Before & After Gallery - Ashby Chimney New York

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in New York, NY

You can read about chimney sweeping all day, but seeing the actual flue before and after is what makes the decision real. In New York City, where fireplaces sit idle through humid summers and work hard through bitter winters, the difference between a neglected flue and a clean one can be the difference between a cozy night and a chimney fire. We photograph every job because you should see what we saw. Here’s a look at real conditions we find in New York chimneys and what they look like when we’re done.

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Recent Transformations

Third-Story Creosote Removal in a Park Slope Brownstone

BeforeAfter

BeforeAfter

The homeowner called because smoke was backing into the living room every time they lit a fire. We ran a camera up from the firebox and found stage 2 creosote, the shiny tar-like kind that builds up when fires burn cooler than they should. It had narrowed the flue by more than half. Our technician swept the full length with a rotary brush, then vacuumed the firebox and smoke shelf. The flue opened back to 100 percent of its diameter and the draft returned. They lit a fire that same evening with no smoke in the room.

Decades of Soot and a Blocked Smoke Shelf in an Upper West Side Prewar

BeforeAfter

This prewar building on the Upper West Side hadn’t had the fireplace touched in the owner’s memory. The smoke shelf, that ledge just above the damper that catches debris before it falls into the firebox, was packed solid with soot and crumbled mortar. That’s a common find in older New York buildings. We hand-cleared the smoke shelf, swept the flue from the roof down with a poly brush sized to the clay liner, and removed everything with a triple-filtered vacuum. The draft improved immediately. We showed the owner the camera footage before and after so they could see exactly what we removed.

Animal Nesting Removed Before First Burn of the Season in Riverdale

A family in Riverdale called us in October, a week before they planned to light the first fire of the season. Their chimney cap had rusted through over the summer and a bird had built a nest inside the flue. We found twigs, grass, and feathers packed about four feet down from the top. We removed the nesting material by hand, swept the flue thoroughly, and recommended a replacement cap. The homeowner had us install a new stainless cap the same visit. They lit their first fire knowing the flue was clear and the top was sealed.

Heavy Creosote Glaze in a Wood-Burning Fireplace in Forest Hills

Glazed creosote is what happens when stage 2 creosote bakes onto the flue walls and hardens. It looks like black glass and it’s a serious fire hazard. This Forest Hills homeowner burned a lot of unseasoned wood, which creates exactly these conditions. Our technician used a rotary loop system with steel cables to break the glaze off the clay liner walls without damaging the liner itself. The before and after camera footage showed the full transformation. We also walked them through burning properly dried wood going forward. They’d been using wood from a neighbor’s freshly cut tree, which is one of the most common causes of glazing we see.

Rooftop Access Sweep for a Fifth-Floor Walkup in the East Village

Fifth-floor walkups in the East Village present a specific challenge: there’s no easy interior access to the flue, so we work from the roof. This building had four fireplaces sharing two flues, and the landlord wanted all of them cleaned before winter tenants started using them. We set up on the roof with full fall protection, swept each flue from the top down, and then cleaned each firebox from inside. The landlord received a written report with photos of every flue before and after. It’s the Kingswell Way: show the work, put it in writing, make sure they can see what they paid for.

Smoky Fireplace Restored in a Chelsea Loft Conversion

Loft conversions in Chelsea often have chimneys that were not originally planned for the fireplace now in use. This one had mortar droppings and construction debris that fell into the chimney throat during renovation years ago. Every fire sent smoke spilling into the apartment. We removed the debris, swept the flue, and verified the draft with a smoke test before we left. The difference was night and day. The owner had been living with a fireplace they couldn’t use for two years, and they had us back the following month to sweep the second flue they’d been ignoring.

Want Results Like These?

Every chimney in New York has its own story, and most of them need a professional look before they need a fire. We’ll give you a written price before any work starts, show you the camera footage, and leave your fireplace cleaner than we found it. Call Nathan and the team at (315) 644-2982 to book your sweep or inspection. The flue will tell us what it needs.

Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney New York, serving New York since 2002.