The terrifying incident that got us into chimney work:

The Chimney Sweep Co. is a family-run business started in 1979. It was fateful and frightening incident that got us interested in this field.

My wife and I had moved into a small old house on two and a half acres in Lancaster with plans of someday building a home on the remaining acreage. This old house had no central heat system but did have two woodstoves. One evening I heard a roar, similar to a truck coming up our road. Since it was a dead-end road, I looked outside but didn’t see anything. The noise persisted. I went into the dining room where one of the woodstoves was installed and discovered that the pipes were turning red and vibrating. Panic set in, I called the fire department, having a difficult time remembering my new address and gave them the information. They arrived, checked out the stove, which by this time had quieted down, checked between the roof and the ceiling, and also checked the roof. They said we were lucky, no permanent damage, but told me, “You have to clean these chimneys every year.” Since we had another stove, and I didn‘t want to go through this again, I asked, “Who can I call?” Nobody knew of any chimney sweeps. So I started looking for information at the library. I got phone numbers of sweeps in the New England area who told me who to contact. Along the way, I became interested in the profession and got equipment, lined up all my friends with fireplaces and offered them a free sweep so I could learn how to perform this service.

That was some 25 years ago. Since then, chimney sweeps have formed guilds, which have established classes and workshops around the country. We‘ve come a long way in this field for your family‘s safety. I am a member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild and am on the Board of Directors of the Golden State Chimney Sweep Guild  I’m also certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and hold a CA Contractor‘s license, 612047.