The recent snowfall transformed our Western North Carolina region into a lovely winter wonderland. After playing in the chilly outdoors, feeling numb to the bone, most of us enjoy trudging back home to get comfortable around the fireplace and drink some hot chocolate. While fireplaces are a source of delight, warmth, and tranquility, they also require consistent maintenance to preserve a safe environment.
At least once annually, you should have your fireplace cleaned and inspected by a chimney sweep to help prevent chimney fires. A chimney sweep can clean your chimney, inspect it for structural issues such as loose bricks or missing mortar, and repair any damage.
When you are preparing to hire a company to provide chimney sweeping services, always do a little background investigation to ensure that the company is reputable and recommended. Recently, a woman in Raleigh, Erica Kim, hired a company to clean her chimney after discovering a $49 deal on Amazon Local. A man arrived in an unmarked white van, charged Kim an additional $120 (ostensibly due to chimney size), and proceeded to fill her entire house with soot. Kim’s photos of the mess and complaints to the company accomplished nothing, and she was forced to remove all of the soot from the entire house herself. The company’s Better Business Bureau rating is an F, and one complaint online lists the same soot problem that Kim experienced.
While the risk of bad service provider experiences can never be eliminated, background research can help to prevent some time- and money-wasting headaches. A few questions you should answer before hiring someone to sweep your chimney:
- Has the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certified the company?
- Does the company have any current references?
- Does the company have adequate insurance coverage?
- How long has the company been in business?
- Does the company have a poor Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating?
Clean Sweep has been in business since 1984, is CSIA-certified, and provides its services throughout WNC—in Haywood, Buncombe, Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties. Call us today to get in touch with a dependable chimney sweep.