STANDARD FIREPLACE CLEANING SERVICES
CHIMNEY SMOKE SHELF
Fireplaces operate on an inversion process, and this process begins within the Smoke Shelf. The Smoke Shelf is situated behind the angled part of your fireplace’s back wall, constructed from fireclay mortar. When a fire burns in the fireplace, it heats up the back wall, transferring heat to the Smoke Shelf behind it. Due to the laws of inversion, cold air above the chimney descends as hot air rises below. As this descending air travels down the chimney, it warms up. Upon reaching the Smoke Shelf, the air is now hot and begins to rise. As it ascends, it carries smoke with it, creating the chimney’s draft. When this area becomes clogged with soot, it significantly affects your chimney’s draft. Clearing out this area allows your fireplace’s ‘engine’ to function correctly once again.
This is not the only reason to clean your fireplace.
THE INSIDE YOUR CHIMNEY FLUE
The flue serves as the passage in your fireplace that allows smoke to ascend and exit. Each component of your fireplace, including the dimensions of the flue, is meticulously measured to ensure seamless functionality. As smoke ascends within the flue, it adheres to the flue walls, potentially obstructing the passage. Solids transform into carbon, commonly referred to as soot, which can accumulate and gradually narrow the interior dimensions of your flue, resulting in reduced efficiency. More significantly, liquids undergo a transformation into steam and subsequently coat the interior of your fireplace, a substance known as Creosote.
Burning wet wood increases the buildup of creosote within your flue. If this accumulation is left unchecked over time, it can reach a critical point and transform into what is known as 3rd degree creosote, posing a significant fire hazard.
This is the leading cause of chimney fires. Cleaning your chimney not only restores its interior dimensions to their proper working state but, if done early, can prevent creosote buildup from reaching a point where it cannot be removed with a simple sweep, potentially requiring more extensive measures to ensure the safe use of your chimney.
FIREPLACE AND CHIMNEY SAFETY INSPECTION
During your chimney cleaning, we conduct a comprehensive assessment of your entire system, providing you with a Safety Inspection Report detailing the condition of your fireplace and chimney. Any identified problem areas and recommended repairs will be documented on this inspection report, which is also included as part of your receipt. If any repairs are deemed necessary, we will send you an estimate for the chimney repairs required.
Even if your chimney doesn’t require cleaning and you only need an inspection, please note that there is still a service call charge for this service.
Schedule a chimney cleaning appointment today, and one of our skilled chimney sweeps will ensure that your fireplace is safe for use.
Cancelled appointments will be subject to a cancellation fee. Once you schedule the chimney cleaning, at that point you are authorizing the terms of the cancellation fee. Cancellation fee applies to people who cancel the chimney cleaning or call in to say they need to reschedule but are not actually rescheduling the appointment at that time. To not get the cancelation fee, you actually need to call up and physically reschedule the appointment time to another day/time. The charges do not apply to people who call in and actually reschedule the time.
Metro Chimney reserves the right to walk away from a job even there is signed bid before the work is initiated. If we sense there will a problem or ongoing issue between us and the customer. This is the Oregon CCB’s position. The customer can call another contractor or chimney company.