Scheduling a time to have your chimney inspected or repaired is nerve racking. First, you need to figure out a time of day when both you and your chimney sweep are available, and then you need to make sure your home & fireplace is ready when your chimney sweep arrives. However, at Old Smokey’s, we can ease the frustration that goes along with making a chimney service appointment by giving you a few tips.
Setting a Time
If you need to schedule chimney maintenance or repairs, the best time to schedule an appointment is in late spring, summer, and early fall. This is because these times of the year are by far the slowest for a chimney sweep, meaning you will most likely get your desired time for an appointment. During the fall as the weather gets colder, people start to fire up their fireplaces and chimneys. This means that our schedule starts to fill up quickly, and we might not be able to work you into our schedule.
Getting Ready for the Appointment
First, we ask that you remove any fragile or breakable items from the fireplace mantle and surrounding areas. We also ask you to remove all valuables far from the fireplace. Although we try hard to be cautious when moving around your fireplace, it makes our jobs a lot easier if we bring our equipment in and set up without fear of harming your belongings.
Generally, we like to have about 6 feet to work around your fireplace. This gives us plenty of room to set our tools out and lay down the protective clothes that we set out to keep your floor clean. Second, any wood or coal appliance needs to have cooled for at least 24 hours prior to our arrival time. If your fireplace is still hot when we get there, we will not be able to work and you will need to reschedule.
When we work on your chimney, feel free to watch us work and ask questions if would you like. We would be happy to help you understand how your chimney works and what we are doing to make it operate more smoothly.
Who Should I Call?
You should always use a chimney sweep that is certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). A CSIA certified chimney sweep has been through safety and chimney maintenance and repair training courses, and they have been periodically tested on safety and chimney maintenance techniques. A CSIA certification signifies that a chimney sweep has put in the time and effort to be the best chimney sweep they can be, especially when it relates to your safety. At Old Smokey’s, we require all of our chimney sweeps to remain CSIA certified at all times.
We make scheduling easy! Simply call Old Smokey’s at 260-424-0009 or make an appointment online.