| Chimney Sweeping |
As our name implies, we started out as a sweeping company. This is still our
major business, although we do so much more today, and will continue to
expand our business in the future. We do sweep wood fireplaces, gas
fireplaces, wood stove inserts, free standing stoves, gas and oil furnace flues.
We no longer service coal burners. Abbey Road has at least one C.S.I.A.
Certified Chimney Sweep on every job. We also are very proud to let everyone
know that Ken is a F.I.R.E. Certified Inspector.
A lot of new clients want to know what process we follow when we sweep your
fireplace. We want to protect your home from dust and soot while we are
sweeping.
Our vacuum is designed by a chimney sweep. He knew what we needed to do
the best job. There are 3 motors on this vacuum. We almost always use 2 of the
motors, except when we sweep a fireplace that is over sized, (think of one that
you can stand up in) then we will use the third motor. It is so powerful that we
have to use a different circuit breaker for the third motor.
We set drop cloths on the hearth and floor around the fireplace. An area of
about 8 x 8 feet is a comfortable working space, or should we call it an "ideal
working space." (I had a client that had a large 4 piece rock coffee table 2 feet
away from the fireplace opening. You are correct in thinking that I learned to
work around it.) Our equipment is placed on our drop cloths.
Our sweeps will wear, when sweeping masonry fireplaces, tyvek suits,
complete with hood and boots. They use positive pressure respirators. This is
a unit that has a battery powered pack that pumps in, while filtering, cooling
room air. This type of respirator provides a more comfortable work
experience for the sweep. (As opposed to the face only units that have the
filters on the face mask.) Of course, our sweeps also wear at least one set of
gloves. Why do wear all of this gear? It does keep our sweeps cleaner during
the sweeping process. A very important reason is that while soot and dust
accumulates on the tyvek suit, the suit is removed before the sweep steps
onto the carpet. I have seen Ken clean fireplaces with multiple dead raccoons
and all of the nasty debris. When he was finished and removed all of his
protective gear, he was as clean as when he walked in the door.
When we sweep factory built, also called prefab or zero clearance fireplaces,
our sweeps will not always put on full gear. That is because the size of these
units do not allow the sweep to sit inside the fireplace. We always take the
appropriate measures for the type of fireplace we are cleaning. The same
goes for free standing stoves and stove inserts with stainless steel liners from
the top of the stove to the top of the chimney.
We remove the grate, if possible, (which is done 98% of the time) and clean out
the debris on the floor. Abbey Road's Certified Sweeps work on the smoke
chamber, liners, and firebox to remove all of the creosote that can be removed
with a regular sweeping. Most importantly, we remove the damper, if possible,
for ease of cleaning. This is needed in order to clean off the smoke shelf.
(Prefabricated fireplaces do not have smoke shelves.) If we cannot remove
the damper, we use a smaller hose on the vac that will go behind the damper
and remove the debris.
It REALLY bothers me when I enter the home of a new client and find the debris
as high as the top edge of the damper. I am usually told that the home owner
has been using the same sweep on a regular basis. After I remove a 5 gallon
bucket amount of creosote from behind the damper, the homeowner looks at
the creosote and says with amazement " The other sweep never even came
close to removing that much from my chimney." If the other sweep had
cleaned the fireplace properly, I wouldn't have to do my job and his job as well.
Of course, the other company charged less than we do, but we are more
particular about the quality of our work.
Abbey Road sweeps will remove all of their equipment after sweeping. We
carefully fold our drop cloths in a way that contains all of the debris. After we
are outside, we will shake the debris off of the cloths, and carefully fold them
with the clean side on the inside of the folds. If the condition of the drop cloths
do not meet our standards, it will be put aside to be washed, and a clean one
will be used at the next house.
Our sweeps include a visual inspection with the sweeping. Every one will go on
the roof as long as the conditions are safe. Safety is not an option, it is
mandatory. If a sweep does not think it will be safe to climb on the roof, it will
not be done. Confidence on a roof is very important. Yes, I am often told that
"roofers go up there," but roofers are a very different breed of worker. They
go on roofs that would pass for a ski slope, a steep ski slope. I will not ask
Abbey Road's sweeps to risk being injured while doing something they are not
comfortable doing. Weather conditions are also a factor in roof inspections.
Snow, ice, rain and darkness can be a reason to delay an inspection. If this
happens on a job that we would otherwise go on the roof, we will make a "no
charge" return trip to inspect the roof.
We do offer video inspections, but there can be an additional cost for this
option. Click on the following link to go there: Video Inspections.
(937) 833-0505 (937) 433-8874 (937) 836-9475