Chimney Wildlife Tech (832) 413-6431 does chimney sweeps in Houston, Texas. Brian had a sweep that took an hour and a half because the homeowner had not swept the chimney in 30 years. This is a serious fire hazard.
You can see in the picture Brian trying to open the damper because there was so much soot he could barely get the brush up in the flue. The homeowner had called because his chimney was giving off a smokey smell that was over powering the living room, called chimney breath. Soot will give off a odor when it gets humid and is very hard to get rid of after a build has occured. The chimney sweep industries best solution is to keep the flue swept.
An annual inspection and sweep only cost approximately $120 – $150. This is a small fee to pay to prevent chimney breath. Once chimney breath occurs you will always have it, but you can help reduce it by…
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Sweep chimney every year at the end of the burning season. This prevents any more the saturation into the brick and mortar joints of soot.
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Keep moisture out with a top mounted sealing damper to prevent moisure from entering the flue.
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Install a full coverage chimney cap over the damper to keep moisture off the top of the chimney.
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Waterproof the brick with Chimney Saver Solvent Base.
5. Seal the flashing with a polyurithane caulk. Mortar is not a sealant.
Not all chimney sweep Houston service companies are equal. Chimney Wildlife Tech has the experience and the products to solve any chimney problem. The customer we did last week said before we left that the smell had alread been reduced just by us doing the chimney sweep. We ended up doing all five steps and it will help with future chimney breath, but not solve it.