Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Alexandria, VA
We’ve completed more than 38,000 chimney inspections and cleanings since 2009. Most of that work is invisible once it’s done. That’s the point of a good cleaning. But the before photos tell you exactly what was living in your flue, and the after photos show you what a properly swept chimney in Alexandria should look like. Here’s the evidence.
Recent Transformations
Class III Creosote Removal in a 1940s Del Ray Home
The camera scan showed the flue liner had a thick, shiny glaze of creosote coating the walls, the kind we call Class III. In Alexandria’s humid summers, that glaze softens and re-hardens, layer on layer, until it’s a tar. We ran the rotary whip and brushes through the full height of the flue. The after footage shows the original terracotta liner surface, clean and dry, the way it was installed in the 1940s.
Smoke Chamber Cleanout With Dead Bird Removal in Old Town
An Old Town homeowner called about a smell in the living room every time the wind blew from the river. The camera found a bird that had come down the uncapped flue and died in the smoke chamber, along with enough twigs to fill a bucket. We removed the debris, swept the chamber walls, and recommended a cap. We did not recommend anything else. The chimney didn’t need anything else.
Heavy Soot and Stage II Creosote in a Seminary Hill Split-Level
The homeowner had burned unseasoned wood from a fallen maple for two winters. The flue had a rough, granular coating of Stage II creosote and enough soot in the smoke shelf that the damper barely closed. We swept the flue with a poly brush, vacuumed the smoke shelf, and showed the customer the camera footage after. The chamber walls were smooth. The draft improved immediately.
Fireplace Restoration Cleanup in Rosemont After 12 Years of Use
This was a cleaning, not a rebuild. The firebox surface had years of soot baked on, and the lintel was coated. We cleaned the firebrick with the appropriate agitation and removed the debris from the ash dump. The after photos show the original firebrick color, and the homeowner sent a note a week later saying the fire burned cleaner than it had in years. That’s what removing twelve years of soot does.
Chimney Cap and Screen Replacement After Animal Entry in North Ridge
A squirrel had chewed through the screen on the original cap and was using the flue as a dry place to cache acorns. We pulled out two full yard bags of acorns and nesting material from the smoke chamber and flue offset. Then we installed a new stainless cap with a proper screen, sourced through our materials suppliers. The before photo shows the acorns in the chamber. The after photo shows a clean flue and a cap that keeps animals out, permanently.
Want Results Like These?
Call (240) 290-6726 to book your chimney cleaning in Alexandria. You’ll get a written price before we start, a camera-scan inspection on the visit, and the full photo record when we finish. Every job is backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s not done right, we make it right.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Alexandria, serving Alexandria since 2009.