About half of Winter Springs homes were built between 1980 and 1999, with a median build year of 1989, and much of that growth came through Tuscawilla’s subdivisions. Here’s how that shapes a sweep.
What a professional sweep involves
Identify the system
Masonry or factory-built, and what the liner is made of, decides the brushes.
Contain the soot
The fireplace opening is closed off so loosened soot stays in the firebox.
Brush the full flue
The flue is brushed end to end, including the smoke shelf and any offsets.
Clear what fell
Soot and debris are collected from the smoke shelf and firebox.
Look at the clean flue
With the soot gone, the liner, damper and cap can be checked.
What Winter Springs flues are like
On a factory-built fireplace this age, the sweep covers the metal flue and the cap, and the refractory panels and damper are checked once they’re clean.
How often Winter Springs chimneys need sweeping
NFPA 211 calls for chimneys to be inspected every year and cleaned when deposits are found (NFPA 211). How often that means a sweep depends on use, not on the calendar. A fireplace lit most winter weekends usually needs one every year; one used a few times a season may go longer, as long as the yearly check says so.
- More than a year since the last sweep or check
- More fires than usual last winter
- Smoldering fires or damp wood, which leave more deposits
- A new home with no service record
Sweeping, cleaning and inspection
A sweep keeps a used fireplace in shape. When a chimney is heavily sooted, smells or has sat idle for years, flue and smoke chamber cleaning in Winter Springs goes further into the smoke chamber and damper. And because soot hides cracks, the most useful inspection is on a freshly swept flue; see Winter Springs chimney inspections.
Winter Springs and neighboring cities
- In the city: We sweep throughout the city, from Tuscawilla and Oak Forest to its newest streets.
- Want it inspected too? Ask for a chimney check on the same trip
- Nearby: Oviedo sweep visits, sweeping for Casselberry fireplaces and flue sweeping in Longwood
- Everything else for the house: chimney, fireplace and vent work in Winter Springs
For the full background, see the complete guide to our sweep service and warning signs that creosote has burned.
References (2)
Figures for Winter Springs and the references used on this page.