Chimney Sweep in Sparta, NJ
Chimney sweep service in Sparta, NJ for fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, from the lake houses around Lake Mohawk to the newer homes elsewhere in the township.
Photo: Zeete, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake houses that were never meant for winter
Lake Mohawk was created in the late 1920s as a private resort, and most of the houses around it began as summer homes. Owners started winterizing them in the 1940s, and today the lake community is lived in all year. The municipal offices for Sparta Township are on Main Street.
That history shows up in the chimneys. A fireplace built for a few cool evenings in August now carries a full heating season. Many of these homes have had wood stoves or inserts added to an older masonry flue, and a stove burns slower and cooler than an open fire, which leaves more creosote behind.
Sparta is also hilly and heavily wooded. Tall trees close to a roof drop leaves and twigs into an uncapped flue, and they give squirrels and birds an easy route to the chimney top. Newer houses often have factory-built fireplaces with metal chimneys. Those need sweeping too, with brushes made for them.
What a chimney sweep covers in a Sparta home
The hearth is covered and the firebox opening is closed off before any brushing starts. Rods and brushes sized to the flue then loosen soot and creosote from the smoke chamber to the top of the stack.
The smoke shelf, damper and firebox are cleared, and the debris is vacuumed out. With the flue clean, its condition can be seen, so every sweep ends with a plain account of what was found.
The national standard for chimneys, NFPA 211, calls for an inspection once a year. For a house that burns wood from October into April, that usually means a sweep every year as well.
Chimney services for Sparta homes
Sparta, New Jersey
The whole of Sparta is covered, Lake Mohawk included, with the work run from Newton. The map shows the area served, not an office.