Chimney Sweep in Vestal, NY

Types of Chimney Service We Offer in Vestal

Chimney Cleaning

Our sweep starts with drop cloths and a sealed opening, then brushes and rods sized to the flue, then a filtered vacuum. A single fireplace flue usually takes us 60 to 90 minutes, and the room looks the way we found it when we leave.

Chimney Crown Repair

The crown is the concrete slab on top of the brick. Fine cracks get a flexible crown coat. A crown that's crumbling gets broken off and rebuilt with an overhang so water drips clear of the brick below.

Chimney Caps

A stainless cap with a mesh screen keeps out rain, leaves, birds and raccoons. In the wooded parts of Vestal, it's the first thing we recommend on an uncapped chimney.

Creosote Removal

Wood stoves that burn low and slow overnight build up a hard, shiny glaze that a normal brush won't move. We use rotary tools for that, and it costs extra, priced before we start. More on creosote removal.

Chimney Liners and Inspections

If a camera inspection finds cracked clay tiles, a stainless liner sized to the fireplace insert, stove or furnace makes the flue safe again. Every sweep includes a basic inspection.

Why Vestal Chimneys Crack at the Top

Vestal sits in the same river valley as Binghamton, with about 86 inches of snow and roughly 133 days below freezing a year. The top of a chimney gets the worst of it. It sticks up past the roof, catches wind-driven rain and snow, and freezes harder than any other part of the house.

Most crowns on postwar Vestal chimneys were troweled out of leftover mortar, flat and thin, with no overhang. Mortar isn't made for that job. After a few decades it cracks, water runs into the cracks, freezes and opens them wider, and soon the water is running down inside the brick. We've seen ceilings in Vestal stained four feet from the chimney because of a crown crack the size of a pencil line.

The Hills Add Wind

Homes up on the hills south of the Parkway take more wind than the ones down by the river. Wind blowing across a short chimney can push smoke back down the flue. If your fireplace smokes only on windy days, the fix may be a taller cap or a wind-directional cap rather than anything inside the chimney.

Out Toward Vestal Center and Tracy Creek

Tracy Creek started as a lumbering and farming settlement, and the south end of town still has older farmhouses, long driveways and woodpiles. A lot of those homes heat with a stove for part or all of the winter. A stove burning every day from November to March can put down a season's worth of creosote by the holidays, so we often suggest a second, mid-winter sweep for daily burners.

Stove chimneys out here are a mix of old brick stacks with a liner dropped in and newer insulated metal chimneys running up the outside wall. Both need sweeping. The metal ones also need the joints, supports and roof flashing checked, because a loose section can let heat reach the wall.

Typical Vestal Prices

We charge the same $250 sweep price in Vestal that we charge in Binghamton. There's no trip charge anywhere in town, including the hill roads out past Vestal Center.

Getting Ready for Fireplace Season

In our experience, Vestal calls come in a wave right after the first cold weekend in October. If you want your sweep done before the holidays, book it in summer or early fall.

• Burn only dry wood, split and stacked for six months or more
• Open the damper before you light the fire, and close it once the ashes are cold
• Test your carbon monoxide alarm, which New York requires in homes with fuel-burning appliances
• Keep a metal bucket with a lid for ashes, and set it outside away from the deck

Just north across the river, the IBM-era capes and split-levels of Endwell keep us busy with furnace flues and fireplace crowns. That's on our page for chimney sweep service in Endwell.