Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Chimney Sweep Across West Englewood
Chimney sweeping in West Englewood usually costs $189 – $289 for a standard inspection and cleaning, and it’s rarely about creosote. Most homes in this part of Chicago’s South Side were built before 1930, which means the real work in 60636 is evaluating masonry stacks that were sealed, capped, or converted to gas decades ago and never looked at again. We know these blocks, from the brick two-flats along Ashland to the frame cottages off 63rd, and we know what a dormant coal-era flue looks like when it finally gets opened. If you’re wondering whether your chimney is safe after years of sitting unused, call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll come take an honest look.
Why Wexford Chimney Sweep Is West Englewood’s Preferred Chimney Sweep Company
Our name carries a craft-trade weight that matters in West Englewood, where the housing stock is old enough that every chimney has a history. Norm Sulecki has built Wexford around one principle: sweep it, inspect it, and if something’s wrong, we fix it ourselves. Homeowners in 60636 don’t need a service that cleans the flue and then hands them a referral slip when the camera finds a problem. They need one company that can handle both the cleaning and the repair.
What sets us apart here is what we carry on the truck. We stock and install DuraFlex flexible liner systems, HeatShield liner repair products, Gelco and Famco caps and covers, Olympia Chimney components, and Copperfield hardware. These are the brands chimney contractors nationwide trust, not the generic substitutes you’d find at a hardware store. When a West Englewood chimney needs a new cap or a repaired liner section, we have the parts and the training to do it in one visit. That’s the difference between a specialist and a franchise sweep crew that shows up with a brush and a camera and nothing else.
Styles & brands we work with
Fireplace Cleaning in West Englewood
Fireplace cleaning in West Englewood is a different job than it is in the suburbs, because so many of these fireplaces haven’t been used for heating in a generation. A standard cleaning on an older brick two-flat off Ashland typically runs $189 – $289, and the work involves more than brushing out the flue. We’re looking at the condition of the firebox brick, checking whether the damper still seals, and confirming the chimney cap is actually doing its job. In this neighborhood, a missing cap is the start of every problem you’ll ever have with that chimney.
Creosote and Soot Removal
If the fireplace has been used recently, creosote removal is part of the standard sweep. Left alone, creosote ignites at around 451°F, and a hot fire in an older fireplace can reach that in minutes. Our brushes and HEPA-filtered vacuum keep the dust contained while the flue is cleaned from top to bottom. For West Englewood homes with gas logs instead of wood, soot removal is lighter work, but it’s still necessary: gas produces a fine, corrosive residue that coats damper hardware and corrodes old cast iron faster than most homeowners realize.
Annual Sweep and Inspection Records
For anyone with a working fireplace in 60636, an annual sweep is the cheapest insurance you’ll ever buy. We document the condition of the flue with photos every year so you can see exactly what’s changing. When a problem develops slowly, those records are what let us catch a failing clay tile before it collapses, instead of after. That’s the kind of service that matters in West Englewood, where the chimneys are old enough that small problems don’t stay small for long.
Chimney Services in West Englewood
Chimney services in West Englewood go well beyond a brush through the flue, because these chimneys need evaluation more often than they need cleaning. A full service call on an older home in this neighborhood typically runs $289 – $489 depending on what the camera inspection finds. We don’t quote liner work on a hunch. We run a camera down the flue, show you the footage on our screen, and explain precisely what’s wrong before any recommendation is made. If the problem is a bird nest and some fallen tile above a closed damper, that’s all we’ll recommend fixing.
Leak Diagnosis and Crown Repair
When water is coming through the chimney chase or staining the wall around the firebox, the fault is usually the crown or the flashing, not the flue itself. Chicago’s freeze-thaw cycles chew up mortar and soft early-1900s brick, and once a crack opens in the crown, the freeze-thaw cycle widens it every winter. We repair crowns, re-flash the roof penetration, and re-point masonry with material matched to the original brick color so the repair doesn’t stand out.
Liner Assessment and HeatShield
Most chimneys in West Englewood were built for coal furnaces and either left unlined or fitted with clay tile. Clay tile cracks with age and heat cycling, and once it cracks, the flue leaks combustion gases where they shouldn’t go. HeatShield liner repair lets us restore a compromised flue without a full reline in qualifying cases, using the same professional-grade material restoration contractors spec on commercial jobs. If a full reline is warranted, we install DuraFlex flexible liner systems, the industry standard for retrofit chimneys.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in West Englewood
We work with six professional-grade product lines because West Englewood chimneys deserve better than hardware-store substitutes: DuraFlex flexible liner systems for full relining, HeatShield for flue restoration when a full reline isn’t necessary, Gelco caps and covers for keeping weather and animals out, Olympia Chimney components, Famco venting hardware, and Copperfield chase tops and flashings. Because we stock these parts locally in Cicero, we can do most West Englewood repairs on the first visit instead of ordering parts and coming back. When an old two-flat on 63rd needs a new cap, a HeatShield repair, and a leak fixed, one call to (866) 361-2607 handles the whole list.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Sweep Problems We See in West Englewood Homes
- Capped or sealed flues that have never been swept. When a West Englewood building went vacant or converted to gas, someone capped the chimney and that was the end of the maintenance. We regularly open these and find collapsed clay tile, decades of debris, and nests piled above the damper.
- Spalled brick and failed mortar from freeze-thaw cycles. Chicago winters are brutal on soft early-1900s brick, and humid summers don’t help. The flat terrain across 60636 means nothing blocks the wind, and lake-effect cold snaps push moisture into every crack until it freezes and pops the face off the brick.
- Clay-tile flues cracked from decades of dormant heat cycling. Tiles that handled coal heat in the 1920s and then sat cold for forty years crack when the first gas appliance cycles hot and cold. We see this most often in rehabbed two-flats where a furnace install exposed a flue nobody had inspected.
- Poor drafting from tall, narrow chimneys on two-flats. West Englewood’s flat terrain and dense rooflines create negative pressure zones around tall stacks, especially in winter when a furnace and water heater are both firing. Drafting problems on a calm day usually point to a structural issue inside the flue, not wind.
Pricing for Chimney Sweep in West Englewood, IL
A standard chimney sweep and Level 1 inspection in West Englewood runs $189 – $289. A Level 2 camera inspection, which we recommend when a chimney has been dormant or capped, adds $100 – $150 to that total. Leak diagnosis and crown repair typically falls between $350 – $800 depending on access and the extent of the masonry work. HeatShield liner repair usually runs $850 – $1,200 for a standard two-flat chimney, and a full DuraFlex re-line runs $1,500 – $3,000 depending on the flue dimensions and roof access. The only number that matters before you start is zero: the estimate is free. Call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll give you a real number for your exact chimney, not a range off a website.
We Also Serve Cities Near West Englewood
Our Chimney Sweep team covers West Englewood and the surrounding South Side neighborhoods, including Chimney Sweep service in Chicago Lawn, West Elsdon, West Lawn, and New City. If you’re in one of those areas or just outside the 60636 boundary, call us. We’re local, we know these blocks, and we’ll be honest about what your chimney actually needs. Most of our Chimney Sweep in West Englewood customers come from referrals within these neighborhoods, because the old two-flats and cottages here all share the same chimney problems.
Serving West Englewood, IL — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the West Englewood area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Sweep in West Englewood
Yes. The City of Chicago requires a chimney inspection before any furnace or appliance replacement, and in West Englewood that rule exists for a reason: most of these flues haven’t been looked at since the original coal burner was removed. We run a camera down the stack, document everything on video, and give you a report showing exactly what condition the flue is in. Call (866) 361-2607 to schedule the inspection, and we’ll have the paperwork ready for your HVAC contractor.
Yes, usually more than a chimney that’s been in regular use. A capped chimney is a sealed cavity, which means anything that got in before the cap went on has been sitting there ever since. We’ve opened West Englewood chimneys and found bird nests, collapsed clay tile, and enough debris to fully block the flue. The sweep clears all of it, and then the camera tells us whether the structure of the flue survived the dormancy or needs repair.
Yes, and we’ll show you. Nothing gets recommended without camera evidence you can see on our screen. If your chimney is unlined, we’ll explain what that means for your specific appliance, whether the flue can be restored with HeatShield or needs a full DuraFlex re-line, and we’ll show you the footage that supports the recommendation. No pressure, just the facts you need to make a decision. Call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll schedule the inspection.
In West Englewood, the usual cause is a flue that’s partially blocked or a stack that’s too tall and narrow for the appliance it’s serving. When nothing is burning, the chimney still has to vent furnace and water heater exhaust, and a restricted flue can’t do that properly. The fix is almost always a camera inspection to find the restriction, followed by whatever the camera shows. Usually it’s debris or a collapsed tile, and usually the repair is less expensive than the homeowner expected.
We start by inspecting the firebox and damper, then brush the full flue with flexible rods sized to your chimney. The real work in West Englewood comes next: a camera inspection of the full flue, from the smoke chamber to the crown, so we can see every cracked tile, failed mortar joint, and obstruction in one pass. You get a photo report and an honest evaluation. Some chimneys need nothing more than a cleaning. Others need real repair. You’ll know which one yours is before we quote anything. Call (866) 361-2607 for a free estimate.
Written by Norm Sulecki, Owner at Wexford Chimney Sweep, serving West Englewood from our base in Cicero, IL since 1996.