Protecting finished rooms and original surrounds during the sweep
Most of the mess of a sweep stays at the firebox. The opening is sealed, a vacuum runs behind the seal, and the brush works through the damper, smoke chamber and flue while the dust is drawn away rather than into the room.
Where a fireplace has a carved stone or glazed tile surround, the covering is arranged so that nothing is taped to its face, because adhesive can lift old finishes. Mention an original or restored surround when you get in touch.
On a house with fireplaces on different floors, each one needs its own seal, its own clean-up and its own damper check. That, more than the brushing, is what lengthens the visit.
Chimney pots, decorative caps and brushing from the roof
Some flues are swept from the roof down, others from the firebox up. The choice depends on the damper, the shape of the smoke chamber and what sits on the outlet.
Period stacks sometimes carry clay chimney pots or custom metal caps made to suit the architecture. A pot is usually bedded in mortar and stays put; the brush goes through it, or the flue is swept from below. A decorative cap that is screwed or clamped down may have to come off, and a fixing that has seized is one of the few things that turns a routine sweep into a longer job.
Whatever sits on the outlet is checked for a spark arrestor. The California Residential Code requires an approved spark arrester on every chimney serving a solid-fuel fireplace or appliance, so a decorative cap with no screen behind it is noted rather than passed over.
Tell us how many fireplaces the house has and which of them are actually lit, and we'll come back to you about the sweep. A short description, and a photo if you can take one safely, is a good start to an estimate request.
Booking before the November to February curtailment season
The practical window is late summer through October. South Coast AQMD runs its residential wood-burning curtailment season from November through the end of February, and on a declared no-burn day no wood-burning fireplace may be used, whatever state the chimney is in.
A sweep booked in December can land in a week when the fireplace cannot be lit anyway. Gas fireplaces sit outside the curtailment, so a converted flue can be checked at any time of year.
What changes the cost of a Beverly Hills sweep visit
The price follows the chimneys and what is found in them.
- 1How many flues are brushed, and how many are only checked.
- 2Whether the outlets are reached from the roof, and how the roof is reached.
- 3Seized or custom caps that have to come off and go back on.
- 4Glazed creosote in any flue, which a brush will not shift.
- 5Setting up at fireboxes on different floors.