Chimney Sweep in Burbank, CA

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does smoke roll back into the room when I light a fire?

It's one of the most common complaints we hear in Burbank, and it usually isn't your fault. A lot of the 1920s–1940s bungalows and postwar tract houses here were built with small brick fireboxes and short stacks that barely clear the roofline. A short chimney has less column height to pull with, so the draft is weak from the start. Add a narrow clay-tile flue that's partly choked with soot, or a flue that was never lined at all, and the smoke takes the path of least resistance into your living room. A sweep that clears the flue back to its full opening often fixes a surprising amount of it. If the stack height itself is the limiting factor, we'll tell you that honestly rather than selling you a cleaning that won't change anything.

We only burn a few times a winter. Is an annual inspection really necessary?

Low burn counts are normal here. Between the heat and the winter inversions that bring AQMD no-burn advisories, plenty of Burbank fireplaces get used a handful of nights a year. But the problems we find most often in this city aren't creosote-driven — they come from the long idle stretches. Crowns on these older masonry chimneys crack from sun and thermal cycling, mortar joints open up, and birds, squirrels and raccoons move into an unused flue because nothing is disturbing them for ten or eleven months. A yearly look is less about soot volume and more about catching a cracked crown, water intrusion or a nest before you light the first fire of the season.

Our fireplace was converted to gas logs. Does it still need sweeping?

Yes, though the work looks different. A huge share of Burbank fireplaces have been retrofitted with gas logs at some point, and homeowners understandably assume there's nothing to clean. What we're checking is whether the flue is clear and the damper is in the right position, because gas combustion still produces moisture and combustion byproducts that have to leave the building. In these older brick chimneys, that moisture attacks deteriorated mortar and unlined tile from the inside. We also look for nesting debris, which is just as dangerous in a gas setup as a wood one, and for flues that were sized for wood and now run too cool. The appointment is usually shorter than a wood-burning sweep.

How soon can you get out here, and do you ever do same-day?

Same-day happens, mostly early in the week and mostly for situations that can't wait — an active animal in the flue, smoke pushing into the house, or water coming down after rain. Routine sweeps are typically booked a few days out. The crunch is predictable in Burbank: the first cold snap and the stretch right before the holidays, when everybody who hasn't touched their fireplace since last winter calls at once. If you can schedule in late summer or early fall, during the stretch when nobody is thinking about their chimney, you'll get your pick of times.