Chimney Services

Appointment Tips:
Spring and Summer are the best times for non-emergency chimney repair and preventive maintenance.

From October through January, Colonial Chimney Sweeps appointment calendar is booked up to one month in advance - making an "off-peak" appointment is your best option.

As a courtesy, we send annual reminders for service, and confirm all appointments by phone 24 hours in advance.

Before Your Appointment:
24 hours before your appointment, remember to:

Stop using your fireplace, woodstove, or gas stove. For safety's sake, we need to work with an appliance that is completely cool. As a courtesy, please remove all ash from the firebox.

The Day of Your Appointment Rember to:
Remove fragile or precious items from the area near the fireplace. We need about 5 to 6 ft around the fireplace to be clear to get our equipment in place.

Chimney Inspections & Sweeping
-Our Chimney Sweeps use state-of-the-art equipment to inspect and sweep chimneys of all kinds, including oil-, wood-, and gas-burning chimneys. While sweeping your system, we ensure that it’s in working order. We look for any problems that could prevent peak performance and recommend what is needed for your system to burn cleanly and safely.

Fireplace and Chimney Repair
-Colonial Cimney Sweeps offers a full range of repair services for both masonry and prefabricated fireplaces and chimneys. We are experts in finding Underwriters Laboratory tested parts so that your Prefab fireplace will retain its UL safety listing. We do masonry repairs on brick :

• Tuck Pointing (mortar replacement)
• Crown Rebuilding and Repair-We repair cracks in your crown that can cause water leaks that destroy other parts of your fireplace and chimney. If necessary, we can completely rebuild or replace the crown. Water damage resulting from a missing chimney cap is all too common. We remedy this situation by reconstructing the back walls of fireplaces, returning them to their original pristine condition
• Firebox Rebuilding and Repair-Water damage resulting from a missing chimney cap is all too common. We remedy this situation by reconstructing the back walls of fireplaces, returning them to their original pristine condition
  Loose bricks and holes in the mortar or brick are tell-tale signs that this is needed. If you want a specialty firebox or one just like your previous one, call Colonial Chimney Sweeps.
• Deteriorated Flashing-Flashing is the material at the base of chimneys, stacks, and vents that is designed to waterproof the juncture where they penetrate the roof. Faulty or deteriorated flashing can cause leaks and water damage to the surrounding roof deck or eventually the interior finishes of your home.
• Waterproofing- Colonial Chimney Sweeps uses ChimneySaver, a breathable waterproofing substance which is sprayed on the exterior of the chimney to stop leaks. Chimneys are highly exposed to the elements and, if left unprotected, are susceptible to structural deterioration and discoloration. ChimneySaver is a water repellent that penetrates masonry to protect it from destructive water penetration. ChimneySaver contains patented siloxanes small enough to penetrate most masonry pores, forming strong bonds with the silica in masonry and concrete. Because of this bonding process, one application of ChimneySaver provides up to ten times the water repellent protection of typical sealers. ChimneySaver is 100% breathable and vapor permeable. It's a non film-forming water repellent that penetrates and lines masonry pores. Unlike simple sealers, it releases otherwise trapped water vapors and effectively reduces water absorption. This means water vapors escape from the masonry, preventing deterioration, freeze-thaw damage, spalling, scaling and the need for expensive masonry reconstruction.

Install Chimney Caps
-The best way to prevent moisture from rain and snow, animals, leaves, and other debris from entering your chimney is to install a chimney cap. Our high-quality stainless steel caps carry a lifetime warranty.

Replace Chase Tops
-Leaky or damaged chase tops, and those made of masonry, are potential hazards on prefabricated metal fireplaces. We help eliminate problems before they start by replacing masonry and rusty metal chase tops.

Other services we provide:

Dryer Vent Cleaning and Repair

• Inspection
• Repair
• Cleaning
• Installation

-Dryer vents build up lint, and lint is highly flammable.  There are about 15,000 dryer vent fires each year due to improperly serviced (or neglected) vents.  Lint buildup also forces your dryer to work harder, and that costs you more money on your electric bill.

How dryer vents are cleaned:
  The first thing that we will do when we are assessing a dryer vent is to take an air velocity reading at the termination of the vent with the dryer running.  If the read out is more than 8 meters per second it may or may not need to be cleaned (for instance, a  dryer that initially read 10 m/sec yet had evidence of lint accumulation was cleaned and measured over 12 m/sec. afterward).  If the read out is under 8 meters per second, we will proceed with the cleaning.  The dryer will be moved away from the wall, (we may do a couple more diagnostics at this point) A vacuum that is blowing out will be attached to the vent.  The rods are quite flexible and will navigate several 90 degree turns.  The drill action gives the rotation and spin to really scrub.  The technician will move the drill/rod/brush in and out repeatedly while the vacuum is blowing from the inside.  All in all this has proven to be an extremely effective method for cleaning dryer vents.

Condensation Resolution & Repair
-If water is damaging your fireplace inside or out, we’ll find and fix it.