Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Woodland Park, NJ
Talk is cheap. Photos are not. We’ve been up more Woodland Park chimneys than we can count since 1999, and the before-and-after difference is the same story every time: a flue that breathes again. Below are the transformations we’re proud to put our name on. Wendell Pike, Owner, stands behind every one.
Recent Transformations
Third-Degree Creosote Glaze Removal in Woodland Park
The problem was a Woodland Park fireplace that hadn’t been swept in five years. What we found was third-degree creosote, hard and shiny, clinging to the flue like tar. Our crew used rotary cleaning heads to break the glaze, then followed with a chemical treatment to loosen what the brush couldn’t reach. The result is a flue you could eat off, though we wouldn’t recommend it.
Animal Nest Blockage Cleared from a Chimney on Rifle Camp Road
Squirrels had built a nest halfway down the flue over the summer. The homeowner noticed the smell first, then the smoke backing into the living room on the first fire of fall. Wendell and his crew pulled out two contractor bags of leaves, twigs, and fur. We then swept the flue and installed a Copperfield cap so the squirrels would have to find another neighborhood.
First-Degree Creosote Buildup from Weekly Fires
This was a standard annual sweep for a family that burns wood every weekend from October through March. First-degree creosote is a brush job, and the sweep who showed up at your door made quick work of it. The camera inspection afterward showed the original clay tile in good shape, with no cracks or gaps. Once a year, burn or no burn, keeps it this way.
Smoky Fireplace Fixed After Years of Poor Draft
The homeowner had been living with a smoky fireplace for years, assuming it was just how the house was built. The real culprit was a partially blocked flue, narrowed by years of soot and a piece of dislodged mortar. After a full sweep and minor smoke chamber repair, the draft pulled like a new chimney. The proof: no smoke in the room, no stains creeping back on the mantel.
Heavy Soot Removal from a Wood Stove Flue
Wood stoves run hotter and can push more soot than a fireplace. This one had gone two seasons without a cleaning, and the soot was thick enough to reduce the stove’s output noticeably. We swept the liner end to end and fogged the system to settle the fine dust. The homeowner called back a week later to say the stove was throwing more heat with less wood. The flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes.
Water-Damaged Crown and Cap Replacement
Water was dripping into the firebox after every rain, staining the brick and rusting the damper. The crown was cracked in three places, and the old cap had rusted through. We poured a new Gelco crown and topped the flue with an Olympia Chimney cap sized for the tile. The camera footage showed a dry flue at the follow-up visit, and the damper moves like it should again.
Want Results Like These?
We serve homeowners throughout Woodland Park and the surrounding towns with the same process: honest upfront pricing, camera inspection on every job, and a 90-Day Done Right Promise stamped on the work. Call (973) 846-1622 to book your cleaning or repair. A live person answers, and it might be Wendell himself. Ask anyone on your street.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Woodland Park, NJ since 1999.