Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Waterbury, CT
A picture of a dirty flue doesn’t lie. The glazed creosote, the nesting debris, the rust-stained damper, it’s all right there. Below are a handful of real jobs from Waterbury, Naugatuck, and the surrounding hills. We don’t stage these. We sweep the chimney, run the camera, and hand you the footage. The before-and-after tells you more than any brochure could.
Recent Transformations
Third-Degree Creosote Glaze in a Bunker Hill Fireplace
We got the call because the homeowner smelled smoke days after the last fire. The camera showed why. Third-degree creosote had baked onto the flue walls, shiny as road tar and about as easy to remove. Wendell and his crew ran the rotary brush, then went back in with a hand scraper for the stubborn spots. The before photo shows a flue that was maybe a season away from a chimney fire. The after photo shows clean clay tile, top to bottom.
Animal Nest Removed from a Meriden Road Chimney
This one smoked out the house on the first fire of the season. The flue wasn’t just blocked, it was packed. A squirrel had dragged in half a yard of leaves, twigs, and a decent amount of pink insulation from somewhere in the attic. We pulled the nest, swept the flue, and ran the camera to confirm it was clear. Then we capped the chimney so the next squirrel found somewhere else to winter.
Heavy Soot Buildup in an East Mountain Wood Stove
The homeowner burned a lot of unseasoned wood the previous winter, and it showed. The flue had narrowed to maybe half its original width. First-degree creosote is a brush job, and that’s what this was, mostly. Two passes with the right-size brush and a vacuum running the whole time left the stove pipe clean. The after shot shows a flue you could eat off, though Wendell would tell you not to bother.
Fireplace Smoke Chamber Cleared in a Town Plot Colonial
Most sweeps in Waterbury will brush the flue and call it done. The smoke chamber is where fires actually start, because that’s where creosote and old mortar bits pile up out of sight. This 1940s colonial had decades of buildup behind the damper. We cleaned the chamber by hand, removed the debris, and swept the flue above it. The homeowner said the fireplace drafted better than it had in years. That’s not luck. That’s the part of the job most crews skip.
Chimney Cap Replacement Stopping Water in a Willow Street Home
Water and creosote make a mess together. The old cap on this Willow Street chimney had rusted clean through, and every rainstorm sent water down the flue. That water mixed with the creosote and started eating at the damper. We swapped in a new stainless steel cap, swept and dried the flue, and the damper stopped sticking. The before photo shows why caps matter. The after photo shows why they’re cheap insurance.
Want Results Like These?
Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes. If it’s been more than a year since your last chimney cleaning in Waterbury, call Top Hat Chimney at (203) 439-5655. Wendell or one of the crew will pick up, give you an honest price, and tell you when we’ll be there. No trip charge inside the county, and the camera footage is yours to keep.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Waterbury, CT since 1999.