Free written estimate before any work begins
Chimney Sweep in Palo Alto, CA
Creosote and soot removed to CSIA standard, with drop cloths down and a HEPA vacuum running the whole time.
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Chimney Sweep for Palo Alto homes
Palo Alto has a genuinely historic building stock and a regulatory environment to match, and both affect chimney work here. Professorville and Old Palo Alto contain some of the oldest intact housing on the Peninsula, much of it from the 1890s through the 1920s, with original masonry that is now well over a century old and in some cases subject to historic review when it is altered. That makes matched materials and sympathetic repair more than an aesthetic preference. Elsewhere the picture changes completely: the Eichler tracts around Greenmeadow and Fairmeadow were built with flat roofs and light framing, and where they have fireplaces at all the systems are nothing like the brick stacks a mile north. Two very different kinds of job in one city.
Century-old masonry in Professorville and Old Palo Alto, some of it within historic review areas where sympathetic and matched repair matters. Distinct mid-century Eichler tracts with flat roofs and light framing where any fireplace system is entirely unlike the older brick stacks. Repair approach differs sharply by neighborhood.
Included in every job
- Chimney fire risk removed
- A fireplace that actually draws
- Problems found while they are cheap
- No mess left behind
Warning signs
When Palo Alto homes need this service
- It has been more than a year, or more than a cord of wood, since the last sweep
- Smoke pushes into the room when you light a fire
- A sharp, tarry smell from the fireplace on warm days
- Black, flaky or shiny tar-like deposits visible above the damper
- You hear rustling, scratching or birds in the flue
- The damper is stiff, will not seat, or has rusted in place
- Dark staining spreading on the brick above the opening
Chimney Sweep in Palo Alto
Call (209) 447-0752 for same-week availability.
Process
How the visit works
Set up and seal
Drop cloths over the hearth and floor, and the fireplace opening sealed so nothing escapes into the room.
Sweep the full run
Rotary and hand brushes from the firebox through the smoke chamber, throat and flue to the cap, sized to your flue.
Vacuum under negative pressure
A HEPA vacuum runs the whole time so the soot goes into the machine rather than onto your furniture.
Inspect what the brush exposed
Camera and visual check of the liner, damper, smoke shelf and crown now that the surfaces are clean.
Report and photograph
We show you what we found, photograph anything that needs attention, and give you the written estimate before any repair work.
Questions
FAQs
My house is in a historic district. Does that affect chimney repair?
It can, particularly for anything that changes the appearance of the stack from the street. We work to match original brick and mortar as a matter of course, and where a repair may need review we would rather flag it at the estimate than halfway through.
I have an Eichler. Do you work on those?
Yes. Eichler fireplace systems are their own thing, with the flat roof and the light framing changing both access and clearances. It is a different inspection from a 1910s Professorville stack and we treat it as one.
How often should the chimney be swept?
Once a year for anything you burn regularly, and the industry standard is an annual inspection regardless of use. If you burn most evenings through the winter, or you burn wood that was not fully seasoned, it is worth doing before every heating season.
How long does a sweep take?
A straightforward single fireplace usually runs about an hour to ninety minutes. Heavy glazed creosote, a blocked flue or a second fireplace adds time, and we will tell you before we start rather than after.
Contact Alpine Chimney
Alpine Chimney Company
1080 Broadway
Millbrae, CA 94030
(209) 447-0752
info@alpinechimneycompany.com
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Fast response. No obligation.