Smoke comes back when the flue can't draw: usually creosote choking the flue, a damper stuck half-shut, a blockage like a nest, or a cold flue on a still day. A camera inspection shows exactly which one it is — and most of them are fixed in the same visit, with a sweep.

Once a year, before the season you burn most — and sooner if you burn often. Creosote builds up with every fire, and the glazed kind is a chimney-fire risk no amount of careful burning prevents. Our yearly visit is a sweep and a camera inspection in one appointment.

Yes — keep the damper closed and don't light a fire. We remove animals safely and humanely, clear any nest out of the flue, sweep it clean, and fit a proper cap with a screen so nothing gets back in.

Creosote and soot absorb moisture and smell strongest in warm, humid weather — that campfire smell is the flue asking to be cleaned. A proper sweep and deep clean removes the source instead of masking it, and a draft check keeps the smell from drifting back down.

Everything inside the flue, on a monitor you watch with the tech: creosote buildup, cracked liner tiles, gaps, blockages — and after the work, the same flue clean. It's why we never quote from a guess: you see the problem before you approve anything, and you see it fixed before we leave.

No — and be wary of anyone who does. Every chimney hides a different problem, so a phone price is a guess that changes at your door. Our inspections are free: a tech looks at the actual chimney, on camera, then gives you one clear price before any work starts.