Chimney FAQ — On Spot Chimney Cleaning

Question 1

How often should my chimney be swept?

Accepted Answer

The NFPA 211 standard recommends every chimney be inspected at least once a year, and swept whenever soot buildup reaches 1/8 inch or any glaze is present. Most households that burn wood regularly need a sweep every year.

Question 2

How long does a chimney cleaning take?

Accepted Answer

A standard sweep with a Level 1 inspection usually takes 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the condition of the flue and the type of appliance.

Question 3

Will it make a mess in my home?

Accepted Answer

No. We lay drop cloths, wear shoe covers, and run HEPA-filtered vacuums the entire time. Your hearth is left cleaner than we found it — that is our no-mess guarantee.

Question 4

Can I sweep the chimney myself?

Accepted Answer

You can buy a brush and a set of rods, and plenty of people do. What you cannot buy is the eye that separates a harmless soot layer from stage 3 glaze, or the camera that finds a cracked flue tile hiding behind it. A sweep without an inspection cleans the part you can see and misses the part that matters — so if you go the do-it-yourself route, at least have the flue inspected once a year.

Question 5

Do gas fireplaces need sweeping?

Accepted Answer

They need less sweeping and just as much looking at. Gas burns clean, so creosote is not the issue — but flues still collect debris, nests, and rust flakes, and a blocked gas flue sends carbon monoxide back into the room instead of smoke you can see. Have it inspected once a year like anything else vented to the outdoors.

Question 6

Why does my dryer vent matter if it is not a chimney?

Accepted Answer

Because it is the same problem in different clothes: a duct packed with flammable material, hot air moving through it, and a heat source at one end. Lint builds up over time, dry cycles get longer, the dryer runs hotter, and the risk climbs quietly. Dryer vent cleaning clears the whole run, from the drum to the exterior hood — most homes want it done once a year.

Question 7

What is the difference between a sweep and an inspection?

Accepted Answer

A sweep removes what is in the chimney. An inspection tells you what shape the chimney is in. Every On Spot sweep includes a Level 1 inspection, because cleaning a flue without looking at it is just moving soot around.

Question 8

What actually happens in a Level 1 inspection?

Accepted Answer

A Level 1 is the annual baseline in NFPA 211. Your technician checks the readily accessible parts of the chimney and the appliance — firebox, damper, connector, the visible flue, and the exterior structure — for soundness, blockage, and combustible deposits. It is the right inspection for a chimney in regular service that has not changed. You get before-and-after photos and a plain-English report before the truck leaves.

Question 9

What is a Level 2 inspection, and when is it required?

Accepted Answer

A Level 2 covers everything in a Level 1 and adds a camera run down the flue, plus a look at accessible attics, crawl spaces, and basements — the parts you cannot judge from the hearth. NFPA 211 calls for one whenever something changes or something happens: a property sale or transfer, a new or relined appliance, a change of fuel, or an event that could have damaged the chimney, such as a chimney fire. If the camera turns up a confirmed hazard that can only be reached by removing masonry, that is Level 3 territory. We run Level 1 and Level 2 inspections to the same standard in all three cities.

Question 10

Do I need a chimney inspection to buy or sell a home?

Accepted Answer

If a house with a chimney is changing hands, NFPA 211 puts that squarely in Level 2 territory — and a general home inspector glancing up from the firebox is not the same thing. Our real-estate chimney inspections run on the closing timeline, with camera footage and a dated, photo-documented report you can hand to an agent, a lender, or the other side of the table. If the levels are new to you, the inspection levels guide is a five-minute read.

Question 11

What are the stages of creosote?

Accepted Answer

Stage 1 is dry, flaky soot, and a brush takes it right off. Stage 2 is a hard, shiny black flake — tar chips, essentially — and it needs rotary tools. Stage 3 is glaze: a thick, hardened, tar-like coating that no ordinary brush will touch, and it is the fuel behind most chimney fires. NFPA 211 says sweep at 1/8 inch of buildup or at any sign of glaze, which is why stage 2 and stage 3 get creosote removal rather than a routine sweep.

Question 12

What should I do after a chimney fire?

Accepted Answer

Get everyone out, call 911, and do not light another fire — not even a small one. A chimney fire can crack flue tiles and open a path to the framing without leaving a mark you would notice from the living room, so the flue has to be looked at before the system goes back into service. NFPA 211 calls for a Level 2 inspection after any event that could have damaged the chimney, and this is exactly that. Then call us: the phone is answered at any hour, in every city we serve.

Question 13

What counts as a chimney emergency?

Accepted Answer

Smoke pushing into the room instead of up the flue. A roaring, freight-train sound from the chimney, a campfire smell in a house where nobody has had a fire, an animal you can hear moving around up there, or a cap lying on the lawn after a storm. Any of those is worth a call tonight rather than Monday — a real person answers every hour of the year. And if it turns out it can wait, we will tell you that too.

Question 14

How do I know if I need a new chimney cap?

Accepted Answer

Start with the obvious: a cap sitting in the yard, rusted-through mesh, or a lid that is visibly crooked. Then look for the symptoms — water stains on the firebox or the ceiling near the chase, leaves on the smoke shelf, a nest you can hear, or a damper that has suddenly gone stiff. A cap is a small piece of steel doing a large job: keeping rain, animals, and stray embers where they belong. We check yours on every visit and handle caps and dampers on the same trip when it makes sense.

Question 15

What is a leaky damper costing me?

Accepted Answer

Picture a window left open all winter, except the window is in your ceiling and the warm air goes up it around the clock. You usually feel a bad damper before you find it: a cold draft spilling out of the hearth, a room that never quite holds its heat, a furnace cycling more than it should. Dampers warp, rust, and lose their seat over time — a top-sealing damper closes against a gasket at the top of the flue instead of down in the throat. We will tell you which one you have and whether it is still sealing; see caps and dampers.

Question 16

Are your technicians certified and insured?

Accepted Answer

Every technician is background-checked, trained to NFPA 211 guidelines, and fully licensed and insured in Missouri, Texas, and Illinois.

Question 17

How should I prepare for the visit?

Accepted Answer

Not much, honestly. Let the fire go cold for at least 24 hours, clear anything fragile off the mantel, and leave a path from the door to the hearth so the technician is not threading a vacuum hose past your good lamp. We bring the drop cloths, the shoe covers, and the HEPA vacuum — that part is on us.

Question 18

What if you find a problem?

Accepted Answer

You will hear about it while we are still standing in your living room, with the photo on the screen and the plain-English version out loud. We will tell you what it is, whether it is a today problem or a next-summer problem, and what it would take to put right. Nothing gets done that you did not agree to, and nothing gets sold to you that your chimney does not need.

Question 19

What do I get when the job is finished?

Accepted Answer

Before-and-after photos and a plain-English condition report, emailed before the truck leaves your street. It is yours to keep — handy at closing, handy for an insurer, handy next year when you are trying to remember what the sweep actually found. You never have to take our word for anything.

Question 20

Which areas do you serve?

Accepted Answer

We serve the greater Kansas City metro, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and Chicagoland from our three local offices.

Question 21

Are you really available 24/7?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All three offices — Kansas City, Dallas, and Chicago — answer around the clock, every day of the year, for both emergencies and regular appointments.

Question 22

Do you serve my suburb?

Accepted Answer

Probably. Kansas City reaches Brookside, Waldo, Overland Park, Lee's Summit, Liberty and out across the metro; Dallas covers Uptown, Lakewood, Plano, Frisco, Arlington and the rest of the Metroplex; Chicago runs from Lincoln Park out through Oak Park, Evanston, Naperville and most of Chicagoland. Every map has an edge, though, so the fastest answer is a phone call to the office nearest you — all three are listed here.

Straight answers about your chimney.

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