:

• Everything connected to the chimney. A fireplace, a stove or insert, and any furnace, boiler or water heater venting into another flue of the same chimney. If you are not sure, say so, and mention how the house is heated.
• Make and model of any stove, insert or factory-built fireplace. The data plate is usually on the back, the side, under the ash lip or inside the firebox frame.
• What has changed. CSIA calls for a Level 2 inspection, which goes beyond the basic annual check, when an appliance is added or replaced, when the fuel changes, after a chimney fire, after a weather event likely to have caused damage, and on the sale of a property. If any of those apply, the visit is a different visit.
• What you have noticed. Smoke in the room, smells, sounds, water, rust, debris falling into the firebox, a damper that sticks.
• Access details. A two- or three-story roof, a steep or slate roof, a locked gate, a dog in the yard, an attic hatch in a closet.

A few photos help too: the fireplace or stove, the chimney from the yard and any stain or damage you are worried about.

Several days before: let the fire go out for good

The flue and firebox have to be cold to be cleaned, and ash in the firebox needs to be safe to handle. Fire officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, point out that coals can keep enough heat to restart a fire for days, and that how long depends on the size and heat of the fire, the fuel and how much of it is left unburned.

So plan your last fire several days before the visit and tell the office when it was. Then leave the ashes alone:

• Do not vacuum them. The same fire officials say not to use vacuum cleaners to collect ashes. A household vacuum can pull a hidden ember into a bag full of fine dust.
• Do not shovel them into a bag or box to tidy up. If you do remove them, use a covered metal container placed outside at least 10 feet from the house, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises. Our guide to ash disposal covers the details.
• A stove should be left with its door closed and air control as you normally leave it when cold. The connector and baffle area are part of the job.

If you suspect an animal is in the chimney, do not light a fire to drive it out and do not open the damper to look. Mention it when you book. See animals in the chimney.

The day before: think about heat and gas

If the chimney also serves your furnace or boiler, and that flue is part of the visit, the appliance will be off for part of it. In CSIA's outline of oil-fired chimney service, the connector between the burner and the chimney comes apart for sweeping and goes back together afterward, and the loosened soot is taken out. The technician handles the shutdown and restart; you only need to expect the heat to be off for a while and plan around it on a cold day.

For a gas fireplace or gas logs, tell us whether the pilot is lit and where the shutoff valve is, if you know. Do not shut off gas valves you are unfamiliar with. A gas smell at any time means getting everyone out first and phoning the utility or 911 once you are outdoors.

A water heater that shares the chimney usually keeps running unless its own flue is being worked on. Let us know if anyone in the house will need hot water during the visit.

The morning of: set up the room

1. Clear the hearthTake fireplace tools, screens, log holders, baskets and decorations off and away from the hearth. A technician needs to kneel in front of the opening and seal it.
2. Make a work zoneMove furniture, rugs and anything fragile back from the fireplace to give a clear area in front of it. The U.S. Fire Administration's three-foot clearance for anything combustible around a fireplace or stove makes a sensible minimum for this zone as well; more space is better.
3. Empty the mantelPhotos, clocks and candles on the mantel are in the way of the seal over the opening and at risk when equipment is set up.
4. Open a pathClear the route from the door to the fireplace for vacuum hoses and equipment. Point out floors you want covered.
5. Know where things areThe furnace and its flue connection, the cleanout door at the base of the chimney if there is one, and the attic access.

Do not cover the fireplace opening yourself with tape and plastic. The technician needs to see it as it is and will seal it in a way that suits the equipment.

Outside: the roof, the yard and the car

• Leave room for a ladder. Move cars, bikes and planters away from the wall nearest the chimney, if you can.
• Unlock gates and tell us about any that are locked or hard to open.
• Bring pets inside and keep them in a room away from the work. A ladder, open doors and equipment going in and out make it easy for a pet to slip out or get underfoot.
• Mention roof features that change access: solar panels near the chimney, a fragile slate or tile roof, a recent roof replacement, satellite dishes or antennas strapped to the chimney.

Roof work depends on safe conditions. If rain, ice or high wind makes the roof unsafe, the outside part of the inspection may have to wait, and you will be told what was and was not checked. We go up on the roof only when conditions and access make it safe.

During the visit: who should be where

Keep children and pets out of the fireplace room while the work is underway. Equipment, hoses and an open firebox are not safe play areas, and any soot that escapes is easiest to contain in an empty room.

Try to be available at the beginning and the end. At the start, you can walk the technician through what you noticed and answer questions about how you use the fireplace. At the end, you see the findings. Our visits open with an assessment, include a camera run when the flue's shape permits, and end with photos and findings in your hands before any repair goes on the calendar. Being there for that conversation is the main reason to be home.

Have the paperwork within reach

Gather these before the visit. None is required, but each makes the inspection better:

• Past inspection reports and photos, so changes can be compared. See how to read a chimney inspection report.
• Manuals for the stove, insert, gas appliance or factory-built fireplace. They set inspection and cleaning requirements, and chimney or liner instructions can limit which brushes may be used. See chimney sweeping methods and tools.
• A note of your burning season: roughly how much wood you burned, how often and anything unusual. It helps set the next interval.
• Repair records for the chimney or roof, such as a new liner, crown work or a recent reroof.
• Home inspection report from a purchase, if the chimney section raised questions.

After the sweep

Before the technician leaves, make sure you know three things: what came out of the flue and how much, the condition of the parts that were checked, and which findings need attention before the next fire. Ask that the deposit type and depth be written down; the next interval is set from that. Our guides to what happens during a chimney sweep and soot vs. creosote explain what you will hear.

If a repair was recommended before further use, follow it. A clean flue with a cracked liner or a broken damper is no safer to use than a dirty one. If nothing needs attention, put the report with your records and reset the furniture. Notice any faint smell or soot over the next few days and mention it if it appears.

Questions homeowners ask

Sources

1. Chimney Safety Institute of America: Chimney inspection levels
2. Chimney Safety Institute of America: Annual service of your oil-fired appliance chimney
3. Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service: Cool your ashes (PDF)
4. U.S. Fire Administration: Fireplace and wood stove safety (PDF)

This guide is general information. It can't diagnose a specific chimney; an inspection can.