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.
DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning in Avondale, IL | Wexford Chimney Sweep
We provide independent DuraFlex chimney cleaning and inspection across Avondale’s 60618 zip code, and the work here looks different than it does in the suburbs. Most Avondale DuraFlex liners live inside pre-1930 brick two- and three-flats where one masonry stack often carries both a basement furnace flue and a first-floor fireplace flue, so a “cleaning” call almost always turns into a flue-separation and vent-safety check. Call (866) 361-2607 for a free estimate.
Why Avondale Residents Choose Us for DuraFlex Service
Norm Sulecki, our owner, grew up a few blocks from the Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero and has been working on chimneys in this part of Cook County for going on two decades. He picked up the fundamentals of heating systems and venting at Triton College in River Grove, then spent years on rooftops before starting Wexford. That background matters when you’re dealing with DuraFlex liners in Avondale’s aging masonry stacks, because the failures here aren’t textbook. We’ve pulled crushed single-wall liners out of offset bends, found top plates corroded through from lake-effect snow, and traced smoke smells back to flues that were never properly separated. We’re a DuraFlex sales & service provider, independent rather than manufacturer-authorized, which means we tell you what the liner actually needs, not what a brand rep wants sold.
Styles & brands we work with
Common DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning Problems We Solve in Avondale
- Crushed liners at offset bends. Avondale’s pre-1930 stacks were built for clay tile, not stainless flex. When a DuraFlex liner gets forced through a 30-degree offset without proper support, it compresses at the bend, creating a creosote trap and a hot spot. We see this constantly on two- and three-flat fireplace flues. The fix is cutting out the damaged section and rerunning the run correctly, not sweeping around it.
- Corroded top plates and cap joints. Heavy lake-effect snow and ice damming on Avondale’s low-slope roofs sit right on top of the chimney. Water pools at the top plate, freezes, thaws, and works its way into the cap joint. By spring, the plate is rusted through and water is running down the liner. We replace top plates and caps before the liner itself starts pitting.
- Insulation wrap breakdown inside the original clay chase. On century-old Avondale chimneys, the original clay tiles are often cracked or spalled. The insulation wrap around a DuraFlex liner is supposed to protect against condensation, but when the chase is compromised, the wrap gets wet, breaks down, and the liner starts sweating internally. Hidden condensation equals hidden corrosion.
- Liner separation at appliance connections. Avondale’s shared stacks routinely connect a basement furnace and a first-floor fireplace to the same masonry structure, often with a DuraFlex liner on the fireplace flue and an old terra cotta flue on the furnace side. When the liner connection at the appliance collar loosens, exhaust gases leak into the chase. We camera-verify every connection before we call a sweep complete.
- Blocked furnace vents hiding behind a “fireplace problem.” A homeowner calls about a smoky fireplace on the first floor. We find the DuraFlex liner in the fireplace flue is fine, but the adjacent furnace flue on the same stack is blocked by a fallen tile shard. That’s the real CO risk. On Avondale shared stacks, we check both flues every time.
DuraFlex Service in Avondale: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s the thing about Avondale’s housing stock that changes how DuraFlex work plays out here. The 1890s-1930 brick two-flats and three-flats that dominate 60618 were built with a single masonry stack serving multiple appliances, typically a basement furnace and a first-floor fireplace. Many of these stacks have been re-roofed or tuckpointed over the years, but the interior clay tile liners were never touched. When we run a DuraFlex liner into that kind of chimney, we’re not just sliding stainless down a clean chase. We’re working around original clay tiles that have spalled, parging that’s crumbled, and offsets that were never designed for flex pipe. On a three-flat near the corner of Belmont and Kimball, we found a DuraFlex single-wall liner in the fireplace flue that had been crushed at a 30-degree offset and was packed with glazed creosote, similar to issues we see providing DuraFlex in Belmont Cragin, while the adjacent furnace flue on the same stack was blocked by a fallen tile shard. We removed the damaged liner section, relined the fireplace flue with an insulated DuraFlex kit, cleared and camera-verified the furnace flue, and installed a new multi-flue cap to keep snow and ice out of both. That’s the Avondale job in a nutshell: a liner call that becomes a flue-separation and vent-safety check because the stack itself is a hundred years old.
DuraFlex Models & Products We Service in Avondale
We service the full DuraFlex lineup common in Avondale chimneys: the SS Flexible Chimney Liner (single-wall), the Insulated Flexible Liner Kit, the Pro Double-Wall Flexible Liner, and the Top Plate and Cap Assemblies. When a part needs replacing, we use OEM DuraFlex top plates, caps, and connector components whenever they’re available. Where OEM supply is slow, we’ll use quality aftermarket insulation and clamps, but we’ll tell you that’s what we’re doing. If a liner is crushed or corroded through, we recommend a full reline rather than patching a compromised run. Patching a liner that’s already failed just moves the failure down the line.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterDuraFlex Service Pricing in Avondale
DuraFlex chimney cleaning in Avondale typically runs $180-$340 for a standard sweep and inspection on a single flue. When the job involves a shared stack with two flues, a camera inspection, or liner repair, the price moves up accordingly. What drives the cost here is the age and configuration of the chimney itself: a century-old three-flat stack with two flues and a compromised chase is a different job than a single-family fireplace. A free estimate tells you exactly what you’re dealing with before any work starts. Call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll give you a straight number.
Serving Avondale, IL — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Avondale area and also provide DuraFlex service in Logan Square, so we know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning in Avondale
A Level 2 inspection is required whenever you’re evaluating a liner system inside a shared masonry stack, because the failure points aren’t visible from the firebox. On an Avondale two-flat, the furnace flue and fireplace flue share the same chimney structure, so we need to camera the full run to check for crushed offsets, separated connections, and hidden corrosion. A sweep cleans the surface; a Level 2 tells you whether the liner is still doing its job. Call (866) 361-2607 to schedule one.
DuraFlex liners are built for cold climates, but the weak points are the top plate and cap assembly, where water pools and freezes. Chicago’s hard freeze-thaw winters put constant stress on those joints, and lake-effect snow makes it worse. The liner itself usually survives, as we’ve seen in West Town DuraFlex service calls; the top plate doesn’t. That’s why we check the cap and plate on every Avondale inspection. If yours is rusted through, we replace it before water gets inside the liner. For an estimate, call (866) 361-2607.
Smoke smell with a liner in place usually means the liner connection at the appliance collar has loosened, or the liner was never properly connected to begin with on the first-floor fireplace. On Avondale shared stacks, we also check the adjacent furnace flue, because a blocked furnace vent can push exhaust into the living space through gaps in the masonry. That’s a CO risk, not just a nuisance. We camera-verify the connections and tell you exactly what we find. Call (866) 361-2607 for an inspection.
If your stack serves more than one flue, yes. A multi-flue cap keeps snow, ice, and rain out of every flue on the stack, not just the one with the liner. On Avondale two- and three-flats, where the furnace flue sits right next to the fireplace flue, leaving the furnace flue uncapped is a standing invitation for water damage and blockages. We install multi-flue caps that cover the entire stack. For pricing, call (866) 361-2607.
Signs of a failing liner include visible rust on the cap or top plate, smoke smells inside the unit, flaking creosote falling back into the firebox, or a furnace that’s suddenly drafting poorly. On Avondale chimneys, the most common cause is hidden corrosion from insulation wrap breakdown inside the old clay chase, a problem we also address with DuraFlex repair in East Garfield Park. A camera inspection tells you definitively. If the liner is crushed or corroded through, we recommend a full reline, not a patch. Call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll take a look.
Service Areas Near Avondale
We serve Avondale and the surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs throughout the western edge of Chicago. That includes Avondale service area coverage plus DuraFlex service in Cicero, DuraFlex service in Berwyn, North Lawndale, South Lawndale, Stickney, and West Garfield Park. If you’re nearby and dealing with a shared-stack chimney, call us.
Book Your DuraFlex Service in Avondale Today
If your Avondale chimney has a DuraFlex liner that hasn’t been inspected in years, or you’re smelling smoke you can’t explain, call (866) 361-2607. We’ll schedule a Level 2 inspection, camera the full run, and tell you exactly what you’re working with. Free estimates, straight answers, and the work done right the first time.
Written by Norm Sulecki, Owner at Wexford Chimney Sweep, serving Avondale since 2005.