Seasonal chimney, air duct and dryer vent guidance for Lockport and the southwest suburbs.
If the brick face on your chimney is flaking off in thin sheets, crumbling at the corners, or leaving a small pile of orange grit on the roof shingles, that is spalling. It is not cosmetic. It is the outer…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. One of the most common calls I get is some version of “my fireplace worked fine for years and now it pushes smoke into the living room.” Nine times out of ten nothing is…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. A homeowner sent me a photo last week of white, chalky patches spreading across the brick of her chimney and asked whether someone had splashed paint on it. Nobody had. That is efflorescence, and…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Every August I get called out to fireplaces where the flue looks less like a sooty pipe and more like someone poured black syrup down it and let it harden. That shiny, tar-like coating…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Nobody thinks about their fireplace in the middle of August. That is exactly why a stuck-open damper goes unnoticed for years, quietly venting the air conditioning you are paying for straight up the chimney.…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. If you have noticed orange-brown streaks running down the siding beneath your chimney, the culprit is almost always a rusting chase cover. It is one of the most common chimney problems we find on…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Most homeowners never think about the chimney flue their furnace vents into, because nothing about it is visible from inside the house. It is also the part of the system where a quiet, gradual…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Gas fireplaces have a reputation for needing nothing, and it is half earned. There is no creosote, no ash to shovel and no wood to haul. What there is instead is a sealed combustion…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. People hear “chimney inspection” and picture someone glancing up the flue with a flashlight. That is one small part of one level of inspection, and knowing which level you actually need saves both money…
By Daniel Watkins, Noble Chimney Sweepers. Summer storms do more damage to chimneys than winter does, which surprises people. Winter is hard on masonry that is already compromised. Summer is what compromises it. Wind-driven rain, hail and the sheer volume…
