Sweep Fee?
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I pay $150 off season discount, I get a level 2 inspection with a written report, they take picture before and after cleaning, vacuum the inside of the stove, above the baffle and around the stove. I figure with two people with the cost of insurance, fuel, tools, training and the fact I (a big klutz with the balance of an alcoholic ) don't have to climb on top of the steeper then I feel comfortable with roof, it is worth every penny. I was even more impressed when last spring when I get my sweeping done they took the Napoleon which was strapped on the cart out to the garage and helped me bring in the Englander 30 from the garage and set it on the hearth pad and didn't even accept the $20 bucks I offered for lunch for the help.
it sounds like most everywhere that the sweep is like everything else...you get whatcha pay for.
I had mine done a few weeks ago by a local guy. He wanted 250 and I was in uncontrolled laughter. It is a toatl of 15 feet of stainless pipe and a almost flat roof 1 story tall. He asked what I thought it should cost and told him if it takes more than 35 minutes you must be reading a book instead of working and 200 an hour is a bit over the top. his travel time to get from his place to mine is under 5 minutes.. He did it for 100 and took 20 minutes in all.
This is a good price, but with this there is no real inspection for hiden problems. Just saying.
CT Pellet
Minister of Fire
I need to start cleaning chimneys
Get insurance, equipment, do advertising, and climb on questionable roofs all day- I think that $180 isn't a bad price.
$180.....? Probably depends on your area. A couple years ago a guy at work was paying $100.
I clean my own chimney and stove every 2 months. Up on the roof it probably takes 10-15 minutes for the chimney cleaning (stainless steel). Most time is taken connecting the poles (8' long - 3 of them).
Cleaning the stove takes more time. A common ordinary toilet bowl brush works good and a 3' flexible type brush for some areas. Inspect grates, bricks, door seal, ash drawer seal, etc.
Twice a season I will take the blower/motor assembly completely off stove and air blow it clean, make sure squirrel cage fan blades are clean and oil motor. She purrs like a kitten.
Been cleaning same chimney since 1979. This stove since 1985. Lotta $$$ saved.
I burn 24/7 so I feel more frequent cleaning is necessary (peace of mind also).
As far as "you get what you pay for" - imo, that is not always true. Sometimes you're supporting/paying for the lifestyle of the vendor. You're probably paying more to a guy who has a brand new Ram 1500 than a guy with a 10 yr old one. But that's a whole nuther page.
SideNote - It's best/advisable to clean a completely cold chimney. Even a slightly warm one, when you're brushing, that soot will come up and get all over you.
I clean my own chimney and stove every 2 months. Up on the roof it probably takes 10-15 minutes for the chimney cleaning (stainless steel). Most time is taken connecting the poles (8' long - 3 of them).
Cleaning the stove takes more time. A common ordinary toilet bowl brush works good and a 3' flexible type brush for some areas. Inspect grates, bricks, door seal, ash drawer seal, etc.
Twice a season I will take the blower/motor assembly completely off stove and air blow it clean, make sure squirrel cage fan blades are clean and oil motor. She purrs like a kitten.
Been cleaning same chimney since 1979. This stove since 1985. Lotta $$$ saved.
I burn 24/7 so I feel more frequent cleaning is necessary (peace of mind also).
As far as "you get what you pay for" - imo, that is not always true. Sometimes you're supporting/paying for the lifestyle of the vendor. You're probably paying more to a guy who has a brand new Ram 1500 than a guy with a 10 yr old one. But that's a whole nuther page.
SideNote - It's best/advisable to clean a completely cold chimney. Even a slightly warm one, when you're brushing, that soot will come up and get all over you.
Heatsource
Minister of Fire
That seems very fair in my mind! I would think good business as well. In my mind if you treat people right with service then when it is time for a new stove or parts they already know who to call. My problem around here is there are no local stove stores and the one 25 miles away does not have a sweep in the crew from what i can figure out.
Have been using them for 4 years now, company has been around for much longer. I'm a few miles east of NYC and within 15 miles there are about 10 choices for sweeps. They arent the cheapest place either. Having 8 million people living in your general area lowers prices I guess.
Good tip -I am a soot magnet -even on a cold chimney I manage to get pretty dirty. Any draft and I'm pretty much toast....
Sounds like a lot to me. But I payed only once, may years ago, $75. For half that buy the rods and brush and do it yourself.
Wow, high prices here from my perspective. I pay $140 for two chimneys (neither one involves getting up on the roof), and that's a little above standard for hereabouts. The guys I use go above and beyond the call of duty, including this year evicting a large clot of hornets of some kind that took up residence between the liner and the flue in the masonry chimney that vents my oil boiler. They check over my stove carefully, vacuum it out, etc. These folks are now also my c/s/d wood supplier, having recently started up a kiln-drying operation, so they are intensely interested in the health and wellbeing of my chimneys.
This is a big wood-burning area, so maybe the competition is responsible for the relatively low fees. OTOH, a lot of folks around here clean their own chimneys, so maybe not...
This is a big wood-burning area, so maybe the competition is responsible for the relatively low fees. OTOH, a lot of folks around here clean their own chimneys, so maybe not...
ArsenalDon
Minister of Fire
etiger2007
Minister of Fire
Heatsource
Minister of Fire
We have shops in chico and grass valley.
(chico shop might charge a little less, not sure)
ArsenalDon
Minister of Fire
Ah Cool, I am just up Hwy 70, but probably too far for your Chico shop...Good to know though that there is a shop semi-close. wish you were a bit closer.
mfglickman
Minister of Fire
Ours was $150 or so for the first chimney, then half price (?) for the second one (assuming we did both together).
Heatsource
Minister of Fire
They service a large area, i think they have done jobs as far up as Belden town
shop is right off skyway in chico
ArsenalDon
Minister of Fire
Heatsource
Minister of Fire
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