Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Fairfax, VA
A camera sees what a flashlight misses. Every sweep we do in Fairfax comes with before-and-after footage from inside the flue, taken the same morning. We show you the glaze, the nests, the cracks, and then we show you what it looks like when we’re done. The photos below are placeholders for now, but the captions match the kinds of jobs we see on our route every week.
Recent Transformations
Third-Degree Creosote Glaze in a Mantua Wood-Burner
The homeowner in Mantua burned a lot of pine and green oak through the winter. That builds a shiny, tar-like glaze that brushes won’t remove, and you can feel the draft choke off as it thickens. Wendell explained the difference between first-degree and third-degree creosote before a single tool came off the truck. We used mechanical rods and a rotary whip to break the glaze down to the masonry, then vacuumed the entire smoke chamber and smoke shelf. The flue passes a light test now. Burn-season ready, no liner replacement needed.
Animal Nest Blocking the Flue in a Burke Split-Level
The owner noticed a smell. Then the fireplace started smoking into the living room no matter how long she waited for the draft to flip. Wendell and his crew pulled out enough twigs and insulation to fill a yard bag. The nest had been there long enough to compress against the flue wall, and the smoke was backing up through the damper instead of rising. After clearing it, we dropped a camera down to confirm no damage to the liner, then installed a chimney cap with a screened spark arrestor. The cap keeps animals out and stops water from pooling at the base. That’s usually where a “smoky fireplace” call turns into a “we need a new liner” surprise, so we were glad to catch this one early.
Cloudy White Stain Removal on a Fairfax City Brick Chimney
Efflorescence looks like paint peeling, but it’s actually salt and minerals pushing out of the brick as water evaporates. A homeowner in Fairfax City called us because the chimney “looked frosted” even in August. Wendell inspected the crown and found hairline cracks that let rainwater seep into the masonry. We repaired the crown, repointed the loose mortar joints, and cleaned the brick with a non-acidic masonry wash safe for older homes. Once the water stops entering, the staining doesn’t come back. This job was mostly preventative. The inside of the flue was still in decent shape, which he confirmed on camera before we even wrote the repair quote.
Damper Replacement and Full Sweep in Kings Park West
This homeowner in Kings Park West complained the fireplace was purely decorative. It didn’t heat the room. Wendell looked up inside and found the damper frozen open, rusted at the hinges, with a decade of soot caked on the smoke shelf. We pulled the old damper out, swept the full length of the flue, and installed a top-sealing damper that closes off the chimney when the fire isn’t burning. The difference is immediate. The room gets warm instead of losing warm air up the stack all winter. We also sealed the gaps around the old damper frame with high-temperature caulk, which is one of those details that makes the difference between “better” and “actually fixed.”
Glazed Creosote and Warped Cap in a Vienna Colonial
The cap on this Vienna colonial was original to the house, and so was the creosote underneath it. The homeowner used the fireplace heavily every winter but didn’t realize the cap’s mesh had rusted through, which let birds in and let the creosote build up ignored. Wendell did a full interior sweep first, then replaced the cap with a stainless model sized for the flue. New cap, clean flue, and a camera record showing the creosote gone from top to bottom. This is the standard before-and-after we see most often in Fairfax: the fire looked fine from the front, but the flue was a chimney fire waiting for the right night.
Smoky Fireplace and a Closed-Off Air Supply in a Burke Rambler
This Burke rambler had a fireplace that worked fine for years, then started smoking into the living room whenever the owner added a second log. Wendell traced it to the smoke chamber, which had never been cleaned and was choking the draft. We removed the buildup, adjusted the damper, and checked the flue with a camera to rule out a cracked liner. The fireplace draws correctly again, and the family can build a proper fire without opening a window. Sometimes the fix is smaller than the estimate someone else gave you, which is exactly why we show the footage before recommending anything.
Want Results Like These?
Most of these jobs took less than a full day. The camera footage and a plain-English verdict happen on every single call, no exceptions. If your chimney hasn’t been looked at since you moved in, call Top Hat Chimney at (571) 624-2385 and ask Wendell to take a look. No trip charge inside the county, and the number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Fairfax and the surrounding Virginia communities since 1999.