Plain chimney guidance from our Philadelphia desk, what fails first, how creosote builds up, when to reline, and how to choose a sweep.
Straight answers on how to tell if chimney needs cleaning for Philadelphia chimneys, so you can decide with the facts.
Read more →On a South Philadelphia block, the chimney you think of as yours is often a stack you share with the house next door. Here is how party-wall chimneys and bundled flues actually work, and why it matters when something goes wrong.
Read more →Creosote is the flammable residue every wood fire leaves in a flue, and the tall, narrow flues in Philadelphia rowhomes build it faster than most. Here is what it is, why these chimneys are prone to it, and how to keep it under control.
Read more →The liner is what keeps a chimney fire and its gases out of your walls, and the original clay liners in old Philadelphia rowhomes do not last forever. Here is how to tell when a flue genuinely needs relining and when it does not.
Read more →A chimney cap is the cheapest part of the whole stack and one of the most important, and a surprising number of Philadelphia rowhome flues are wide open at the top. Here is everything a cap protects against.
Read more →The single biggest threat to an old Philadelphia chimney is not fire, it is water and the freeze. Here is how the freeze-thaw cycle takes a brick stack apart from the top down, and how to stop it.
Read more →A fireplace that smokes back into the room is one of the most common chimney complaints in old Philadelphia rowhomes, and it is usually fixable. Here is what drives a chimney's draft and why these flues so often fight it.
Read more →From a routine sweep to a full reline, our Philadelphia crew inspects it, quotes in writing, then handles the whole job under one roof.