Chimney maintenance you can genuinely do yourself
Some of this is worth doing yourself and some of it is not. Here is the honest split, from people who would rather you called us for the right reasons.
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The chimney maintenance genuinely worth doing yourself is burning properly, checking the flue with a torch on a cold fireplace, operating the damper, inspecting the stack from the ground with binoculars, and testing alarms. What is not worth doing yourself is anything on the roof, diagnosis of the flue interior, and glazed creosote — a brush will not remove it.
Smoke coming into the room, flames or roaring in the flue, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounding? Get everyone out and call the fire service first, then call us. We put these calls to the front of the queue.
Worth doing yourself
Burn properly. This affects your chimney more than anything a professional does once a year. Seasoned wood only, no damped-down overnight smouldering, damper fully open, fire built small and brought up hot.
The monthly look. Cold fireplace — at least 24 hours since the last fire — damper open, torch up the throat. Light grey dusty soot is fine. Black flaky deposits mean book a sweep. Anything shiny and tarry means stop using it.
Operate the damper. It should open and close fully without forcing. Stiffness is early information, and rust up there usually means water is getting in from above.
Check the stack from the ground. Binoculars, not a ladder. Missing mortar, flaking brick faces, a visible crown crack, and whether there is actually a cap.
Watch the ceiling beside the chimney breast for staining or damp.
Test your alarms monthly. Illinois requires carbon monoxide alarms within 15 feet of sleeping areas in homes with fuel-burning appliances.
Manage ash. Leave about an inch under the grate — it insulates and reflects heat. Remove the rest into a metal container with a lid. Never a household vacuum; embers survive for days.
Not worth doing yourself
Anything on the roof. This is the firm one. Roof work is where most chimney-related injuries happen, and a chimney sits at the edge of a pitch where a slip becomes serious quickly. Caps, crowns, flashing and chase covers all need fall protection.
Diagnosis. You can see that a flue is dirty. You cannot see whether a clay tile has cracked behind the soot, whether a liner joint has opened, whether the flue is correctly sized for the appliance, or whether framing sits too close to the masonry in the attic.
Glazed creosote. If you can see something tarry, a brush will not shift it and trying harder will not help. It needs a rotary head and sometimes chemical treatment first.
Anything with an animal in it. Do not light a fire to drive it out and do not open the damper to look.
Gas appliance work. Cleaning the glass on a cold unit is fine. The burner, the pilot assembly and the gas valve are not DIY.
The middle ground
Sweeping the straight vertical run with a proper rod-and-brush set is genuinely achievable and people do it successfully. What DIY sweeping almost never covers is the smoke chamber and smoke shelf, which is exactly where buildup concentrates, and it cannot inspect anything.
Treat it as reducing buildup rather than as a substitute for an inspection. If you sweep your own flue, still get a camera inspection periodically — the things that actually cause chimney fires are the things you cannot see from the hearth.
Done the list and something is not right?
That is the point to call. Seven days a week, 7am to 8pm.
DIY chimney questions
Can I sweep my own chimney?
The straight vertical run, yes, with proper rods and brushes. The smoke chamber is usually missed and DIY cannot inspect the liner, so treat it as maintenance rather than a substitute.
Why should I not get on the roof?
It is where most chimney-related injuries happen. A chimney sits at the edge of a pitch, and cap, crown and flashing work all need fall protection.
How do I dispose of ash safely?
Into a metal container with a lid, kept away from the house. Never a household vacuum or a paper bag — live embers survive in ash for days.
Do chimney sweeping logs work?
They can loosen some glazed deposits but they do not remove them from the chimney, and they cannot inspect anything. Adjunct, not replacement.
How do I tell if firewood is dry enough?
Cracks radiating from the cut ends, dull greyish colour, light for its size, and a sharp crack rather than a dull thud when two pieces are knocked together. Under 20 percent on a meter, measured on a freshly split face.
What should make me stop using the fireplace immediately?
Anything shiny and tarry in the flue, evidence of a chimney fire, a strong smoke smell in the room while the fire is drawing, or a carbon monoxide alarm.
Is it safe to use a fireplace I have never lit?
Not until it has been inspected. An unused flue still collects nests and still takes rain through a missing cap.
How often should I do the torch check?
Monthly through the burning season, plus a proper look before the first fire of the year.
Written by Rick Lee, owner of Zenith Chimney Service, Geneva IL. Published September 4, 2026.