Level 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.
Gas fireplace service
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Cambridge, MA
We’ve cleaned more than 38,000 chimneys since 2009, and the ones that stick with us are the jobs where the homeowner didn’t realize what was up there until we showed them. These aren’t staged photos. They’re what we found, what we did, and what the flue looked like after. Cambridge’s freeze-thaw cycles, coastal humidity, and century-old masonry create problems you can’t see from the hearth.
Recent Transformations
Class III Glazed Creosote Removal, Riverside Neighborhood
The homeowner in Riverside smelled something acrid every time the furnace cycled. We ran the camera up the flue liner and found a half-inch layer of Class III glazed creosote, rock-hard and glossy, coating the terracotta liner from the smoke chamber to the crown. This is the stuff that chimney fires are made of. We used mechanical rotary cleaning with polymer whips to break the glaze, followed by a chemical treatment to dissolve the residue. The after scan showed bare terracotta with the original flue dimensions restored. Written scope, written price, photo record delivered under Haven Standard Clause 4.
Spalling Flue Liner Debris Clear-Out, Mid-Cambridge Triple-Decker
Mid-Cambridge triple-deckers share chimneys, and nobody knows who’s responsible. This flue hadn’t been opened in fourteen years. The camera revealed spalling, flaking terracotta liner shedding shards into the smoke chamber, plus a bird nest at the termination. We extracted three gallons of debris, ran a Level 2 NFPA 211 inspection, and documented every foot. The neighboring unit got the same documentation. No work beyond cleaning was proposed without the photo evidence to back it up.
Smoke Chamber Parging Loss, Harvard Square Condo Conversion
Harvard Square’s converted Victorians have smoke chambers that were never meant for modern inserts. The parging, the mortar layer that smooths the chamber walls, had cracked and fallen away, leaving corbelled brick that trapped soot in every ledge. We cleaned the chamber to bare brick, measured the parging loss at roughly 60 percent, and provided the condo board with camera footage and a written condition report. The cleaning was the immediate need. The parging could wait, and we said so plainly.
Chimney Cap Failure and Flue Blockage, North Cambridge
The cap had rusted through. Rain got in. Leaves packed the flue. A North Cambridge homeowner called because smoke was backing up into the living room on mild days, the ones that should draft fine. We found a sodden mat of organic matter two feet deep above the damper. Cleared it, dried the flue with forced air, and documented the cap failure with photos from the roof. The sweep was straightforward. The cap replacement was quoted separately, in writing, with a Gelco stainless option and a Copperfield copper option. No surprises.
Prefabricated Metal Chimney Creosote Accumulation, Cambridgeport
Prefabricated metal chimneys, common in Cambridgeport’s 1980s condo clusters, don’t have terracotta liners. They have stainless steel or aluminum flue pipes that creosote sticks to differently. This one had never been swept in eight years of wood-pellet stove use. The pellet ash had mixed with condensation to form a cement-like crust at every joint. We used lower-RPM rotary tools to avoid scoring the metal, extracted the buildup, and pressure-tested the joints. The stove ran quieter afterward. The homeowner said the draft felt stronger. We showed him the before-and-after footage so he could see why.
Post-Winter Moisture Damage and Soot Wash, Agassiz Neighborhood
Cambridge’s January thaws do worse damage than the cold. This Agassiz chimney had a hairline crown crack that let water in, freeze, expand, and reopen the gap wider each cycle. By March, the flue was streaked with black alkaline wash, the soot partially dissolved and resolidified in ridges. We cleaned the flue, documented the crown condition with roof-level photos, and provided a written moisture assessment. The cleaning solved the immediate draft problem. The crown repair was quoted as a separate scope with a HeatShield crown seal option. Customer chose to schedule the repair for September. We put it in the system and called in August, as promised.
What Every Job Includes
These aren’t cherry-picked highlights. Every chimney cleaning we perform in Cambridge follows the same protocol:
- Camera-scan inspection, NFPA 211 Level 2, with footage you can watch with us
- Written price before work starts, with scope spelled out in plain language (Haven Standard Clause 1)
- Documented photo record on completion, stored in your file and delivered to you (Haven Standard Clause 4)
- 365-Day Done Right Promise on every job
- Free Second Opinion on any competitor’s written estimate
Materials when repair is needed come through Haven’s buying network: DuraFlex liners, HeatShield resurfacing systems, Gelco and Famco caps, Olympia Chimney components, Copperfield flashing. Prices stay honest because we’re not marking up retail hardware store stock.
What happens when you call
- 1
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.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
BeforeAfterWant Results Like These?
Call (857) 309-1908. A live person answers, 24 hours a day. We’ll book a sweep, quote it in writing before we start, and show you exactly what we found. Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Cambridge, serving Cambridge since 2009.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Cambridge, serving Cambridge since 2009.