American Fork · Utah County
Sweeping Both Kinds of American Fork Chimney
American Fork has two chimney populations living in the same town, and a sweep that suits one of them is the wrong visit for the other.
Drive from the historic core out toward the newer streets and the systems under the roofline change completely. It is worth knowing which one you own before you book anything.
The old brick, and what was originally burned in it
The housing around downtown American Fork includes a good deal of pre-war brick, and those chimneys were not designed for the way people use them now. Many were built when coal was the household fuel. Coal flues were sized for a different appliance, they were frequently built without a clay liner, and a fair number were later adapted for a wood fireplace or a furnace connection by whoever owned the house at the time.
Sweeping one of these is as much an examination as a cleaning. Unlined brick sheds sand and mortar crumbs into the firebox, and the joints between courses can open into the cavity behind. We work these gently, with brushes sized to the actual flue rather than to what the flue is supposed to be, and we run a camera before deciding how aggressive to be. Scrubbing hard at a soft, unlined nineteenth-century flue can do more damage than the creosote was doing.
The newer subdivisions, and metal fireboxes
Out on the east side and the newer streets, most fireplaces are manufactured units: a steel box with refractory panels inside and a metal flue above. These are cleaned differently. The panels can crack and must be checked rather than scoured, the metal flue takes a poly brush rather than wire, and the parts that fail are catalog items with a model number instead of masonry to be rebuilt.
They also have their own weakness. A metal flue on an outside chase runs cold, and a household that burns a few pine offcuts in it every weekend will glaze a section faster than the owner would ever expect.
What every visit includes
Opening sealed, HEPA vacuum running, deposits removed, and photographs of what the flue actually looks like when the deposit is off it. If we find something that a sweep does not solve, you get told that on the day rather than discovering it next winter.
Timing
Ahead of the burning season, once a year for regular use. American Fork is on our weekly route year round, but the calendar tightens sharply once the first cold nights arrive.
Questions
Chimney Sweep in American Fork — common questions
Our downtown house is over a century old. Is the chimney safe to burn in?
It may well be, but it should be looked at before it is lit. Chimneys of that age in American Fork were often built for coal and adapted later, and unlined brick or open mortar joints are common findings. We would run a camera before telling you it is fine, because the risk is inside the flue where nothing is visible from the room.
We have a metal fireplace, not brick. Does it still need sweeping?
Yes. Manufactured fireplaces burn the same wood and deposit the same creosote, and their metal flues actually run cooler than interior masonry, which encourages deposit. The technique is different, but the interval is not.
What comes out of an unlined old flue during a sweep?
Usually creosote plus a quantity of loose mortar and brick dust, which is itself informative. Heavy shedding tells us the joints are deteriorating and the flue is losing material, and that is a lining conversation rather than a cleaning one. We will show you what came out.
Do you sweep furnace and water heater flues too?
We look at them, and it matters in older American Fork homes where a gas appliance was connected into a chimney originally built for solid fuel. Those flues can be oversized for the appliance, which lets exhaust cool and condense. It is worth having someone check the arrangement even though there is no creosote involved.
Also in American Fork
Our other services here
Inspection Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Installation Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All American Fork services
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