The short answer
A chimney sweep in Boerum Hill removes soot and creosote and gives you a close look at flues that are often a century old or more. The NFPA 211 standard calls for a yearly inspection, so most homeowners book a sweep and inspection together, ideally before the heat season starts on October 1.
Boerum Hill's brownstones and rowhouses were built when fireplaces did real work. Many of those chimneys still serve a working fireplace, a wood stove insert, or a boiler. Expert Chimney Sweep cleans and inspects chimneys throughout Boerum Hill and ZIP code 11201 from our office in Clinton Hill, about a mile away. Our certified technicians remove soot and creosote, check the flue from top to bottom, and tell you plainly what they found. When something needs your attention, we show you photos.
Why Older Boerum Hill Chimneys Need Regular Sweeping
Most homes here are attached masonry buildings, and many are well over a century old. Their chimneys often run through party walls and serve several floors, with fireplaces on more than one level sharing a single stack. Over decades, mortar joints wear, clay tile liners crack, and some flues were never lined at all.
Burning wood leaves creosote on the inside of the flue. Creosote is flammable, and a rough or damaged flue gives it more places to collect. Sweeping removes that buildup. It is also the moment someone actually looks inside a chimney you normally can't see. The NFPA 211 standard calls for chimneys, fireplaces and vents to be inspected once a year, and pairing that inspection with a sweep is the practical way most homeowners keep up.
What a Chimney Sweep Visit Includes
Before we start, we put drop cloths around the hearth and set up a vacuum system to keep soot out of your living space. Then we work through the whole system:
If we see a problem we can't fully assess during a standard visit, we'll explain why and tell you what the next step would be.
- Brushing the flue and smoke chamber to remove soot and creosote
- Clearing debris from the firebox, smoke shelf and damper area
- Checking that the damper opens, closes and seals
- Looking for cracked liner tiles, open mortar joints and signs of water getting in
- Checking the chimney crown and cap for damage or missing screening that lets in birds and debris
- Going over what we found with you before we leave
Inspection Levels and When You Need More Than a Sweep
Chimney professionals use three inspection levels:
In Boerum Hill, Level 2 comes up often. Brownstones change hands, and buyers want to know whether a decorative fireplace can safely be used again. Owners renovating a floor-through, or converting a building back to a single-family home, often reopen fireplaces that have been sealed for years. A camera inspection of the flue shows liner damage that a flashlight can't reach, so you know the fireplace's condition before anyone lights a fire.
- Level 1 is for when nothing has changed in how you use the chimney.
- Level 2 is for when the system changes, such as a new appliance or a switch of fuel, or when the home is sold.
- Level 3 is for a hidden hazard that can only be reached by opening part of the chimney or the building.
Time for your annual chimney check?
Boiler Chimneys and Oil-to-Gas Conversions
Not every chimney here serves a fireplace. Many rowhouses and small apartment buildings vent a boiler or water heater through a masonry flue. When a New York City building converts its boiler from oil to gas, the chimney has to be evaluated as part of the work, and a new liner is often needed. Gas exhaust produces acidic condensate that can corrode a masonry flue from the inside.
Maybe you're planning a conversion, or you already made one and never had the chimney checked. Either way, we can inspect the flue and tell you whether the existing liner suits the appliance you use now.
When to Schedule a Sweep in Boerum Hill
New York City's heat season runs from October 1 through May 31, when building owners must keep apartments heated to the city's minimum temperatures. If your chimney vents a heating appliance, late summer and early fall are the sensible time for a sweep and inspection, before you depend on it every day. The same timing works for fireplace owners, because a problem found in September can be fixed before the first cold weekend.
Besides Boerum Hill, we also work in nearby Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
More services in Boerum Hill
- Chimney Inspection in Boerum Hill
- Chimney Repair in Boerum Hill
- Air Duct Cleaning in Boerum Hill
- Chimney Liner Installation in Boerum Hill
