No. Firstly we place a clean floor sheet on the area of the floor in the immediate vicinity of the fireplace opening and hearth, for the chimney that we are sweeping. A working area in front of the fireplace/opening of approx. 2 metres by 2 metres is required ideally, though we appreciate that this is not always possible. We screen off the fireplace/opening and sweep the chimney through the screen, through its whole length with a Brush and Rod’s. The soot and dust that falls down will fall behind the screen, and a vacuum is used to keep the particles behind the screen. Once the chimney has been swept, the screening is removed and the deposits removed from the chimney are vacuumed up.

The furniture, fixtures and fittings do not need to be removed but we would suggest, purely as a safety precaution, where there are extremely light coloured carpets and light coloured furniture that some precaution be taken by the householder prior to our arrival.

Please note though that we do NOT remove our shoes on arrival at a property, as we carry and work with, large and heavy equipment, and so it is therefore impractical and dangerous to not have our feet properly protected.

The recommended time cycle of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps, is at least annually for Smokeless Fuel & Gas, twice yearly for Domestic Bituminous Coal and quarterly for some Wood burning appliances, though most people tend to have it cleaned once a year. It does depend though, whether you use the chimney frequently throughout the year, or sporadically. For thatched cottages, please check with your insurance company’s requirements.

The build up of soot could create a fire hazard; there is also a risk that the flue becomes blocked by soot, fallen brickwork, nesting birds or squirrels or even by spider’s webs. The more serious cases can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

We would expect the sweeping of 1 chimney in a two-storey house to take between 20 and 30 minutes. Except for the first call of the day, all our appointments are 3 hour time banded, meaning that we will arrive any time between the hours quoted. You therefore wouldn’t need to wait in all day. If for any reason we are going to be late we will call you to advise.

This is possibly a sign that the chimney needs sweeping. It could also be because the flue is suffering from “Loose Lining” which is a deterioration of the chimney lining and although sweeping may help it, it may not stop it completely, no matter how often the chimney is swept. In the worst case it could need relining. If the soot and debris is dropping mainly when it’s raining or very windy, you may find fitting a cowl/cap (bird guard) will help. The other reason for bit’s falling could be that there is bird or squirrel activity, which once removed, can be stopped by the fitting of a cowl/cap (bird guard) depending what type of fuel the chimney is being used for. The correctly supplied and fitted anti downdraught cowl/cap can effectively cure any down draught problem’s that you may have with your chimney.

This is dependent on the work required and number of chimney’s that you would like sweeping but generally we are happy to quote for most of the work on the phone. To avoid confusion, please note that generally, each fireplace/opening has it’s OWN chimney.

For sweeping purposes only, where you have already been using the chimney successfully for Gas or Solid Fuel with no problems, and are just having a regular clean, then generally the answer is no, the neighbours don’t need to be in as each chimney is separate from all the other one’s in the property, and a test is not required anyway.

If you are bringing the chimney into use for the first time however, or are changing the use from one type of fuel to another, then you will need to have it tested. When having it tested, if the chimney adjoins your next door neighbour or passes upstairs through an above property (e.g. a semi detached/terraced house or a block of flat’s), access is briefly needed to these properties, for just a few minutes to make sure there is no internal leakage into their property. The chimney is tested using recognised and approved smoke tests, dependent on the fuel type to be used.

All houses with what was once called a ” class 1 chimney ” can be used to burn Solid Fuel, but those properties inside the London boroughs can only burn smokeless fuels, except for a few purpose made Multi Fuel stoves, that carry D.E.F.R.A approval. All chimneys that were used for Solid Fuel must be swept prior to the change over to Gas, and vice versa. All flues that have been out of use for a period of time or those where the history is unknown, should be swept AND tested prior to use.

A fire requires air/oxygen to complete the burning process. It also needs a quantity of air to carry the fumes up the chimney. Where there is insufficient air for these purposes you will get smoke or fumes coming back into the room and the more serious cases can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Any gas fire that has a rating of 7 Kilowatt’s or more, must have a non closable, appropriately sized air vent (usually this is a 100 cm2 sized air vent). For a Multi Fuel stove, if the stove has a rating of 5 Kilowatt’s or more, it must have a non closable, appropriately sized air vent, the size of which differs per extra Kilowatt above 5 Kilowatt’s.