Kearns · Salt Lake County
Cleaning Kearns Fireplaces and Flues
Most fireplaces in Kearns are smaller than the ones people picture when they think of a chimney sweep. Smaller is not easier. A narrow flue reaches a dangerous deposit sooner.
Small flues fill up faster
Creosote does not care how big the pipe is, but you should. A quarter inch of deposit inside a wide masonry flue is an annoyance. The same quarter inch inside the eight-inch metal flue on a factory-built fireplace has taken away a much larger share of the opening, and the restriction makes the fire burn cooler, which lays down deposit faster still. Kearns was built quickly, mostly in the decades after the war, and a lot of its living rooms got a manufactured fireplace with a metal chimney rather than a full masonry stack. Those are perfectly good units. They just have less margin, and they need looking at on schedule rather than when somebody notices a problem.
The valley floor works against the draft
Kearns sits low and flat in the west half of the Salt Lake Valley, which is exactly where winter inversions settle deepest and stay longest. Under an inversion the air above your roof is warmer and heavier at the top than it should be, and a chimney is a device that depends on warm air being lighter than what surrounds it. During those stretches even a clean flue drafts lazily, fires burn cooler than the wood is capable of, and the smoke that should be leaving condenses on the flue wall on its way out.
Occasional burners are not exempt
A lot of households here light a fire a handful of times a winter and reasonably assume a sweep is for people who burn constantly. The catch is that a flue used twice a season never gets hot enough for long enough to burn off what it deposits, and between fires it is a sheltered cavity that birds and dust find. We would rather inspect and tell you honestly that it does not need sweeping this year than take money for brushing a clean flue.
What the visit looks like
Drop cloths down, opening sealed, HEPA vacuum running from the moment we start. Metal flues get brushed with a poly head rather than wire, because a wire brush will damage the seams on a manufactured chimney and shorten its life. You get images of what was up there before we packed up.
Questions
Chimney Sweep in Kearns — common questions
How do I know if I have a real masonry chimney or a metal one?
Look up inside the firebox with a flashlight. If you see round metal pipe, it is a factory-built system; if you see square clay tile or brick, it is masonry. The difference changes which tools we bring and what the failure modes are, so it is worth knowing before you book.
We only burn a few times a winter. Do we still need this?
You need an inspection annually. Whether you need a sweep depends on what the inspection finds, and for light users the honest answer is often no. Light use does not protect you from nests, blockages or a rusted-through chase top.
Is burning wood a bad idea during an inversion?
Utah restricts solid fuel burning on mandatory action days, and the health reasoning behind that is sound. Beyond the rules, an inversion is when your chimney drafts worst, so it is genuinely the least satisfying time to light a fire.
Does sweeping leave soot in the house?
It should not. The opening is sealed off and a HEPA vacuum runs the whole visit specifically so nothing escapes into the room. Anyone working without containment is doing it wrong.
Also in Kearns
Our other services here
Inspection Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Installation Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All Kearns services
Nearby
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