- Service
Chimney Sweeps
Quality Chimney Sweeping Services
For a Safe, Efficient New Braunfels, San Antonio & Austin Home
Chimney sweeping services from our friendly team of chimney professionals are an essential part of a homeowner’s or business owner’s regular annual maintenance routine. At Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace, our chimney professionals have the tools, experience, and training to keep your system in optimal condition.
When you receive chimney sweeping and regular maintenance from our team of New Braunfels chimney experts, you’ll get more efficient functionality as well as a safer household when you’re using your chimney and fireplace system. Lighting a fire in your home isn’t something you should take lightly, but when you invest in high-quality, standard care from well-experienced chimney technicians, you’ll have peace of mind with every cozy winter fire you start.
To get started with quality chimney care, you just need to reach out today! We’re happy to help you with your chimney sweeping needs or any other maintenance or repair needs you have. If you’re considering looking for the best chimney sweeping services available in San Antonio, Austin, or New Braunfels, Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace is ready to help. Call us or reach out online today to get started!
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Are Chimney Cleanings & Chimney Sweepings the Same Thing?
Though these terms are frequently used interchangeably, they’re actually somewhat different. A chimney sweeping service gets your soot- and creosote-filled chimney as clean as is possible.
Our chimney sweeping service for your New Braunfels region home uses appropriate techniques and tools to ensure great results. The process gives you a chimney with minimal creosote levels and removal of obstructions, including debris, bird’s nests, and similar buildup so that smoke can efficiently leave your chimney system.
Many of our San Antonio and Austin area clients use the term chimney cleaning, and our experienced New Braunfels chimney technicians understand what they mean, so both terms are used interchangeably.
Why Chimney Sweeps are Needed
Chimney sweeps are a vital, but quite frequently overlooked, part of your home’s annual maintenance cycle. It shouldn’t be a DIY job, because it can be a technically-exacting and dangerous job that only your professional chimney technician should perform. Here’s a quick glance at why it’s so important:
- Chimney sweeping prevents chimney and house fires. When creosote and debris build up in your chimney, the risk of a chimney or house fire increases at the same time. Chimney fires cause significant damage to your system, making it dangerous to use.
- Chimney sweeps improve overall efficiency. As buildup increases in your chimney’s interior, airflow is restricted. A quality airflow is important to get a good draft which removes smoke from your home, leading to safer, more economical operation.
- Chimney sweeping ensures safer air. Your home’s indoor air quality is important, and clogged chimneys cause carbon monoxide, smoke, and other fumes to enter your home. This can aggravate lung issues and cause life-threatening conditions if not addressed.
- Chimney sweeps reveal hidden issues. As your chimney is swept out, it’s a great time for checking if your system has other damage hidden by the ash and soot. Buildup can often hide bigger issues that can put your system and health at risk.
- Chimney sweeping extends your chimney’s lifespan. Not only does creosote buildup lead to chimney fires, but it also causes deterioration and decay in your chimney. A chimney sweep keeps your system operating properly over time.
If your home in the Austin, San Antonio, or New Braunfels region needs a chimney sweep, maintenance, inspection, or repair, Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace has your back. Take a minute to book your appointment today, and you’ll enjoy the peace of mind of knowing your system is cared for by an experienced, knowledgeable team. If we spot needed repairs, we’ll mention it at the time while recommending the best option. Contact us today to get started!
Can I DIY a Chimney Sweeping?
Chimney sweeps should only be performed by a CSIA-certified professional chimney tech. Though cleaning kits and products are sold in stores and online that claim homeowners can manage this task, doing your own chimney sweeping without appropriate training can cause you to miss possible issues and cause damage.
Your experienced chimney technician understands where to look for issues, how to clean your entire chimney interior, and how all items that are in the way can be removed without damage while cleaning it. They’re also able to provide a solid inspection, reporting any problem in your chimney that could be putting you at risk.
Don’t sweep your own chimney system! Doing a DIY job on your own chimney sweep gives you a false sense of security that your system is safe. In reality, there could be a number of issues and hazards that you’ve missed. Our experienced team will do the job properly every time.
When Should Chimney Sweeps be Scheduled?
There isn’t any specific time of year when chimney cleanings are needed, so you can schedule them at your convenience. What we recommend is having an annual inspection performed, because regardless of the frequency of usage, fuel used, or system type, you need an inspection from a certified chimney technician annually for your insurance company.
When these inspections are performed, your chimney technician is able to decide if a sweep is needed, as well as watching for damage, missing or broken parts, and similar issues. By having regular service from a certified chimney technician, you can reduce the risks from gas leaks, chimney buildup, fire hazards, and similar issues, while they keep your system working efficiently.
Do Creosote Sweeping Logs Work?
Often found in hardware stores or online, chimney sweeping or creosote removal logs sound like a great idea, but in reality, they don’t work as well as they say they do. They may seem like a better, less expensive option than a professional chimney sweep, but while they don’t do any harm, they don’t do as good of a job either.
Creosote sweeping logs do have an impact on the amount of creosote in your chimney’s interior, called the flue. However, they don’t work as effectively as a full chimney sweep, which uses physical action to remove the creosote. Instead, they use a chemical to change the creosote texture in your chimney, allowing it to flake off more easily.
Unfortunately, when the creosote falls off, it can fall back down your chimney, remaining a hazard to your home. At the same time, some creosote remains on your flue walls that can still lead to a chimney fire, while you have a false sense of security.
When a chimney technician comes into your home to sweep your chimney, they not only loosen the creosote, but they actually remove it. Chimney design can often include a smoke shelf that is offset, allowing creosote to remain, so it’s important to work with a tech who will do a thorough job.
While your chimney sweep is being performed, the technician is able to spot other issues inside your chimney at the same time. The technician also removes nesting materials and debris in your flue, a potential health and fire risk that a creosote sweeping log isn’t able to manage.
Does Chimney Sweeping Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
When you have buildup in your chimney, your home is much more vulnerable to hazardous fumes from your fire. Because the fireplace can’t vent properly, you have a higher risk of having carbon monoxide, smoke, and other fumes backing up into your home.
A quality chimney sweep ensures that these dangerous fumes are able to travel up and out of your chimney to the outdoors. However, we still recommend that clients have both carbon monoxide and smoke detectors installed throughout your home in case you have issues from another source.
What’s carbon monoxide?
As a very dangerous gas that can cause serious illness or death, carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless fume formed by combustion. Obviously you want to avoid it, but because it’s difficult to detect, this can be challenging. When fuels such as natural gas, wood, gasoline, or oil are incompletely burned, carbon monoxide is formed.
Carbon monoxide poisoning causes symptoms such as:
- Headache
- Weakness
- Nausea
- Shortness of Breath
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Blurred Vision
- And more!
Severe cases of CO poisoning can cause you to become unconscious and suffocate, causing organ damage and death. It’s an especially serious risk at night, when household members are already asleep, which is why we highly recommend investing in high-quality carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
When Should I Schedule My Chimney Cleaning?
Chimney cleanings don’t always fall into a specific time frame in terms of scheduling. Here’s what we suggest – schedule annual inspections and then go from there. Regardless of your type of system, what type of fuel you burn, and how often the fireplace gets used, getting your inspection booked with a certified sweep every single year is a must.
During these inspections, your sweep can determine if a cleaning or sweeping is in order. They can also keep an eye out for any damages or missing/broken parts that need help. In the end, regular services from a certified tech reduce the risk of buildup, fire hazards, gas leaks, and other threats, and they’ll keep your system functioning more efficiently year after year.
Do Creosote Sweeping Logs Work?
Often found in hardware stores or online, chimney sweeping or creosote removal logs sound like a great idea, but in reality, they don’t work as well as they say they do. They may seem like a better, less expensive option than a professional chimney sweep, but while they don’t do any harm, they don’t do as good of a job either.
Creosote sweeping logs do have an impact on the amount of creosote in your chimney’s interior, called the flue. However, they don’t work as effectively as a full chimney sweep, which uses physical action to remove the creosote. Instead, they use a chemical to change the creosote texture in your chimney, allowing it to flake off more easily.
Unfortunately, when the creosote falls off, it can fall back down your chimney, remaining a hazard to your home. At the same time, some creosote remains on your flue walls that can still lead to a chimney fire, while you have a false sense of security.
When a chimney technician comes into your home to sweep your chimney, they not only loosen the creosote, but they actually remove it. Chimney design can often include a smoke shelf that is offset, allowing creosote to remain, so it’s important to work with a tech who will do a thorough job.
While your chimney sweep is being performed, the technician is able to spot other issues inside your chimney at the same time. The technician also removes nesting materials and debris in your flue, a potential health and fire risk that a creosote sweeping log isn’t able to manage.
Will Chimney Cleanings Help Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
We’ve gone over creosote and chimney fires, but can chimney sweepings and cleanings keep carbon monoxide at bay too? Definitely.
Buildup in your flue makes your home a lot more vulnerable to the hazardous fumes your fires produce. It won’t be able to vent properly, and you run the risk of smoke and carbon monoxide backing up and entering your home. Cleanings ensure these fumes can travel smoothly and safely up through your flue and to the outdoors.
On that note, though, be sure to have both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed throughout your home.
What is carbon monoxide?
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an incredibly dangerous gas that is known for causing serious illness and sometimes leading to death. Clearly, it’s something to be avoided, but that can be challenging because it is both colorless and odorless, making it next to impossible to detect. Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete burning of fuels like wood, oil, natural gas, and gasoline.
How does is threaten humans? It essentially reduces the amount of oxygen that can get access to the rest of your body’s organs and tissues that really need it. This leads to symptoms like:
- headache
- dizziness
- nausea
- confusion
- weakness
- blurred vision
- shortness of breath
- …and more
In severe cases, the person can lose consciousness and keep breathing it in, which can then lead to death. As you can imagine, this gas is especially threatening if those living in the household are already asleep for the night. Again – this is why carbon monoxide detectors are such an important investment.
I Moved to a New Home, Do I Need a Chimney Sweep?
Before your home was sold, it should have received a Level 2 Chimney Inspection from a CSIA-Certified chimney technician, but if it wasn’t, you’ll want to have one done to ensure that everything is ready to go and perform a chimney sweep if needed.
Just remember that a home inspection isn’t the same thing as a chimney inspection. A home inspection looks briefly at your new fireplace and chimney, but not at the level of inspection that you should expect. Because home inspectors can’t identify a lot of the possible issues with your system, you’ll want one of our experienced chimney technicians to take a look.
This is why we recommend that you have maintenance booked prior to purchasing the property, so that any serious issues can be negotiated in the price or fixed prior to your purchase. There’s nothing as frustrating and upsetting as discovering expensive surprises right after you’ve spent a lot of money on your new home.
How Expensive is a Chimney Sweeping?
We know that everyone wants a plain, simple answer to this question, but like so many things in life, it depends on your system’s size, how much buildup is present, if animals are in the chimney, your location, the stage of creosote, and much more.
As an example, if there’s a bird’s nest or raccoon in your chimney, we can remove it for you and are equipped for this situation, but the final cost will be higher than just the chimney sweep would run. Similarly, glazed creosote is more difficult to use and requires specialized cleaning products, adding to the time and expense of the sweep.
These types of situations are why we highly recommend regular inspections and maintenance. When your system has a well-fitted cap, is inspected annually, and the masonry is protected from water damage, your maintenance should usually be fast, economical, and easy every year.
However, if you don’t have care done for many years, you’ll probably need a more in-depth cleaning, have more repairs, need expensive replacement parts, and similar issues. When you trust our experienced chimney technicians to take care of you before the start of your fireplace season, you’ll get safer, more efficient operation and lower bills.
Schedule Your Next Chimney Sweeping!
A fireplace adds amazing ambiance and improved home value to your home or living space. However, like many systems in your home, they need to receive regular maintenance for your own comfort, safety, and peace of mind. Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace delivers exactly that to homeowners and business owners in the New Braunfels, Austin, and San Antonio region.
Our team is dedicated to honest, accurate, and personalized care. Every client we work with receives exceptional customer service every time, while our certification with CSIA and FIRE, accreditation with the Better Business Bureau, NCSG membership, ADA compliance, and fully insured status gives you superior peace of mind.
At Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace, we take nothing more seriously than ensuring our clients are able to use their system easily, safely, efficiently, and with superior peace of mind.
Why not give us a call today or book with us online to set up your next chimney sweeping service. Whichever way you choose to contact us, our friendly team is always happy to chat!
At Wolfman Chimney & Fireplace, we’re proud of our high-quality work and think it demonstrates our dedication to exceptional craftsmanship.