SERVING GREATER Kansa​s City​

CHIMNEY & FIREPLACE MAINTENANCE  | INVESTIGATIONS

​pADGITT cHIMNEY & fIREPLACE | Padgitt forensic investigations | hEARTHMASTERS PUBLISHING

Specialty O&C Fire Investigations for Insurance Claims

chimney sweeping & inspections

Annual Inspections, Real Estate Inspections, Insurance Inspections

Real Estate Inspection Form

Insurance Inspection Form

To check our Certification, please visit the Chimney Safety Institute of America at www.csia.org.  
To check our NFI Certifications, please visit www.nficertified.org.

We encourage clients to check the certifications of anyone they are planning to do business with. We have worker's compensation and liability insurance, and are bonded.Your safety is of primary importance to us. That is why we make sure to keep up with the latest code changes in the International Residential Code and the NFPA 211 Standards and maintain industry certifications and local licenses. 


THE PROCESS

We set up tarps to protect your floor and hearth, and use a high-powered vacuum to control dust.  The chimney sweep will close the damper, then clean the chimney from the top and bottom with the properly sized brush to remove creosote.  If your chimney is more than 36 feet tall, we may clean from the bottom only.  The sweep will brush the smoke chamber (the area above the damper and before the flue starts) with a special chamber brush and a scraper, then remove all of the creosote from the smoke chamber.  This is a critical step, and unfortunately, one that is missed by some companies. Since the fire is closer to the smoke chamber than the flue, this creosote could ignite and cause a chimney fire if not removed.  He will also remove any dead animals found in the flue.  If you don't have a cover - birds, bats, and squirrels may be inside the chimney. 

Glazed or tar creosote is more difficult to remove than 1st or 2nd stage creosote, and must be done by power cleaning.  This is a different process, and we may have to reschedule in order to do it.  

We will then visually inspect your chimney inside and out, and if we can't see inside the entire flue, we will use our Chim-Scan camera to do a Level II inspection which allows us to view around offsets (bends) in the flue and all of the flue.  Without a camera, a chimney sweep can't see long flues or around offsets.  You may watch the t.v. monitor during this process. If any problems are found, we will provide a written estimate in the mail for repairs.   You will receive a written report of our findings at the time of the inspection.  Note: we may not run a camera in a prefab fireplace since the pipe can become disconnected (to be determined by the inspector at the time of service).


WHAT WE LOOK FOR

​For a Masonry Chimney: The chimney sweep will look for missing mortar joints between the tile liner sections; un-parged or open corbels in the smoke chamber; cracked, blown out, or missing tile liners; puffed or burnt ash creosote that is a sign of a chimney fire; cracked or deteriorated cement crown; fatigued or rusted chimney cover, missing mortar in the fireplace, flashing problems, check correct height of the chimney, note any smoking or performance problems, and we will check for negative pressure and CO emissions.  Please let us know if you have any draft problems so we can diagnose it at the time of the appointment. 

For a Prefabricated Chimney: The inspector will look for puffed or burnt ash creosote that is a sign of a chimney fire; damaged chimney pipe, damaged precast panels or firebox floor, fatigued or rusted chimney cover or cover flashing, rusting or problems with the metal chase cover, flashing issues around the chimney chase, damage to the wood chimney chase, check correct height of the chimney, and note any smoking or performance problems, and we will check for negative pressure and CO emissions.  Please let us know if you have any draft problems so we can diagnose it at the time of the appointment. 

Note: Chimney fires often occur without the homeowner's knowledge, and there may be hidden cracks or breaks inside the flue of a masonry chimney, or warped or separated seams in a metal chimney as a result.  The chimney must be relined if damages such as this are found. 

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Call 816.461.3665 for an appointment.