chimney sweep in austin?

[bluto]

In the process of getting a house on the market, and need to get the chimney cleared out. I have never even thought about a chimney sweep, especially in Austin, so I am very clueless. Does anybody have any rec's? and what type of price am I looking at for a ballpark figure so I won't get taken?

 

[Stuck_At_Work]

Back to the top..... because I was about to post the very same question.

 

[bluto]

from the VERY basic quotes i could get off google searches, i think $100ish is avg for a standard sweep/clean. but i haven't spoken to anybody so who knows for sure. since its such a specialized job, i can already see the guy saying we will need extra work.

 

[Stuck_At_Work]

Bluto... let me know who you end up using and whether or not you recommend them.

 

[wolfman]

I would check prices with more than one of them. Chimney cleaning is seasonal work. They are busy as hell from the first cold snap until about Thanksgiving. The rest of the year they are not working very much. You will probably be able to find someone who is willing to give you a better rate because business is slow. BTW, I used to clean chimneys and a good chimney sweep can do a job in 30 min or so.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

Wolfman, what did YOU charge 'back in the day'??

 

[wolfman]

The guy that I worked for charged around $60 for a cleaning, but that was over 20 years ago. Im really not sure what a fair price may be these days. If you are interested in cleaning your own fireplace you can buy the rods and brushed fairly reasonably at Lowes. I believe that the brush and fibreglass rods that I have now cost me around $30 about 4 years ago.

Many people are surprized that the chimneys are most often cleaned from below. The natural design of a chimney will cause it to draw and most of the soot will just draft up the chimney. Of course you have to take precautions first like ensuring that the chimney draws correctly, putting down a few drop cloths to catch and loose debris, and most importantly wear a breathable mask and goggles so that if any of the soot comes back to you it is not harmful to you.

 

[Stuck_At_Work]

Thanks guys. I called 4 different places early this morning and had to leave each of them voicemails. I guess the work is so-out-of-season that no one is picking up their phone?!... My chimney swallows have finally grown up and left... and they left behind a pretty bad smell that is slowly leaking into my house. I need to get my chimney cleaned and the flu replaced/repaired pronto....

 

[ryskey]

Clean ya chimney I will I will. Clean as a whistle shahp as a thistle.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

BTW, if you're in the Central Texas area & anyone tells you your siding or flashing is in bad shape, PM me.

We do chimney rebuilds, but I haven't gotten involved with the flues (other than replacing the draft flap). Siding only; no masonry work.

Often if your hosue is older if the flashing is in need of replacing it HAS to be done in conjunction with the shingles as well.

 

[bluto]

im so sorry for getting back to you so late. i used austin's best chimney sweeps. guy's name was thomas shewalter.

I had a feeling we were gonna get tagged for something more than the ordinary sweep due to what raised the red flag on our chimney. he came out and spent basically all day on it, had to replace the flu/damper/cap as well as remove all of the debris. ended up being ~$800. with the property up for sale, we would rather spend 800 on repairs than a million in lawsuits.

he seemed like a decent enough guy, even helped our contractors move some stuff around with the remodel.

 

[taco]

Digging up an old post in case anyone searches in the future.
But do not use Atlas Chimney in Austin. I had him come out yesterday and he was overpriced for basically doing nothing.