We clean your chimney before it becomes a danger to your home

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What Problems can my Chimney Have?

Some fireplaces have problems, most of which can be resolved. While the following is not a complete list of problems, it describes some of the more common ones.

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Family Owned and Operated Since 1990.

At Chimney Clean Company, we clean, inspect and repair chimneys and fireplaces. We are licensed contractors, and are able to do all sorts of major and minor repairs and rebuilds.

We service the South Bay, East Bay and Peninsula areas.

We have been in business for over 30 years, and have always been committed to maintaining our excellent reputation. We have a clientele of more than 50,000 satisfied customers. Every one of our trained technicians is committed to giving you the very best service!

We Feature

High quality cleaning of chimneys, woodstoves, gas-burning and wood-burning inserts and stoves, and pellet stoves

Thorough inspections of chimneys and fireplaces

Caps, spark arresters and dampers

Troubleshooting, masonry and firebox repairs

Chimney relining

Rebuilding of damaged masonry chimneys

Sales, installations and repairs of gas-burning and wood-burning inserts and stoves, and pellet stoves

Licensed, bonded and insured

We clean your chimney before it becomes a danger to your home

Call Now!

Smoking back

There are many fireplaces that seem to smoke back into the house no matter what is done. In our experience, the most common cause is that the fireplace simply needs to be cleaned. This is especially likely if the fireplace has gotten worse over time, that is, the smoking back is worse now than it used to be.

Several other possible causes of smoking back are problems with the damper, chimney cap, grate, firewood, or structural problems with the chimney itself. At Chimney Clean Company, we do a full inspection with every cleaning, or we can also do just the inspection if the chimney doesn’t need to be cleaned. This inspection is designed to reveal any causes of smoking back.

Broken chimneys

In the Bay Area, many chimneys were broken in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Usually, these chimneys are broken at or near the roof line, although sometimes they can be broken further down, even at the ground level.

We are fully licensed masonry contractors. We rebuild broken chimneys. If they are broken at the roof line, this usually entails taking the chimney part of the way down brick by brick, installing steel reinforcing bars, getting an inspection from a city inspector, then rebuilding the chimney back up around the steel rebar.

Missing mortar or damaged bricks

Over time, many chimneys develop places that are missing mortar between bricks, or damaged bricks, either inside the firebox or on the outside of the chimney. These areas can usually be repaired, either by replacing the missing mortar or replacing the bricks themselves. Items such as these can be dangerous because they can allow flames, sparks or hot gases to enter the structure of the house.

Water entry

Sometimes the metal that seals the chimney at the roof, called “flashing”, will come loose or develop leaks. In this case, water sometimes comes into the ceiling of the room and causes water spots and stains on the sheet rock. This flashing should be repaired before the water causes more damage.