Chimney sweeping and cleaning in Broomfield.

1. What the brush takes away.

   As smoke rises and cools it leaves a film on the flue. Fresh film is dry, flaky soot. Slow, smoldering fires turn it into a tarry crust, and given enough winters it hardens into a shiny glaze that a brush hardly moves.

   The brush starts at the damper and works down: the flue walls first, then the smoke shelf, then the floor of the firebox, with the debris carried out instead of left behind to fuel a later fire.

   

2. How often: a matter of inches.

   Frequency follows use, not the calendar. A deposit of 1/8 inch is the point at which the Chimney Safety Institute of America advises a sweep, and earlier if the surface has glazed over.

   NFPA 211 recommends that an inspection take place yearly; the deposit gets measured on that visit, so sweeping and inspecting commonly share an appointment.

   About 71 percent of Broomfield homes are heated mainly with utility gas, and the Census Bureau estimate for wood is 58 homes out of 31,760, give or take 58 (ACS 2020 to 2024). A fireplace used a few evenings each winter still builds some deposit, so the yearly look comes first.

3. Why a clean flue matters.

   Creosote can burn, and that is the hazard: a chimney fire begins when a deposit ignites inside a flue designed for smoke, not for flame. Take the deposit away and a stray spark has little to catch on.

   A flue free of deposits also pulls better, so smoke climbs out of the house instead of drifting into the room when you open the damper.

   

4. Stoves and inserts.

   A stove damped down for an overnight burn runs cool, and cool smoke is what lays down creosote fastest. It builds up first in the connector pipe that runs from the stove to the chimney.

   On a stove job we look at the connector pipe and its joints, then the flue or liner above, then the cap, so that the entire smoke path is clear.

   

5. At the very top.

   At the cap the smoke has cooled the most, and soot clings where it cools. A clogged screen starves the draft, but the screen is also what stops embers leaving, so cleaning it is part of every sweep.

   

6. Smoke smell in the warm months.

   Creosote is the culprit. Every flue that has seen use holds a trace of it, and warm, muggy air or a reversed draft carries the smell into the house. Sweeping takes away the source; keeping the damper closed and a cap on top hold in what is left.

Schedule a sweep