A chimney sweep in Horseshoe Bay: what one season of fires leaves behind

Most of the fireplaces we sweep around Horseshoe Bay are big open fireboxes built into stone, used a dozen evenings a winter and left alone the rest of the year. That pattern is exactly the one that builds creosote fastest: short, cool fires in a flue that never gets properly hot. Here is what a chimney sweep in Horseshoe Bay actually looks like, from a job the crew ran this week.

What was there

A wide masonry firebox under a cedar mantel, ash banked deep enough to cover the grate feet, and a damper that moved but ground on the way. Above the smoke shelf the flue walls carried a matte black layer, thick enough to leave a mark on a glove: stage two creosote, past the point where a brush alone does the job quickly.

What we did

The firebox was vacuumed down to bare masonry with a HEPA vacuum, the grate pulled and cleaned, the smoke shelf and damper brushed out, and the flue swept from the firebox up. Then the camera went in, because the part that matters is the part nobody can see from the room: liner joints, the crown from below, and the area behind the damper where water damage shows up first. Photos before and after went to the homeowner the same day, with a written price per line.

Why fireplaces here build creosote fast

• Exterior stone chimneys on the north or west wall run colder than a flue inside the house, and cold walls are what smoke condenses on.
• Hill Country oak split last spring is not seasoned. Damp wood burns cool and smokes.
• Short evening fires in a cold flue never get the chimney up to temperature, so almost everything condenses.
• A flue sized for a much larger firebox lets smoke slow down and cool on the way up.

Three checks before the first cold night

None of these need a ladder, and they take about five minutes.

• Open the damper all the way. Grinding, dropping or refusing to hold position usually means rust, and rust means water is coming in from the top.
• Shine a flashlight up the flue. Dusty grey is normal. Ridged hard black, or anything shiny and tarry, is past a plain sweep.
• Look at the floor of the firebox. If you cannot see masonry through the ash, clear it out before you light anything.

What a sweep includes on our trucks

Firebox, grate, smoke shelf, damper, smoke chamber and flue, then the cap and the crown from the roof. Every part gets photographed. Our owner is a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep, the inspection that comes first is free, and the price is in writing before anything is touched. We sweep and repair chimneys and fireplaces in Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls, Meadowlakes, Granite Shoals, Kingsland, Burnet and Llano.