Frequently Asked Questions

Once a year, burn or no burn. The National Fire Protection Association recommends annual inspection and cleaning as needed, and in our climate, an annual visit is a good rule. Homes in Woodland Park, Wayne, and Cedar Grove that burn every winter from November through March build creosote faster than a vacation cabin that lights a handful of fires. Even if you didn't burn much, animals, leaves, and moisture find their way in. Chimneys break in the off-season too.

We show up with tarps, a HEPA-filtered vacuum, and the right brushes for your flue shape. We lay protection on your floor, run the brush from the top or from the firebox depending on access, and remove the creosote and soot down to the smoke shelf. Then we check the cap, the crown, the damper, the flashing, and the firebox. Finally we run the camera up the flue and show you the footage on the spot. First-degree creosote is a brush job. Third-degree is a glaze, catch it early.

Most single-flue cleanings run 45 to 90 minutes. A full inspection with camera adds another half hour. Heavier creosote, a blocked cap, or a damaged damper can extend the visit. We'll give you a straight window when you book, and if it slips, we call.

Not if we do it right. We run tarps from the hearth to the door, use a negative-air vacuum, and we treat the inside of your home like it's ours. You may get a light dusting near the firebox on older masonry setups, but nothing a quick wipe won't fix. If you're in a home with white carpet, tell us when you book and we'll lay extra protection.

Yes. Wood stoves, pellet vents, oil flues, and gas flues all need different tools, and we carry them. The brush size and the buildup profile differ, but the camera goes up every one. A pellet vent on a home in Montville builds a different kind of dust than a fireplace in Paterson, and we clean for what's actually attached to your system.

Level 1 checks the accessible parts of your chimney: flue interior, cap, crown, damper, firebox. Level 2 adds the crawl spaces, the exterior, and the attic chase, and it's required when you're buying or selling a home or when a chimney fire has occurred. Most annual cleanings are Level 1. If we find something suspicious, we tell you whether a Level 2 is worth the extra money, and we show you the camera footage to back up the recommendation.

Every time. The crown is the concrete cap at the top, and it is where a lot of Passaic County chimneys start to fail. Hairline cracking lets water in, and water plus freezing winters equals spalling brick. The flashing is where the roof meets the chimney, and it's the most common leak point. We check both on every visit and include the condition in the camera report.

Creosote keeps building. It's a byproduct of wood combustion, and it condenses inside the flue as a tar-like film. Over time it thickens and hardens, and at a certain density it will ignite. A chimney fire burns at well over 1,000 degrees, and it cracks the flue liner, fries the flashing, and can spread into the attic or the framing. Even without a fire, a blocked flue can force carbon monoxide back into the house. We never scare-sell, but this is the one system in your home where a couple hundred dollars a year prevents a serious problem.

You can't tell from the fire. Early-stage creosote is a sooty layer, then a dark brown crust, then a shiny black glaze. By the time it's visible from the roof, the third-degree glaze may have already set. That's why the camera scan matters. Homeowners in Totowa and Little Falls who burn green wood or run low, smoldering fires build up faster. If your fire is smoldering and smoky, the flue is working harder and the creosote is forming faster.

Yes. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, and a blocked or partially blocked flue can push it back into the living space. Gas fireplaces are just as much of a concern as wood burning ones, since the gas byproduct has no smell. The solution is an annual check on the flue path. If you have a CO detector, keep the battery fresh. If you don't, get one, but the real fix is making sure the chimney itself is moving air correctly.

Nearly every home in northern New Jersey should have one. A cap keeps rain, leaves, and animals out. Raccoons and squirrels love an uncapped flue in Mahwah and Wyckoff where treelines run close to the roof. Rainwater plus freeze-thaw cycles will destroy a crown faster than anything else. If your cap is missing or rusted through, we'll show you the damage on the camera and give you a separate quoted price to replace it.

We use and stock Copperfield and Famco caps because they hold up in northern New Jersey winters. For liner systems, we install DuraFlex when a home needs a replacement, and we often recommend HeatShield for repairing certain liner cracks when a full replacement isn't warranted. Your flue doesn't care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes. These are the parts we trust enough to stand behind.

Yes. If your flue is a non-standard size, which happens in older Passaic County stock, we'll order a Copperfield or Famco cap cut to fit. Most local supply houses carry standard sizes, but a custom cap doesn't take long and it's the difference between a snug fit and a cap that rattles loose in a January wind.

Sometimes. If the crack is localized and the rest of the liner is sound, we use HeatShield to resurface the damaged area. It's a cementitious coating that restores the flue's ability to contain heat and gas. If the liner is fully deteriorated, the only honest answer is a replacement, usually a DuraFlex stainless steel system. We'll show you the camera footage and give you a straight verdict. If it can safely wait, we'll tell you.

Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We carry insurance and we operate as a home improvement contractor under New Jersey code. If you want proof, ask and we'll have it to you before the job starts. Most homeowners around here have been quoted one price on the phone and another at the door, so the first question they ask is whether you're actually local and whether the paperwork holds up. It does.

We are. Our address is here in Woodland Park, not a call center three states away. Wendell Pike leads this location, and when you call (973) 846-1622 you'll talk to a live coordinator who connects you with the local team. We work in Paterson, Wayne, Totowa, Cedar Grove, Little Falls, and the surrounding towns every week. Ask anyone on your street. We run into our customers at the hardware store, and that's the oldest accountability mechanism there is.

The sweep in the top hat is the oldest good-luck figure in the trade, and Wendell actually wears one to the door. It's a name with heritage, and it's a promise that the person who shows up has the old-school standard behind the modern tools. We've been around since 1999, and the hat has been part of the uniform the whole time.

Yes. Wendell Pike publishes his name, his address and his license number, and answers his own phone. Ninety days in writing on every chimney job, and one call brings him back. If something isn't right, you get the same person who did the work, not a different technician every visit.

If a problem arises in the 90 days after your job, one call brings us back to make it right. That includes re-cleaning if the job wasn't complete, a reinspection if you have questions, or a correction on a part we installed. It's a written guarantee, not a verbal promise. In over two decades of doing this in New Jersey, the only thing that's kept customers around is that the work holds up and the warranty is real.

Because the owner is going to run into you again on a Saturday. That's the oldest accountability mechanism there is. We hire here, we buy here, we sponsor the team here. The truck carries the name of the person who answers when you call. We'd rather keep you for twenty years than win one big ticket. If we tell you your chimney doesn't need anything, it costs us money, and we'll say it anyway. That's the whole business model.

Absolutely, and you should. Bring us the quote and we'll run the camera and show you what we see. Sometimes the liner is genuinely shot and the quote is fair. Sometimes the cracks are cosmetic and the current liner has years left. In Woodland Park we regularly see pushy sales from out-of-town outfits that quote a full rebuild on a chimney that just needs cap work and a sweep. Nothing gets recommended without camera evidence you can see for yourself. Call (973) 846-1622 and we'll give you the straight version.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Woodland Park and Passaic County since 1999.