Homeowners should get chimney inspected once a year
By Jim Totten
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (Howell)
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Matthew Scheller isn’t going to chim chim cher-ee out a chimney, sing or dance, but he will take care of business.
“I do make sure their chimneys are clean,” said Scheller, who owns a Howell chimney sweep business called Smokestack Sweep.
Scheller said a few customers do joke with him about his work, referencing the popular “Mary Poppins” movie about a chimney sweeper in England.
“They ask if I’m going to do a little dance for them, or where’s my top hat,” Scheller told the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.
Unlike the movie, Scheller said there’s a lot more to his job than simply inspecting and cleaning chimneys. Sure, it can be a dirty job at times, but Scheller and Zachary Huff, a chimney specialist, install liners for chimneys as well as wood stoves and vents for dryers and water heaters.
“This business is very detailed,” Scheller said.
He said residents should get their chimney inspected once a year, and cleaned at least once a year. He said a chimney should be cleaned after every 30-35 fires.
He said a clean chimney helps prevent chimney and house fires.
He said fires can start from cracks in a chimney, a gas buildup or creosote.
Creosote is a residue that forms from incomplete combustion of wood.
According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America, the residue is comprised of smoke, water vapor, gases, unburned wood particles, hydrocarbon, tar fog and assorted minerals. As these substances exit the fireplace or wood stove, and flow up into the relatively cooler chimney, condensation occurs.
The residue that sticks to the inner walls of the chimney is creosote.
Scheller said he has brushes to clean chimney of any sizes. He uses flexible 5-foot-long poles to reach the inside of the chimney, and he can attach more poles depending on the height of the chimney.
“We just keep adding poles until we get to the top or until we get to the bottom,” he said.
He usually cleans from inside so he can monitor the site and ensure there are no problems.
He said November and December are the busiest times for work, and he even works Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
He said homeowners start using their fireplaces and wood stoves a lot more during these months.
Scheller said he charges a flat rate, $159, for a cleaning and inspection.
Scheller originally began working as a bricklayer, but he began looking into chimney cleaning after several people asked him if he knew somebody who performed that work. He became certified, worked for a chimney sweep company for eight years and launched his own business about three years ago.
“Every day is different,” Scheller said. “I meet five to six different people every day.”
