Austin Chimney Cleaning Professionals

Leading fire safety organizations such as the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommend cleaning your chimney on a regular basis for a number of reasons, including:

  • Reducing the chances of dangerous chimney fires
  • Preventing poisonous gases and fumes from escaping into your home
  • Keeping birds and other wildlife from building flammable nests in your chimney
  • Avoiding the costly repairs that can be caused by dirty components
We’re Your Trusted Chimney Sweeps & Cleaners
We’ve been sweeping and cleaning chimneys for 20+ years with hundreds of happy customers.
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Whether it’s a routine chimney cleaning or you feel there is a problem with your chimney, make sure you hire an experienced chimney sweep to clean out your chimney and venting system to ensure your family’s safety.


How Often Should You Get Your Chimney Cleaned in Texas?

We get this question all of the time and while it can depend on a number of factors, there is unanimous agreement among fire safety organizations that chimneys need to be inspected at least once a year. Since Capitol Chimney’s cleaning service includes an inspection, it’s often most cost-effective to get them done together. The official recommendation for the frequency you should be cleaning your chimney is:

  • The National Fire Protection Association—Chimneys, fireplaces, and vents shall be inspected at least once a year for soundness, freedom from deposits, and correct clearances. Cleaning, maintenance, and repairs shall be done if necessary.
  • The Chimney Safety Institute of America—open masonry fireplaces should be swept at 1/8″ of sooty buildup, and sooner if there is any glaze present in the system.  This is considered to be enough fuel buildup to cause a chimney fire capable of damaging the chimney or spreading to the home.
  • The Chimney Safety Institute of America—Factory-built fireplaces should be swept when any appreciable buildup occurs. The logic is that the deposit is quite acidic and can shorten the life of the fireplace.
Austin Chimney Cleaning & Sweeping

Without regular chimney sweeping, dangerous build-up like this can be hazardous to your home and family.


What Happens During a Chimney Sweeping or Cleaning?

When cleaning your chimney, Capitol Chimney follows the standards set by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), an organization that specializes in preventing chimney fires, dryer fires, and other home heating disasters. The CSIA has specified the following three levels of chimney inspections:

  • Step 1—we understand how important your space is to you, so before we start any work, we layout plastic drop-cloths where the work will be done in your home. Our goal is to keep your house clean, so we use a dust collection vacuum with a heavy-duty HEPA filter to suction soot, dirt, ash, and creosote that may become loose while we work.
  • Step 2—a quality check inspection is included with every service that Capitol Chimney offers and is the initial step in our chimney sweeping and cleaning service.
  • Step 3—we’ll use professional quality chimney sweeping tools and brushes to loosen deposits and clear away any clearance barriers.
  • Step 4—if our inspection reveals any evidence of animals invading your system, we will remove bird nests and any signs of wildlife we may find in your chimney, flue, or chimney cap.
  • Step 5—some areas within the chimney chamber are particularly susceptible to creosote build-up, such as the damper and around the firebox. We will thoroughly clean these areas to ensure that they are completely cleared of all debris and in good working order.
  • Step 6—we’ll clean up any ash and debris that is leftover in your fireplace so that it looks as good as new.
  • Step 7—once the interior of the chimney and fireplace is taken care of, we will inspect the mortar work and crown for any water or corrosion damage.
  • Step 8—during our inspection and cleaning process, we take detailed notes about any issues we discover and provide our recommendations to the homeowner about how those issues should be addressed.

We will always leave your house in a clean and safe condition for you. We’ll vacuum up any loosened debris and properly dispose of any materials we may have used during the service call. We won’t leave until everything is back in order.

Our Satisfaction Guarantee

We want to exceed our customers’ expectations and provide high-quality service, every time. If you don’t feel that we have delivered on what we promised, we want to make things right. Within a 12-month period, if you experience any problem related to your chimney cleaning or inspection, just get in touch with us and we’ll work with you to address your concerns at no additional cost.

No Hassles and Estimates

We want to be completely upfront and transparent about our pricing and fees. We can give you an estimate over the phone in some specific cases. However, since most situations are unique, we’ll usually need an in-person inspection to ensure we have the information needed for an accurate estimate.

Once we get your approval, we’ll schedule your service call as soon as possible. As you might expect, we are busiest during colder seasons, so you’ll have an easier time getting an appointment in the warmer months.


Why Capitol Chimney for Chimney Sweeping?

We realize that you have several choices when selecting a chimney sweeping company. First and foremost, please make sure the company you hire employs experienced chimney experts and provides them with the tools and ongoing training needed to ensure your family’s safety. Here are some areas where we think Capitol Chimney deserves your consideration:

  • We know what we’re doing—we’ve been cleaning and repairing chimneys n the Central Texas area since 1997. Over that time, we’ve pretty much seen it all, so we have the specialized tools, training, and experience to get the job done right and ensure your family’s safety.
  • We respect your time and property—we pride ourselves on not wasting our customers’ time. This means we’ll show up when we say we’re going to show up, keep our customers in the loop about what’s going on and clean up any trace that we were ever at your home.
  • We’re a safety-first company—chimney sweeping and inspections are primarily done to ensure that your system is operating safely. Our primary focus in whatever we do revolves around providing a safe environment for our customers and their families.
  • We’re from here—it’s one thing to have professional experience and another to have 20+ years of professional experience working in Central Texas. Over that time we’ve gained a deep knowledge of the construction, wildlife, wood and weather issues that can impact the safe operation of your chimney now and in the future.
  • We’re not happy unless you’re happy—we’ve built our business on the kind words and referrals of our customers, so we do everything we can to make sure our customers are happy.
A clean chimney means a safe fireplace.

Don’t let a dirty chimney prevent you from enjoying your fireplace.


Chimney Sweeping & Cleaning FAQs

A: It absolutely can if you don’t know what you’re doing (this is coming from our experiences of cleaning up after DIYers and less experienced sweeps). We’ve been doing this for a couple of decades now, so we’ve invested in professional-grade vacuums and specialized tools to effectively clean your chimney without making a mess. We also spend a lot of time prepping an area before the cleaning process ever begins, so we can leave your house in a better state than when we arrived.
A: The honest answer to this is “it depends on how often you use your chimney and the type of wood you typically burn.” We usually recommend an inspection before the cold season and a thorough cleaning after it has warmed up and you don’t plan on using the fireplace for a while. If you have used your chimney heavily one winter, it is best to remove the deposits before it starts getting hot outside. The external heat in the Summer can cause creosote to congeal into a gummy tar inside the chimney. Once this happens, it is much harder to remove it from the interior components.
A: Monitor your chimney and fireplace before, during, and after each use. Look for any build up of creosote, which is dark gray to black in color. Soot is lighter in color and softer. You can sweep soot out from the hearth yourself, just be sure to wear gloves and not to breathe it in. We recommend dust masks, which can be purchased at a local convenience store.

Additionally, using lower moisture hardwood (birch, maple, and oak) that is completely dry is always best. This type of wood contains less sap, which results in less creosote formation.

A: The cost to clean and service chimneys can vary based on several factors, including the layout of your home and chimney and the amount of buildup present. Give us a call, provide a bit of info about your particular chimney, and we can give you a reasonable estimate before we come out.

Areas We Serve

We provide chimney sweeping and cleaning services to the majority of Central Texas from our two area locations:

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