A St. Paul, MN chimney sweep for old brick stacks, neighborhood by neighborhood

St. Paul brick by neighborhood: what does your street tell us?

St. Paul is not one kind of chimney. Different neighborhoods grew in different periods, so we ask where you live before we ask anything else. This is how we read a few of them.

We work in every St. Paul neighborhood, from the Greater East Side to Hamline-Midway. Tell us the neighborhood and the house, and we sort out the rest on the phone.

In Highland Park, newer and older houses sit side by side, so we assume nothing from the street name. We read the cap and flashing on the roof first and the type of fireplace inside. A building with several units may have one stack serving more than one of them. Tell us how many units share it, and we plan the visit around that.

Repoint, repair or rebuild: where is the line?

Water is behind most masonry damage. It gets in through a cracked crown or worn joints, turns to ice in winter and pushes the brick apart a little more each season. Stopping the way in protects everything below it.

Repoint when the joints are worn and the brick is sound. Repair when the problem is a cracked crown, a rusted cap or failed flashing. Rebuild when brick crumbles or the stack has moved. The first two protect a chimney, and the last one replaces part of it.

From the ground you can spot a lean, missing mortar or a broken crown. A leaning chimney is a different matter: keep people and cars clear of the base and call us before anyone lights a fire.

Moving into an older St. Paul house: what to check before the first fire

A fireplace nobody has used for years is a question mark. A few checks answer part of it.

1. Look into the opening for cracked brick, loose mortar or a damper plate sitting crooked.
2. Shine a flashlight up the flue, from a safe distance, and note anything that hangs, blocks or crumbles.
3. Scan the ceiling and walls near the chimney for stains or peeling paint.
4. From the yard, look at the roof line for a lean, a missing cap or loose brick.
5. Call us before you light anything, and we will tell you what the flue can carry.

What a St. Paul chimney visit looks like

Drop cloths go down at the fireplace, and the work area stays tidy. For a sweep we brush the flue and clear the soot. For an inspection we look from the firebox up and from the roof edge down, with a camera when the job calls for it. After that we walk you through what we found, and you choose what happens next.

Smoke pouring into a room, or a roar in the flue, means everyone leaves and someone calls 911. The NFPA heating safety page describes the signs.

Gas fireplaces and dryer vents in St. Paul homes

Older houses often gain a gas fireplace or insert over time, and the old flue behind it may need a liner. We service the fireplace, handle the gas line work ourselves and clean dryer vents on the same trip if you ask. A vent in a duplex or an apartment building can run a long way to the outside, and the run is what we clear. Starting prices for each job live on the services page.

Can I just fix the old brick myself?

Looking from the ground is yours to do. Climbing on a roof, cutting out mortar or fitting a liner is not DIY work, because height and a flue that carries fumes are a bad mix. Call us, and we say what can wait and what cannot.

My house smells like a campfire when it is humid. Why?

Soot and creosote hold the smell, and warm, damp air pushes it into the room. A sweep removes the source, and an inspection tells you whether the flue itself is the problem.