What a Chimney Sweep in Flower Mound Includes
Flower Mound Chimney Sweep Professionals sweeps chimneys the same way on every visit, whether the home is a 1990s two-story in Bridlewood with a factory-built fireplace or an older masonry chimney near Grapevine Lake. The visit has four parts.
- Protect the room. Drop cloths go down from the front door to the hearth. We seal the fireplace opening and set up a HEPA vacuum so dust stays out of the house.
- Sweep. We brush the flue from the firebox up, using rotary rods sized to your flue (clay tile or metal), then the smoke chamber, smoke shelf, damper and firebox. Loose creosote and soot go straight into the vacuum.
- Inspect. A camera goes up the flue so we can see cracks, gaps and leftover buildup. On the roof we check the cap, crown, flashing and the top of the flue.
- Show you. You get before and after photos and a plain list of anything that needs attention, with a written price. You decide what happens next.
A sweep with the inspection takes about 60 to 90 minutes for one fireplace.
Why Flower Mound Chimneys Need Sweeping
Most fireplaces in Flower Mound only burn on the cold nights between Thanksgiving and February. That is still enough to build creosote, the sticky, flammable residue that wood smoke leaves on the flue walls. The Chimney Safety Institute of America lists creosote buildup as the main cause of chimney fires, and the U.S. Fire Administration reports thousands of residential chimney fires every year.
Local conditions make it worse:
- Hail and spring storms crack crowns and loosen caps, so rain gets into the flue and turns dry soot into a paste that is harder to remove.
- Summer humidity pulls odors out of creosote. If your fireplace smells in July, the flue is dirty.
- Chimney swifts, squirrels and raccoons look for an open flue every spring near the Cross Timbers woods and the lakes.
- Factory-built fireplaces, common in homes built from the 1990s on, have thinner metal flues that need a gentler brush and a closer look for rust.
Signs You Need a Chimney Sweep
- A smoky smell in the house, even in summer
- Smoke rolling into the room when you light a fire
- Black, flaky or shiny buildup you can see above the damper
- Soot falling onto the firebox floor
- A fire that is hard to start or burns weakly
- Birds, scratching sounds or droppings in the fireplace
- It has been more than a year since the last sweep
Any one of these is enough to book. Two or more means stop using the fireplace until it is checked.
Chimney Cleaning
Our chimney cleaning page covers the full system in more detail: the flue, the smoke chamber above the damper, the smoke shelf behind it and the firebox. The sweep and the cleaning are the same visit. If the camera finds glazed, third-stage creosote that a brush will not move, we talk through creosote removal with chemical treatment and rotary tools before we do anything extra.
Chimney Inspection
Every sweep includes a Level 1 chimney inspection. That is the yearly check NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys and fireplaces, calls for. It covers every part we can reach without tools: the flue by camera, the damper, the firebox, the smoke chamber, and the cap, crown and flashing from the roof. When a house is being sold, after a chimney fire or a bad hail storm, or when you change from wood to gas logs, we recommend a Level 2 inspection with a full video scan of the flue.
What We Check on the Roof
| Part | What we look for | What it leads to |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney cap | Missing, rusted or loose cap, torn mesh | Rain, animals and sparks get in; a new chimney cap fixes it |
| Crown | Cracks, chips, water stains on the brick below | Water in the masonry; crown repair or rebuild |
| Flashing | Lifted metal, failed sealant, rust streaks | Leaks at the ceiling near the chimney; flashing repair |
| Flue top | Cracked tiles, gaps, heavy creosote at the top | Relining or repair |
| Chase and siding | Rotted wood, rusted chase cover (prefab chimneys) | Chase cover replacement or siding repair |
Most of what we find on the roof is small when it is caught early. A cracked crown sealed this fall costs far less than a chimney rebuild in three years.
Fireplace Cleaning
Along with the flue, we clean the firebox, grate, glass doors and, on gas units, the logs and burner. Our fireplace cleaning page explains what is included for wood and gas fireplaces and for wood stoves.
Dryer Vent Cleaning
Since we already bring the rotary tools and the vacuum, many Flower Mound homeowners add dryer vent cleaning to the same visit. Two-story homes with long vent runs to the roof clog fastest, and the U.S. Fire Administration lists failure to clean as the leading cause of home dryer fires.
Book a Chimney Sweep in Flower Mound
Flower Mound Chimney Sweep Professionals is veteran-owned and based on Long Prairie Rd in Flower Mound 75028. We serve Flower Mound, Lewisville, Southlake, Colleyville, Keller, Fort Worth and Collin County, 7 days a week from 7 AM to 8 PM. Call (817) 518-6131 or send the form on this page. You get a firm price before we start and photos of everything we find. See what our customers say on our reviews page.
