Chimney Sweep in Malden, MA

It depends on how deep the damage runs. A lot of Malden chimneys sit on an exterior wall where the brick takes wind-driven rain and freeze-thaw all winter, so you get face spalling in the top few feet while the brick below the roofline is still sound. That's usually a repoint or a rebuild of the exposed section above the roof, not the whole chimney. We rebuild from lower down when the mortar has washed out through multiple courses, when the crown is broken up and water has been getting into the core for years, or when the flue tiles inside have cracked along with it. On the older frame houses near Malden Center with aging clay tile, the liner condition often decides it: if the tiles are shot but the masonry shell is good, a reline costs less than tearing the stack down. We'll tell you which one you're looking at after we've seen the crown, the top courses, and the inside of the flue.

Water, more than fire. The two recurring problems here are flashing leaks at the chimney-roof junction and spalling brick on exterior-wall chimneys. Malden gets heavy snow accumulation and ice damming, and when ice backs up against a chimney the water finds any gap in the step flashing or counterflashing and runs down into the wall. People usually notice it as a stain on a bedroom ceiling near the chimney, not as a chimney problem at all. Beyond that: cracked crowns, deteriorated clay tile in the 1900–1930 two-families and bungalows, and on the postwar capes and ranches toward the Fells, rusted or warped prefab metal fireboxes and chase covers that have been leaking quietly for years.

What moves the number in Malden is the number of flues and the roof. Older frame homes commonly have one or two masonry fireplaces plus a separate heating flue, and each flue is its own job, so a two-family with fireplaces up and down costs more than a single ranch. Access matters too: steep roofs and tall exterior-wall stacks take longer and sometimes need different setup than a short chimney on a low-slope ranch. A straightforward sweep on a lightly used fireplace is at the low end. Heavy creosote from years without cleaning, or a flue that needs a camera run because the tile is suspect, takes more time. We give you the figure before we start, and if we find something during the sweep we stop and talk to you rather than adding to the bill.

Burning season in Malden runs roughly November through March and most people here burn lightly and occasionally, so the best time to call is late summer or early fall when the schedule is open. Once the first cold snap hits, our Malden calendar fills quickly and routine sweeps go out further. For a leak or a chimney that's just started smoking back into the room, we work those in sooner. If you call outside of the fall rush you'll typically get a slot within a few days.

Sometimes, depending on the day's route through the north-of-Boston towns. Active leaks and anything that looks like a safety problem get priority over scheduled cleanings. One caveat specific to winter here: if there's snow or ice on the roof, we can inspect from inside the flue and from the attic and assess the chimney from the ground, but we won't walk an iced roof to work on flashing. We'll diagnose it, stop what we can, and schedule the roof-side repair for a clear day.