Earliest Availability: The Week of OCTOBER 20th Thru 26th
Four Categories of Chimney Appliances
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Fireplace Inserts
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Free-Standing Stoves
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Free-Standing Stoves
Home-Heating Systems
Open-Faced Fireplaces
Free-Standing Stoves
Work Space
1) A competent person at least 18 yrs old and who can represent the household must be available on-site to grant access indoors, and to accept the invoice to post payment in full upon completion.
2) A clear path from the point of entry to the work area must be made prior to arrival. Technicians will not place their dirty hands on your furniture.
3) Obstructing furniture and personal effects on floor level within a 5' x 7' area must be moved prior to arrival to lay down a tarp. If area rugs are rolled back, they still must remain 7 feet back.
4) Ceiling fans, A/C, and attic fans must be turned off for the duration of the appointment. All windows and doors must be closed.
5) Two electrical outlets are required - one local to the room where work is being performed and one on a separate circuit in another room, so breakers aren't tripped. The vacuum cannot be allowed to accidentally shut off mid-service due to a tripped breaker.
Recent Usage
Appointments for wood-burning fireplaces, inserts, and stoves will be terminated if used within 48 hours prior the appointment.
Snow & Access
Appointments will be terminated whereas driveways and walkways are not cleared of snow.
Ash Removal
Cleaning out ash is user-level maintenance. A surcharge is added for removal due to EPA-Certified disposal costs.
Weather Considerations
Appointments are weather-permitting, and rain and snow will result in rescheduling.
Pets
Household pets must be separated and secured from the work space (the area from your front door to your chimney). Pictured: my Princess Stuka, the bestest and prettiest good-girl ever.
Renovations
Appointments will be terminated if working in unfinished rooms currently being remodeled.
Tutorials
Test fires will not be performed post-servicing.
Buying & Selling
Observable defects and violations in building code will be annotated on the invoice, and clients will assume liability for continued use post-servicing.
Cooties!
Households with sneezy-coughy-drippy children and adults are expected to call to reschedule.
Interior & Outdoor Photo Examples
CHIMNEYS (EXTERIOR)
Required for service requests regarding everything other than fireplace and fireplace insert chimney sweeping (i.e. caps, heating systems, free-standing stoves). Photos must be zoomed-out from ground level to outline roof composition, pitch, height of the chimney above roofline, and ground-level obstructions like shrubbery. Do not send zoomed-in photos.
WOOD BURNING (INTERIOR)
Required to identify your appliance type, and to prevent appliance misidentification (ex. factor-prefab fireplace vs fireplace insert, which home owners frequently misname). Doors and screens must be open to highlight both fireplace or stove interior firebox, as well as the surrounding area and hearth. Best quality photos are taken approx ten feet away. Do not send photos with the fireplace, insert, or stove lit on fire.
HOME-HEATING (INTERIOR)
Appliance vent pipe configuration from the wall entry to the appliance connection must be present in photo submissions. Zooming in to highlight only the appliance(s) or only where vent pipes enter the chimney wall provides no useful information.
DRYER VENTS (EXTERIOR)
Similarly for heating systems and stoves, I need to better understand if I can safely access the outdoor vent termination for a dryer appliance if it is on the 2nd floor. Roof access is dependent on the weather and the time of year. Roof-borne services are typically rescinded through out the winter months.
Homeowners are NOT being asked to access their own roofs.
Appointment &
Service Information
Fireplace Grates & Dampers
I'll remove your heavy and dirty grate after laying down a clean tarp. Pictured above is a Thermo-Rite grate. These are integral to some models of glass door sets, and usually cannot be removed. These may cause the price to increase due to hindered access, additional labor, and time spent.
Large recirculators and heat exchanger grates (above) obstruct access to the damper, and chimney brushes cannot pass unless the recirculator is removed. These cause the price to increase due to hindered access and increased labor as well.
Dampers are extracted for masonry fireplaces. The retaining pin holding the damper handle to the damper blade is removed to gain access to the fireplace's smoke chamber. This is necessary prep-work, and is required to pass chimney brushes into the smoke chamber.
Occasionally, the cotter pin may be seized, or instead of a pin, a nut/bolt or bent nail will be present. Seized cotter pins and nut/bolt hardware will be cut out using an angle grinder, and replaced with a new, stainless steel cotter pin. Price is subject to increase.
Replacement of these retention pins is sometimes subject to a price increase due to additional time and labor spent on the service. A functions check is performed after reinstalling all dampers.
Damper cables for these aftermarket solutions sometimes have to be retracted from above for fireplace chimney sweeping services. This is performed by accessing the top of the chimney. Price is subject to increase.
Be advised, a follow-up service post-season may be required if you're scheduling during the winter, if your roof and chimney top cannot be safely accessed. Weather-related conditions will restrict roof and ladder access.
While fireplaces can still be serviced by means of conventional, static sweeping brushes, occasionally it yields sub-par results compared to the preferred method of rotary sweeping.
Gas Fireplaces
MFC is not a licensed plumber, and will not work on malfunctioning gas appliances, to include lighting pilot lights.
LEFT Open-faced gas logs: the chimney is usually swept one last time prior to conversion from wood-burning, as it will no longer require sweeping post-conversion. For evaluations, the pilot light must be OFF for at least two hours prior to arrival.
RIGHT Sealed gas inserts: a licensed plumber (preferably the installer) must be called for servicing and maintenance.
Rooftop & Other Considerations
While not uncommon, stone caps are becoming more infrequent due to no longer being permissible under building code (R1003.9.3). Free-standing wood stove and home-heating appliance chimneys with stone caps cannot be serviced from the roof with this type of cap configuration, and services will be retracted.
Temporary fan emplacement up top and/or the usage of a heat gun at the bottom are sometimes deployed to counter down-draft. A down-draft will stop me in my tracks due to soot spillage concerns. Plan accordingly for appointment rescheduling if your chimney has a down-draft and if your roof is snow-covered.
Roofs comprised of slate, Spanish tile, wood shake, metal, or roofs with solar panels will not be accessed due to safety and damage considerations. Slate and solar panels are fragile and expensive; excluding asphalt shingles, these listed roof types have poor traction, especially when slightly damp or wet.
Electric fireplaces do not burn any type of fuel, and therefore don't vent exhaust into a chimney. Most are stood up against a wall, nowhere close to an actual chimney structure. This means there is no such thing as chimney sweeping for these "appliances," as they're nothing more than bougie space heaters.
Unlined Masonry Fireplace with Wood Insert-Stove
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Unlined Masonry Fireplace with Wood Insert-Stove
Both NFPA-211 regulation and IRC R1003.12 building code require this application to have a stainless, insulated chimney lining system installed throughout the entirety of the chimney height.
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Wood Insert-Stove
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Unlined Masonry Fireplace with Wood Insert-Stove
Not permitted under NFPA-211 regulation and IRC R1004.1 and R1005.1, as UL-1777 compliance for the lining system isn't achieved and UL-127 is violated according to both the fireplace and liner manufacturers.
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Not permitted under NFPA-211 regulation and IRC R1004.1 and R1005.1, as UL-1777 compliance for the lining system isn't achieved and UL-127 is violated according to both the fireplace and liner manufacturers.
Heat-form Steel Box Fireplaces
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
Factory-Prefab Fireplace with Free-Standing Stove
The installation of any insert or stove inside a heat-form style fireplace violates UL-1390 and NFPA-211. Correct installation requires the entire steel box assembly to be cut and removed, and high-heat rated fire brick used to reconstruct.
Adoption of...
N.J.A.C. 5:23 (1996)
New Jersey adopted the ICC's IRC as its, state-wide building code standard in 1996. Grandfathering is permitted for no greater than a 6 month period after the release of a new publication. The latest publication of "Chapter 10: Chimneys & Fireplaces" is January 2024.
Services Not Supported
Sealed Gas Fireplaces
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
Pellet Inserts & Stoves
Pellet Inserts & Stoves
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
Pellet Inserts & Stoves
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
Wood Furnaces
Wood Ovens (Anything Food-Grade)
1st Gen Heat-Form Fireplaces
Unlined Fireplace Inserts
Wood Ovens (Anything Food-Grade)
Wood Ovens (Anything Food-Grade)