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Chimney Sweeping Advice – Preparing for your Sweep

Be fully prepared for the arrival of your chimney sweep with our useful Chimney Sweep Guide

Pop the chimney sweep date in your diary.
(We’ll send you an appointment confirmation with a two hour time slot at the time of booking). There is nothing more frustrating than your chimney sweep arriving only to find you have forgotten your appointment.

General info
If you’re not present or the fire is still lit and we are not able to carry out our work this could leave you and your household at risk. A fireplace maintenance inspection is important to help detect any faults. Having your chimney swept regularly is essential to remove any build up of soot and debris. This helps prevent chimney fires and Carbon Monoxide emissions as well as helping your appliance to run efficiently.

Advice
We’re here to offer advice, guidance and look after you and your fireplace. We do need to get paid though. A missed appointment is lost earnings for us.

Rescheduling your appointment
If you need to reschedule please notify us up to 24 hours prior to your appointment. This will save you a late cancellation fee of the cost of each sweep if cancelled later than 24 hours prior to your appointment.

Parking at your property
Kindly advise us at least 24 hours prior to your appointment if there are any parking restrictions to the property. Please arrange for any parking permits where required, to enable the sweep to gain easy and immediate access to your property.

Access
Please advise us at least 24 hours prior to your appointment of access instructions or restrictions.

Our Chimney Sweep ID
When you answer the door, if you have not yet met your chimney sweep, you may like to ask for ID.

Your appliance – make it sweep ready
Please switch off / allow your appliance / fire to cool down at least 24 hours prior to having this swept. If we are unable to sweep due to the appliance being lit this will incur a call out charge for the cost of each sweep.

Ash
Remove all ash where possible. Allow ash to cool down first before disposing of this.

Walkway from door to appliance
Allow an unobstructed walkway from the entrance door to the appliance / fire to be swept.

Area around appliance
Please clear the area around the fireplace, removing ornaments and light furniture. We recommend allowing 2 sq meters. The hearth should always be clear of combustible materials.

How we prepare for soot
We provide floor runners from the entrance to the fireplace, depending on distance. Hearth sheets are laid down for the fireplace vicinity. The fireplace entrance is sealed off using special soot sheets with non evasive attachment. This helps contain soot and debris.

Disposal of soot and debris
Soot and any other debris will be left in a bin liner for you to dispose of. Your sweep may remove your soot for an additional £10.00 fee to cover Trade Waste Carrier Licence.

Your furniture and furnishings
As we are not able to provide furniture covering, you may wish to cover furniture, carpets and rugs for extra peace of mind.

Our methods
Your chimney is swept using manual methods with the traditional brushes and rods. The correct size of brush will be used for your size / type of chimney or liner. An industrial vacuum is used alongside this process to extract soot, dust and debris. You want a lovely clean efficient service from your chimney sweep after all.

Your neighbours
You may like to give your neighbours a courtesy notice. There may be noisy work taking place. Soot may be present and could affect laundry on the line, open top vehicles and swimming pools. We carry out a risk assessment prior to entering the property and will endeavour to advise if we believe there is a risk.

Children and pets
Chimney sweeping can be fascinating to curious pets and children. However, for health and safety, please ensure they are kept away from the vicinity.

On a traditional note, your children may like to go outside to see the top of the sweep’s brush poking out from the top of the chimney. This is considered good luck.

Invoice and payment
You will receive your invoice after the maintenance inspection / chimney sweep. We ask that all payment is made during our visit. We accept all credit / debit cards except AMEX.

Bank transfer payments may be made by prior arrangement only.

Chimney Sweep Certificate
We’ll issue a Chimney Sweep Certificate on completion of work and payment. If there are any faults found, these will be recorded with advisory notes where applicable.

Chimney Sweeping
Frequency Guide

As recommended by APICSOFTECHETAS, the Solid Fuel Association and The Fire And Rescue Service. These guidelines are in place to safeguard and protect your household and property from chimney fire and Carbon Monoxide emissions.

Gas Appliance: once a year – if designed for chimney sweeping. You may wish to consult your gas engineer to clarify.

Oil: once a year

Smokeless Fuels: minimum once a year

Bitumous Coal: minimum twice a year

Wood: quarterly when in use

For gas and oil appliances not designed for chimney sweeping consult your gas engineer. Certain appliances will also need to be serviced by a specialist engineer. Consult your service engineer for advice.

Ensuring your chimney is swept regularly helps prevent chimney fires. Regular sweeping reduces the risk of dangerous fume emissions from blocked heating appliances, flue works and chimneys. The recommended frequency of sweeping for all types of appliance is at least once per burning season during normal use.

We recommend checking your insurance policy to see what their requirements are for regular chimney sweeping.

Payment

Payment for all services due on presentation of invoice

Payment by debit / credit card only please.


Fireplace Maintenance Inspection Certificates issued on completion of work and payment.

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