Which kind of Houston Chimney Sweep Company Should I Hire?
The chimney service industry is a niche service. Any individual that purchases chimney cleaning equipment can call himself a chimney sweep. SCARY! Homeowners should not just hire anyone for your chimney and fireplace servicing. State and federal governments do not regulate the Houston Chimney Sweep service providers. So choosing the correct chimney sweep is vital and maybe lifesaving!
When making the decision a homeowner should ask themselves a few questions…
Masters Services has the Top 10 Houston Chimney Sweep Professionals
The number one Houston Chimney Sweep is Masters Services.
Masters Services top 10 Houston Chimney Sweep Professional staff is…
Are the founding couple that started this in 1996 servicing as a Dallas Chimney Sweep. Chad Murray is a Certified Chimney Professional.
As high school sweet hearts they always dreamed of owning their own business. So after Chad served in the Army National Guard and then a stint in the Marine Corp in the early 90’s the opportunity presented itself. Chad started as a field technician and Christa was the customer service.
Through the years they always wanted to be a better service than any other chimney sweep. They didn’t like being at the mercy of some of the industry suppliers so they become fabricators of some chimney and fireplace products. Chad learned how to fabricate chimney caps and now Masters Services has an 8000 square foot sheet metal shop fabricating chimney caps for the entire chimney industry. They also fabricate stainless steel reflector shields and refractory panels.
Brian is our managing partner as a Houston Chimney Sweep. Brian is currently studying to become a Certified Chimney Professional in April of 2015. Brian grew up as Chad’s best friend. After getting out of the Navy for 6 years Chad offered Brian a job which has led to an ownership situation in Houston. Brian quickly learned all of Chads skills and together they carried it down to the Houston Market.
Wanda is Chads wonderful mother. Wanda and her husband, Rory, came to work at Masters Services about ten years ago. Masters Services was growing at such a good pace that Wanda could assist Christa running the call center. Rory was able to become the lead technician and has since become the purchasing manager.
Becky is Houston’s office coordinator as well as one of our call center personnel.
Cody is Brian’s son and has grown up working in the shop and as a technician. He has over five years of knowledge and is not afraid of any type of snake.
Adam was brought to us by way of his brother once was a technician for us. Adam has proved to be our most reliable field Houston Chimney Sweep technician.
Daryl is a young go getter that has excelled in his training. As a smart young tech he has had limited call backs and has nothing but good feedback from our customers.
One Chad’s best friends since his college days David has an accounting degree from Baylor. David keeps the bills and employees paid. He also assists the call center with call overflow.
Masters Services truly is a family owned and operated company that has the top 10 best Houston Chimney Sweeps Professionals in Texas.
What services does Master Services provide as a Houston Chimney Sweep Professional?
Our most important Houston Chimney Sweep Professional service that we provide is a Level 1 chimney inspection. We will however do a Level II or Level III chimney inspection if necessary. Masters Services provides free chimney caps estimates as well as free service calls on animals in chimneys that need removing. Any repairs discovered in a chimney inspection or free estimate can be completed by Masters Services.
How a Houston Chimney Sweep does a Chimney Inspections
Chimney inspections are paid services provided by Masters Services. A chimney inspection at any level is an opinion done by a service technician that is not a certificate of safety for usage.
Level I chimney inspection is a visual inspection of the fireplace and chimney and should be performed annually. This type of inspection requires no tools or equipment to perform. A level I chimney inspection is a NFPA 211 described as a readily accessible accessed inspection without the use of ladders or tools. Every inspection Masters Services performs is a minimum a Level I chimney inspection.
Level II chimney inspection as defined by the NFPA 211 is an accessible inspection capable of being exposed or repaired without damage to the chimney or building structure. This means a ladder is being used or a part of the chimney can be removed and placed back without damage. Masters Services will do a Level II chimney inspection for any Houston Chimney Sweep homeowner if the assigned technician deems one is required.
Level III chimney inspection is for areas that cannot be accessed by any other means than removal or destruction of permanently attached portions of the chimney, fireplace, or building structure. Upon request of the homeowner or the situation requires a Level III chimney inspection Masters Services can perform the proper inspection.
A chimney inspection and regular cleaning of the chimney will NOT prevent flue fires from happening! It will minimize the amount of creosote in a chimney, and reduce the severity of a flue fire should occur.
It is important to note that what happens after a chimney inspection and or cleaning is out of the control of the inspecting service provider. Chimneys that appear ok today can tomorrow be in need of repair. Think of like this. A chimney is a cave going up above your roof. A crack can literally appear the very next day after any servicing of a chimney. Gravity and moisture is the enemy and its forces continually stain the chimney and fireplace structure. That is why an annual inspection is so necessary to try to stay ahead of any decaying chimney structure.
How does a Houston Chimney Sweep Perform a Chimney Sweep?
Included in every Level I chimney inspection if necessary is a chimney sweep (cleaning). Clean tarps are brought in to cover the front of the fireplace and out into the room. All equipment is placed on the tarps. The equipment includes a HEPA filtered vacuum, chimney poles with sweeps brushes, hand brushes, filtered mask, gloves, and any hand tools needed to open the damper.
The vacuum is turned on and the poles with the brushes on the end are slowly run up to the top of the chimney. The poles are run up and down as many times as it may take to sweep out any loose soot. Once there is no more soot falling down into the vacuum the poles are placed back in to the service truck. The hand brushes are now used to clean above the damper, the smoke chamber. All cleaning starts as high as you can reach continuing until the bottom of the fireplace. All soot and debris is vacuumed up.
The technician then cleans himself and then picks up all equipment.
Once the cleaning and inspection is completed the customer is informed of the condition of the fireplace and chimney condition. Any repairs are estimated and the customer will sign for the inspection and sweep. Repairs are approved and scheduled for completion. Some repairs can be completed at time of inspection and sweep.
Common Houston Chimney Sweep Repairs
Repairing cracks is the most common Houston chimney sweep repair in fireplaces and chimneys. Cracks occur in the firebox and all the way up the chimney flue creating a major fire hazard situation. Some cracks can be repairs easily and some require flue relining and firebox rebuilds. Moisture and time is the cause of most damaging cracking.
Keeping moisture out is easy with a Houston Chimney Cap. Chimney caps that cover the entire top of the chimney keep out 95 percent of the damaging moisture.
