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 North Lawndale
Chimney sweeping in North Lawndale typically runs between $149 and $299 for a standard fireplace or furnace flue, with the job completed in one to two hours. The difference here versus a suburban single-family home is that most North Lawndale properties are brick two-flats and three-flats where one interior masonry chimney may serve multiple units. That shared-venting reality means we book a little extra time to trace every appliance connected to the stack before we put a brush to it. If you’re off Douglas Boulevard, Kedzie, or anywhere in the 60623 zip, call (866) 361-2607 and we’ll talk through what you’re seeing.
Why Wexford Chimney Sweep Is North Lawndale’s Preferred Chimney Sweep Company
We work in North Lawndale regularly, and the houses here teach you things you cannot learn from a training manual. Rows of 1890s to 1920s brick two-flats and three-flats along Lawndale Avenue and Douglas Boulevard share interior masonry chimneys, and those stacks have been absorbing Chicago weather for a century. Freeze-thaw cycles crack mortar crowns. Humid summers spall the brick face. The original clay tile liners, when they’re still intact, have often split along the seams from decades of thermal expansion. We know what that looks like before we even get on the roof because we’ve swept hundreds of these exact buildings.
Being based in Cicero puts us close enough to reach North Lawndale without treating it like a far-flung service call. When a property owner off West 16th Street calls about soot falling into a rear kitchen, we understand the likely cause: a basement furnace and a first-floor stove venting into the same unlined flue with a missing cleanout door in the gangway. That’s not a guess. That’s a pattern we see repeatedly in this neighborhood’s housing stock. Our Chimney Sweep team is led by Norm Sulecki, and every job gets the same tracing-first discipline whether it’s a greystone on Kedzie or a rehabbed three-flat near Douglass Park.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Maintenance in North Lawndale
Chimney Maintenance in North Lawndale means keeping a shared stack safe for every household that vents into it. A standard maintenance visit runs $149 to $225 and includes sweeping the flue, checking the smoke chamber and firebox, clearing the cleanout, and doing a visual assessment of the crown, cap, and exposed brick from the roof. In a two-flat or three-flat, this is not a luxury service. It is the only way to catch a cracked clay tile liner before carbon monoxide finds its way into an upper unit.
Annual Sweep Before Burn Season
The annual sweep is the workhorse appointment. We remove creosote, soot, and any debris that slipped past a missing cap. In North Lawndale’s dense low-rise blocks, a missing cap is common, and summer downdrafts push flue gases back toward upper floors. A clean flue and an intact cap fix that.
Level 1 Inspection Included
Every maintenance visit includes a Level 1 inspection of the accessible portions of the chimney. We check the liner’s visible condition, the damper operation, and whether the flue is sized correctly for the appliances it serves. When we suspect hidden damage, we recommend a Level 2 inspection with a camera before anyone burns again.
Chimney Sweep Services in North Lawndale
Chimney Sweep Services in North Lawndale start with a full sweep of every connected flue, not just the one attached to the fireplace. Cost lands between $199 and $299 depending on how many appliances share the stack and how much creosote has accumulated. The critical step, and the one that separates a proper sweep from a rushed job, is mapping the venting paths first. A basement furnace and a first-floor stove on the same stack behave differently when cleaned together than when cleaned as if they were independent.
Creosote and Soot Removal
We remove first-degree creosote with a rotary brush and vacuum system, keeping the workspace clean. Third-degree glazed creosote, which we encounter in flues that have been neglected through several Chicago winters, requires chemical treatment followed by mechanical removal. In either case, the goal is a flue surface that will not ignite.
Fireplace Cleaning for Multi-Unit Buildings
When a single stack serves multiple floors, fireplace cleaning is as much about the shared smoke chamber as it is about the individual firebox. Soot that accumulates in a common chamber migrates. We clear it, and we confirm that dampers in unoccupied units close properly so a neighbor’s fire does not smoke out the apartment above.
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 North Lawndale
We stock and install the product lines chimney contractors actually use, not what you find on a hardware store shelf. DuraFlex flexible liner systems are our standard for relining compromised flues in North Lawndale’s older brick buildings. Olympia Chimney and Copperfield caps and dampers keep water, birds, and downdrafts out of shared stacks. We keep common sizes on hand, which means a liner or cap replacement along Lawndale Avenue does not wait for a parts order to ship. HeatShield liner repair is available for qualifying flues where the original clay tile has cracked but the surrounding masonry is sound.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Sweep Problems We See in North Lawndale Homes
- Soot fallout into rear kitchens. When a basement furnace and a first-floor stove share a flue with no cap and a missing cleanout door, combustion debris falls back into the living space when the furnace cycles on. The fix is a proper cleanout door, a cap, and often a liner to separate the venting paths.
- Spalled clay tile liners in 1920s stacks. The original terra cotta liners in North Lawndale’s brick two-flats and three-flats crack from a century of thermal cycling. Those cracks allow flue gases to seep into wall cavities and adjacent apartments, which is a carbon monoxide risk no sweeping alone will solve.
- Missing chimney caps and summer downdrafts. Low-rise attached buildings create wind patterns that push flue gases down uncapped stacks when the furnace or water heater runs in summer. A missing cap is the most common single defect we find on roofs between Pulaski and Western.
- Shared flues where one appliance was never traced. If a previous service only swept the fireplace flue and ignored the furnace stack, creosote keeps building in the bypassed portion. In attached buildings, that residue can back-draft into upper units. Every appliance on the stack needs to be identified and accounted for before cleaning begins.
Pricing for Chimney Sweep in North Lawndale, IL
A standard chimney sweep in North Lawndale runs $199 to $299 for a single flue with one connected appliance. When a basement furnace and a first-floor stove share the stack, expect $249 to $349 because we clean and inspect both venting paths. A Level 1 inspection is included with every sweep. A Level 2 camera inspection adds $150 to $300 and is worth it on any 1890s to 1920s building where the clay tile liner has not been evaluated in years. We do not quote a liner or cap installation until we have camera evidence the owner can see. Call (866) 361-2607 for a free estimate, and we’ll give you a flat price before any work begins.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Lawndale
Wexford Chimney Sweep covers North Lawndale and the surrounding West Side neighborhoods. If you own a property in Chimney Sweep in North Lawndale, we are also regularly in South Lawndale, McKinley Park, West Garfield Park, and the Lower West Side. The same tracing-first approach applies everywhere we go, because the housing stock in each of these neighborhoods shares the same century-old brick construction and multi-unit venting patterns.
Serving North Lawndale, IL — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Lawndale 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 North Lawndale
Every year, before burn season. A chimney serving multiple units accumulates creosote faster than a single-family flue, and the consequences of a clog or liner crack affect more people. If the building has a basement furnace on the same stack, the fall inspection is not negotiable. Call (866) 361-2607 to get on the fall schedule before the rush.
Soot falling into a rear kitchen almost always means the furnace shares a flue with a fireplace or stove, and there is a missing or damaged cleanout door somewhere in the stack. The furnace’s exhaust pressure pushes loose soot out through the path of least resistance, which is often the gap where a cleanout door should be. We trace the full stack, replace the door, and clean the accumulated debris.
Yes, and in North Lawndale’s attached two-flats and three-flats it is common. Shared masonry chimneys often have multiple flues running side by side, and if a liner has cracked or a flue partition has failed, a neighbor’s furnace or stove can vent into a flue that serves your unit. That is a carbon monoxide hazard. A Level 2 camera inspection will show whether cross-flue communication is happening. Call (866) 361-2607 to schedule one.
First-degree creosote is flaky and brushable; third-degree is a hard, glazed tar that resists mechanical removal and burns intensely if ignited. In North Lawndale’s shared stacks, an upper unit running a smoldering fire can deposit third-degree creosote that then becomes the ignition point for a chimney fire that affects every unit on the stack. We chemically treat and remove glazed creosote rather than leaving it in place.
Yes. Original clay tile liners are a fact of life in North Lawndale’s housing stock, and we inspect them on every visit. Where cracks are minor, HeatShield liner repair may be an option. Where the liner has spalled badly or the flue serves multiple appliances, a DuraFlex stainless steel liner is the standard solution. We will show you camera footage before recommending either route.
Written by Norm Sulecki, Owner at Wexford Chimney Sweep, serving North Lawndale and the West Side from our base in Cicero, IL.