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13 services · Toronto

Chimney Services Services in Toronto

What each job involves, how urgent it really is, and what to do before anyone arrives. The tag on each card is the honest answer on urgency — most of this can wait, and a couple of things cannot.

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Every job, and how urgent it really is

This week Chimney Sweep and Cleaning Removing creosote and soot from the flue so the chimney draws and does not catch fire. Annual for a wood burner in regular use, and not needed on a schedule for a fireplace nobody lights. What to look for → This week WETT Inspection The inspection insurers and home inspectors ask for on a wood-burning appliance in Ontario. A written report against a real standard rather than somebody's opinion. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Repair A specific fault fixed rather than the stack rebuilt. Worth asking for first, and worth a straight answer about where repair stops being sensible. What to look for → This week Chimney Repointing Raking out failed mortar and replacing it. The single most common chimney job in this city, and the one where the mortar mix matters more than people realise. What to look for → This week Chimney Rebuild Taking the stack down to a sound course and rebuilding it. The expensive answer, and the right one when repointing would be money into something that has already failed structurally. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Liner Installation A stainless liner run down the flue. Needed when the existing liner has cracked, when a new appliance needs a different size, or when an old stack has no liner at all. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Cap and Damper The cheapest useful thing you can put on a chimney. It keeps rain, snow and animals out, and rain in a flue is what destroys the liner from inside. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Crown Repair The concrete slab on top of the stack. It is the first thing to crack and the crack is how water gets into the whole chimney. What to look for → Can wait Creosote Removal Hard glazed creosote that a normal brush will not shift. This is the stage where a chimney fire becomes a real possibility rather than a warning on a leaflet. What to look for → This week Fireplace Cleaning The firebox, the smoke chamber and the damper — the part you can see and the part just above it, which is where most of the soot actually sits. What to look for → This week Gas Fireplace Service Annual service on a gas fireplace or insert. In Ontario this is TSSA-registered work, and that is a different contractor from a chimney sweep. What to look for → Call today Animal Removal from Chimney Raccoons, squirrels, birds and wasps. Common in Toronto, and the reason a cap pays for itself the first time. What to look for → This week Chimney Waterproofing A breathable water repellent on the masonry, after the real faults are fixed. Useful last, useless first, and sold the other way round more often than not. What to look for →

Start from what you have found

Each of these points at a different job, and getting it wrong wastes a visit.

Smoke coming back into the room

Usually the smoke chamber or the damper rather than the flue itself. Fireplace Cleaning →

Used all last winter and never swept

An annual sweep on a wood burner in regular use. Book it before November. Chimney Sweep and Cleaning →

An insurer or a home inspector asking for a report

That is a WETT inspection. Ask which level, because they differ in scope and price. WETT Inspection →

Mortar crumbling out of the joints

Repointing, and the mortar mix matters more than people expect on an old house. Chimney Repointing →

Cracks across the top of the stack

The crown. It is the first thing to fail and the reason the rest gets wet. Chimney Crown Repair →

Shiny black tar-like deposits in the flue

Glazed creosote. Stop using it — this is the fuel in a chimney fire. Creosote Removal →

Scratching or movement inside the chimney

Do not light a fire to drive it out. It needs removing and then capping. Animal Removal from Chimney →

A gas fireplace that has not been serviced

TSSA-registered work. We will put you through to somebody registered for it. Gas Fireplace Service →

Why a Toronto chimney fails from the top down

Almost every failed chimney in this city started with its crown. The crown is the concrete slab on top of the stack, it cracks first, and once it has cracked the whole structure is taking water. Everything after that — spalled brick, open joints, a shaled liner, damp on the chimney breast two floors down — is that water and the freeze-thaw cycle working on it.

That is why the order of work matters so much here and why a quote that starts with waterproofing should be questioned. Sealing a stack that has open joints and a cracked crown traps water inside the masonry rather than keeping it out. Crown first, then pointing, then a cap, and a breathable repellent last if at all.

The mortar is the other thing people get wrong. On a pre-war Toronto house the brick is soft and the mortar is supposed to be softer still, so that the joint takes the movement rather than the brick face. Repointing soft old brick with a hard modern mix looks neat for a few years and then spalls the faces off the brick, which is a far more expensive problem than the one it was meant to fix.

And the credential question is genuinely different here. Ontario does not licence chimney sweeps. What exists is WETT certification for solid-fuel work — voluntary, but it is what insurers and home inspectors ask for — and TSSA registration for anything involving gas, which is a separate trade. A company that offers to service your gas fireplace without being TSSA-registered is offering something it should not.

How it works

Three steps, and you decide at the end of them.

  1. 1

    You call and describe the problem

    Tell us what you have noticed and where — the room, the smell, the noise, how long it has been going on. Give us your postal code and we will match you to a licensed company covering your area. There is no form to fill in.

  2. 2

    A local company takes it from there

    They discuss the problem with you directly, arrange a time to inspect, and agree the work and the price with you before anything starts. That conversation is between you and them.

  3. 3

    You decide whether to go ahead

    You are under no obligation. If the quote or the approach is not what you wanted, you are free to say no and call someone else.

Find your town

What the work involves locally depends on where the ductwork is and how hard the system runs.

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