Crestline's Trusted Chimney Sweep & Repair Experts

NFPA 211 calls for an inspection every year regardless of how much you burn. Whether it needs sweeping depends on what that inspection finds — the accepted trigger is about an eighth of an inch of creosote. A household burning a cord or more a season generally needs a sweep annually.

A Level 1 covers the readily accessible parts and suits routine annual service where nothing has changed. A Level 2 adds camera scanning of every flue plus accessible attic, crawlspace and basement runs, and is required whenever a property changes hands, the appliance or fuel changes, or the chimney has been through a fire, earthquake or major storm.

Yes, though not for creosote. Gas exhaust is wet and acidic, and it degrades mortar joints and unlined masonry from the inside. Blockages from debris and animal nests are just as dangerous with gas and considerably harder to notice, which is why those flues need inspecting even though there is nothing to sweep.

It should not. The firebox is sealed to a HEPA vacuum that runs for the whole job, keeping the work area under negative pressure so soot goes into the filter rather than the room. Drop cloths and shoe covers are standard on every visit.

Sometimes, but more often it is the smoke chamber. A rough, unparged chamber disrupts the transition into the flue and pushes smoke back at you, and sweeping alone will not fix it. The other common causes are an undersized flue, an oversized fireplace opening, and a house sealed too tight to supply makeup air.

A Level 2 inspection is what NFPA 211 specifies for a property transfer, and it is worth doing before the buyer's inspector raises it. A general home inspection is visual only and explicitly excludes the flue interior, so it does not answer the question either party actually needs answered.