When it is time for you to schedule your annual chimney cleaning and inspecting, hiring a chimney sweep who has been certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) ensures you have a highly trained and qualified technician doing the job. Not everyone is so careful when it comes to selecting a chimney sweep company to take care of the yearly maintenance of a chimney. In fact, a Raleigh area woman, Erica Kim, recently made the mistake of not hiring a certified chimney sweep, and her story was reported by the news team at one of our local television stations, WRAL. We at Mr. Smokestack are proud to say our owner, Robbie Markie, was consulted for this news story, which was also picked up by the CSIA’s blog, “Wisdom from the Hearth.” We would like to share with you what happened to Ms. Kim and why you should always hire a CSIA-certified chimney sweep, like the sweeps at Mr. Smokestack, to do your annual chimney sweeping and inspection.
BEWARE THE UNMARKED VAN
When Erica Kim thought she was getting a great deal on her annual chimney sweeping and inspection maintenance service from an online bargain shopping site, but she began to have second thoughts when an unmarked white van pulled into her driveway. Robbie Markie, the owner of Mr. Smokestack, told WRAL: “If there’s no company name, if they do not look professional, odds are they are not.” When you hire a CSIA-certified chimney sweep from Mr. Smokestack, the technician will arrive to your home in an official Mr. Smokestack vehicle with the company name on the vehicle. Our chimney sweeps also wear identification to prove they are indeed CSIA-certified technicians from Mr. Smokestack.
BEWARE THE MESSY JOB
As soon as the technicians began to work on the chimney at Erica Kim’s home, she said her house filled with a black cloud of smoke. When Ms. Kim asked if this was normal, she was told it was not, but all they had to do to fix this problem was open the door. According to our owner, Robbie Markey, dust control is key. Markey feels so strongly about this that he told the WRAL reporter: “If we do not have dust control as a chimney service industry in general, we do not have a business.” When a CSIA-certified chimney sweep from Mr. Smokestack performs the actual chimney sweeping, he will clean the chimney in intervals and use a variety of tools, including a flashlight, camera, and vacuum, to closely monitor and remove the dust.
BEWARE THE QUICK CHIMNEY SWEEP
Erica Kim told WRAL that her chimney sweeping service was completed in 30 minutes. The technicians did not clean up any of the mess they had made during the sweeping. This led Ms. Kim to wonder exactly how clean her chimney could be, and this made her fear she was at a risk of a chimney fire. When you receive a chimney sweeping from Mr. Smokestack, our chimney sweeps will thoroughly clean and inspect both the interior and exterior of your chimney. Our sweeps will also clean up any mess inside your home after the chimney sweeping has been completed. On average, a complete chimney sweeping and inspection from Mr. Smokestack will take up to two hours.
As you can see from Erica Kim’s story, you should take the time to be sure the chimney sweep company you hire will send CSIA-certified sweeps to do the job. To hire one of our CSIA-certified chimney sweeps, contact Mr. Smokestack today to schedule an appointment for your annual chimney sweeping.
