Investigate what to know before you hire a chimney sweep. Hiring a chimney sweep is a smart move when you want to keep your fireplace safe and attractive. Most people will have a yearly inspection done to ensure that their chimney ready for the burning season. When you find yourself tasked with the job of managing a fireplace, there are a few things that you’ll want to know before you hire a chimney sweep in Dallas.
Are you Certified?
Only hire a certified chimney professional or sweep that has proven to know the fire codes.
How Long the Process Takes Before you hire a Chimney Sweep
Knowing how long the process will take on average will help you when hiring a chimney sweep because you can factor that into your schedule when making an appointment. The average time it takes is around an hour to get the cleaning complete. However, you’ll want to keep in mind that during the process other issues may arise that will make increase the amount of time it takes such as discovering wildlife in the flue or if there is damage detected.
What the Rates Will Be for the Project
It’s important that you ask what the rates are for the jobs being performed and that you understand them. These will vary depending on what you need done to your chimney and the size of it, as well as other factors such as if creosote is found. The best chimney sweeps are straightforward about their services and price, and will be reasonable and realistic about both.
How to Prepare Your Home
Before bringing in the pros, there are a few things that you’ll want to do to ensure your home stays clean, and the space is easy for the chimney sweep to work. The process is more current, so it isn’t as messy as it was in the past, but you’ll still want to clear off the mantel, and cover with plastic or remove the items around your fireplace opening such as carpets, furniture, or lamps. You’ll want to remove the items in your fireplace such as wood or grates, as well as the cleaning brushes and pokers.
You’ll also want to know if they’ll be doing work outside or need to get on the roof in case you’ll have to prepare for ladders to be used. If you have flower beds or obstacles that make this difficult, you can let them know before they arrive so that they’re prepared. While they’ll always come fully equipped to get the job completed with precision, alerting them to any unique qualities of your fireplace or if you were hoping to get other flues cleaned in your home, it can be discussed beforehand.
Other Services They Offer
Chimney sweeps can often help with other services around your home, so to save yourself time, find out what else they provide for customers. Once you know everything they can do, you can check off more than one box on your to-do list and save some time. Home repairs and wildlife removal go hand in hand with being a chimney sweep, and their training will often involve a select set of skills that will add value to your home.
