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.
Trusted Chimney Sweep for Pasadena Homeowners
A chimney sweep in Pasadena removes creosote buildup, soot, and blockages from your flue so smoke and combustion gases exit the house the way they’re supposed to. Most Pasadena homes should have this done once a year, especially if you burn wood more than twice a week during the cooler months. Flint Chimney Co Pasadena has served the area since 2002 as part of the Garrison Partners family, and every job starts the same way: a written price before any tool comes off the truck. Call (626) 657-5513 and a live person answers, day or night.
What sets us apart in Pasadena isn’t a slogan. It’s the Garrison Standard, the operating code every Garrison Partners location follows. That means background-checked, uniformed technicians. A written price you approve before work begins. And the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if a covered repair fails within one full year, we return at no charge, no argument. Hank Delano leads our crew with one rule: put everything in writing or don’t put it at all.
We also do full Chimney Sweep in Pasadena inspections and the repairs that follow. If you’re in Chimney Sweep in Glendale or Chimney Sweep in Burbank territory, we cover those areas too. For now, let’s talk about what a sweep actually involves and what it costs here in Pasadena.
Chimney Sweep Services
Chimney Sweep Services cover the full removal of creosote, soot, and any debris from your flue, smoke chamber, damper, and firebox. You need this when you’ve burned a cord of wood or more since your last cleaning, when you notice a campfire-like smell in the house even with no fire going, or when it’s simply been more than 12 months since the last sweep. In Pasadena, a standard sweep typically runs $169 to $249 for a single-flue chimney with normal buildup, and we’ll put that number in writing before starting.
Level 1 Sweep With Visual Check
This is our standard residential sweep for chimneys that ventilate properly and have no known damage. We run rotary brushes through the full flue length, vacuum with a HEPA-filtered system so no dust enters your living space, and visually inspect the accessible portions of your chimney. The price includes the sweep, the inspection notes, and a photo report you can keep.
Heavy Creosote Removal
When tar-like creosote has glazed onto the flue walls, standard brushing isn’t enough. This happens more often in Pasadena than people expect, especially in older Craftsman homes with unlined or clay-tile flues that run cooler than modern insulated liners. We use rotary chains and chemical treatments to break down the glaze, and this adds $50 to $120 to the standard sweep price depending on severity. We’ll show you camera footage before we quote the extra work.
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.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Cleaning
Chimney Cleaning is the physical removal of creosote, soot, and foreign material from the interior of your chimney so your fireplace burns safely and efficiently. You need it when you see black, shiny residue on the damper or flue walls, when birds or rodents have nested (common in Pasadena’s older neighborhoods with mature trees), or when smoke rolls back into the room instead of rising cleanly. Flint Chimney Co Pasadena charges $169 to $249 for a standard chimney cleaning, with the final number in writing before we start.
Creosote Logs: What They Do and Don’t Do
You’ve probably seen creosote-sweeping logs at the hardware store. They loosen some flaky creosote but they don’t remove it, so they’re not a substitute for a manual cleaning. We recommend them only as a maintenance aid between professional visits, never as the yearly service itself. The residue they loosen still needs to be vacuumed out by a technician with the right equipment.
Animal Nest Removal
Pasadena sits against the foothills, which means raccoons, squirrels, and birds regularly find their way into uncapped chimneys. A nest packed in the flue is a fire hazard and a carbon monoxide risk because it blocks exhaust airflow. We remove the nest, sanitize the flue, and recommend a chimney cap from Olympia Chimney or Famco to keep it from happening again. Expect this to add $75 to $150 to a standard sweep.
Fireplace Cleaning
Fireplace Cleaning addresses the firebox itself, the area where the wood actually burns, plus the damper and the visible interior face of the fireplace. You need it when ash has built up more than an inch, when soot stains have darkened the firebrick, or when you notice a lingering smoke smell even days after your last fire. A standalone fireplace cleaning in Pasadena generally runs $99 to $159 when done as part of a full chimney sweep, and we’ll document everything in writing.
Firebox and Damper Servicing
Ash is corrosive. Left sitting in the firebox, it draws moisture and slowly eats at the firebrick and the metal damper plate. We vacuum the firebox completely, wire-brush the damper, and lubricate the hinge mechanism if it’s stiff. If your damper doesn’t seal fully when closed, we’ll flag it because that’s how heated air escapes your home all winter.
Glass Door and Screen Cleaning
Many Pasadena homes have factory-built fireplaces with glass doors. The glass gets a cloudy film from smoke and soot that household cleaners won’t cut through. We use a non-abrasive paste cleaner made specifically for fireplace glass, then wipe down the door frame and gaskets. If a gasket is frayed, we’ll note it in your report because a worn gasket changes how the fireplace drafts.
Chimney Services
Chimney Services is the umbrella term for everything that keeps a chimney safe and functional: sweeping, inspections, repairs, relining, cap installation, and waterproofing. You need us when you buy a home in Pasadena and don’t know the chimney’s history, when you notice loose bricks or crumbling mortar on the exterior, or when water stains appear on the ceiling near the fireplace. Since every Flint Chimney Co Pasadena job gets a written price before work starts, the number you approve is the number you pay.
Water Intrusion and Leak Repair
Pasadena’s wet winters put real stress on chimney crowns and mortar joints. Rain gets in, freezes (rare but possible in January), and spalls the brick face. We repair crowns, repoint mortar, and apply waterproofing that lets the masonry breathe. Materials from Copperfield are used where a full crown rebuild is required, and the repair carries our written one-year guarantee.
Smoke and Draft Troubleshooting
When a chimney won’t draft, the cause is usually one of three things: a flue that’s too cold (common in exterior chimneys on the north side of a Pasadena house), a flue that’s too short relative to the roofline, or a blockage. We diagnose with a draft test and camera inspection before recommending any fix. Sometimes the answer is a small detail like a missing top-seal damper, not an expensive rebuild, and we’ll tell you that plainly.
Chimney Sweep Certified
Chimney Sweep Certified means the technician who shows up at your Pasadena door has passed a recognized industry credentialing exam and follows a documented safety and quality code. You want this because uncredentialed sweeps frequently miss early-stage flue damage that a trained eye catches. Every Flint Chimney Co Pasadena technician is background-checked, uniformed, and operates under the Garrison Code as part of the Garrison Partners family, founded in 2002.
What the Certification Covers
Certified sweeps know how to identify different types of creosote, recognize structural spalling, assess proper draft, and use camera inspection equipment correctly. It’s the difference between a brush run through a pipe and a real evaluation of your chimney’s condition. In Pasadena, where housing stock ranges from 1920s bungalows to 1990s tract homes, that experience matters because the flue liners and construction methods vary widely by era.
Why It Matters for Your Home Insurance
Some insurance carriers ask for documentation after chimney-related claims. A written report from a certified chimney sweep, complete with photos and dates, is exactly the kind of record that satisfies those requests. We give every customer a dated report with interior flue photos, and we keep copies for one full year. That record is yours whether or not you hire us for follow-up repairs.
Gas Fireplace Cleaning
Gas Fireplace Cleaning removes accumulated dust, pet hair, and mineral buildup from the burner, logs, glass, and venting of a gas-burning fireplace. You need it annually even though gas fires don’t produce creosote, because the burner ports clog and the glass fogs and the whole unit starts to smell when it runs. A gas fireplace cleaning in Pasadena typically runs $129 to $189, and the written price covers the full teardown and reassembly.
Burner and Pilot Assembly
Pasadena’s air isn’t especially dusty, but homes with older windows and open doors still pull in plenty of particulate. That dust settles into the burner ports, causing uneven flame and, in some cases, delayed ignition that produces a small gas buildup. We remove the burner, blow out the ports with canned air, clean the thermocouple and pilot assembly, and reassemble the log set exactly as the manufacturer specifies.
Venting and Glass Seal Check
Direct-vent gas fireplaces seal combustion gases behind glass and route them outside through a coaxial pipe. If the glass gasket is failing or the vent termination on the outside wall is blocked by leaves or insect nests, carbon monoxide can enter the living space. We check the glass seal, inspect the vent run, and clear the termination point. It’s a 10-minute check that most people skip because nobody told them it mattered.
Chimney Maintenance
Chimney Maintenance is the scheduled upkeep that prevents expensive repairs and chimney fires: regular sweeping, annual inspection, cap checks, and minor moisture repairs done before they become major ones. You need a maintenance plan when you burn more than half a cord per year, when your home is older, or when you’d rather pay a small predictable amount yearly than a large surprise later. A maintenance visit in Pasadena is priced in writing up front, the same as every Flint Chimney Co Pasadena job.
What an Annual Visit Should Include
A proper maintenance visit covers the sweep, a visual inspection of the cap and crown, a check of the damper for full travel, and a moisture reading on the interior flue walls. We also recheck any prior repair work, because the 365-Day Done Right Promise means we’re accountable for what we did. If something we installed is failing within the year, the return visit is free.
Seasonal Timing for Pasadena
September and early October are the smart months to schedule. The first cold nights hit and everyone calls at once, but if you book in September, you get your pick of time slots and your chimney is ready before the season starts. Spring is the other good window, because any repairs we find can dry and cure before the next burn season. Both seasons beat the November rush, when you might wait two weeks.
Brands We Service
We service chimneys and fireplaces built with components from Olympia Chimney, Famco, Copperfield, and DuraFlex, and we specify materials by the job, not by margin. Olympia Chimney caps and dampers are the most common requests we get in Pasadena, because their stainless steel construction holds up well against the sun and rain. Famco caps and fans come up frequently for homeowners dealing with persistent downdraft on windward-facing chimneys.
When a flue needs relining, we install DuraFlex stainless liners sized to the existing flue dimensions, and we’ll show you the camera footage that justifies the replacement before any liner is ordered. Copperfield is our go-to for full masonry crown rebuilds and chimney pot replacements on older Spanish-style homes in Pasadena. Whether you have one of these brands or something else entirely, we can help.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterSigns You Need a Pro Right Now
- Smoke rolls back into the room when you open the door. This means the flue isn’t pulling. It could be a blockage, a cold flue, or a draft problem, but it’s also how carbon monoxide finds its way indoors. Don’t run the fireplace again until it’s checked.
- You see black, shiny creosote on the flue walls or damper. That shiny glaze is the most flammable form of creosote and it ignites at around 450 degrees. A single spark from a pop of burning pine can set it off.
- There’s a strong campfire smell in the house with no fire lit. That’s creosote off-gassing, and it usually gets worse when the weather turns humid. The smell means there’s enough buildup to matter, even if the fireplace drafts fine.
- Birds, nesting material, or animal sounds are coming from the chimney. A nest blocks the flue and introduces dry twigs and leaves inches from hot exhaust. Raccoons in Pasadena will tear up a chimney cap or damper to get inside.
- The chimney exterior has cracks, missing mortar, or a leaning cap. Water getting into the masonry now becomes a spalling problem that costs three times more to fix in a year. Pasadena’s rainy season will accelerate the damage every time it starts.
Our Process, Step by Step
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Written price first. We assess the chimney, confirm what needs doing, and hand you a written price. It includes the exact scope, the exact dollar figure, and the one-year guarantee terms. You approve it or you don’t, and there’s no obligation either way.
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Protective setup before any work. We lay drop cloths from the entry door to the fireplace, hang a vacuum-sealed tarp over the firebox opening, and run a HEPA-filtered vacuum during the entire sweep. No dust in your living room. That’s the standard, not a special request.
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The sweep itself. We run properly sized brushes full length of the flue, scrape the smoke chamber, and clean the damper. The vacuum runs continuously so no soot escapes into the house.
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Camera inspection and photos. After the sweep, we run a camera through the flue and show you what we see on a handheld screen. You get a photo report with the date, the findings, and our recommendations. Nothing is recommended without footage you can see for yourself.
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Written report and guarantee You leave with a dated report that includes before and after photos, a condition summary, and any repair notes. If we did repairs, the writing confirms the 365-day window and what to do if something fails. That’s the Garrison Standard.
How Much Does Chimney Sweep Cost in Pasadena?
A standard chimney sweep in Pasadena runs $169 to $249 for a single-flue masonry chimney with average creosote buildup. If your flue has heavier glazed creosote, expect $50 to $120 more for the additional labor and chemical treatment. A gas fireplace cleaning runs $129 to $189. A standalone fireplace cleaning of just the firebox and damper is $99 to $159 when bundled with a full sweep.
What changes the price the most is flue condition and accessibility. A two-story roof with a steep pitch adds labor because of the safety equipment and extra time, typically $40 to $75 on Pasadena homes built into the hillside. A chimney that hasn’t been swept in five years will cost more than one that’s been maintained annually, because heavy creosote takes longer to remove.
To avoid overpaying, get a written price before work starts, which we give on every single job. Ask to see camera footage of the condition that justifies any extra work, because if a company won’t show you the problem, you shouldn’t pay for the repair. Every Flint Chimney Co Pasadena estimate is free and includes a full written scope. Call (626) 657-5513 to book one, or ask Hank Delano directly when he’s at your house for the sweep.
Our Service Area Near Pasadena
We’re based in Pasadena and serve the surrounding neighborhoods and cities: Arcadia, Highland Park, East Los Angeles, El Monte, Baldwin Park, Monterey Park, Rosemead, Altadena, and San Gabriel. Most of these areas are a 20- to 35-minute drive from our shop, so we can usually schedule a sweep within the same week. We also cover Chimney Sweep in Pasadena itself and regularly run routes into Glendale and Burbank when we’re already out that way.
Serving Pasadena, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Pasadena area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chimney Sweep in Pasadena
A chimney sweep is the process of removing creosote, soot, and blockages from the interior of your chimney so smoke and gases vent safely out of the house. It’s done with rotary brushes sized to your flue, along with a HEPA-filtered vacuum that keeps dust out of your living space. In Pasadena, most single-family homes need one sweep per year when the fireplace sees regular use.
A standard chimney sweep takes 45 minutes to 90 minutes from setup to final walkthrough, depending on flue length and creosote level. If camera inspection or minor repairs are included, the full visit typically runs two hours. We’ll give you a specific window when you book, and we arrive inside it. Call (626) 657-5513 to schedule.
A standard chimney sweep in Pasadena costs $169 to $249 for a single-flue chimney. Heavier creosote or hard-to-access roofs add between $50 and $120. Every Flint Chimney Co Pasadena job gets a written price before work starts, so there’s no surprise at the door. Estimates are free.
Yes, we clean and service gas fireplaces, including the burner, pilot assembly, glass, and venting. Gas units don’t produce creosote but they do collect dust and mineral buildup that clogs burner ports and fogs the glass. A gas fireplace cleaning runs $129 to $189, and the written price covers the full teardown and reassembly.
We’re not a same-day dispatch service, and we won’t promise an arrival window we can’t hit. But a live person answers our phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if you call at 8 p.m. on a Sunday with a chimney concern, a real human answers. We’ll book you the soonest available slot and tell you straight what to expect.
Every repair carries a written one-year guarantee called the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If a covered repair fails within that year, we return at no charge and fix it. The guarantee is in writing, on every job, no exceptions. Sweeps don’t carry a year-long warranty since they’re a maintenance service, but if something is wrong with the work, we make it right.
Clear the area around your fireplace about four feet back, and don’t build a fire in the 24 hours before we arrive. That lets the firebox cool so we can work immediately. Move any delicate items off the mantel just in case of minor vibration, and make sure the chimney is accessible from the roof or attic if you know there’s an access point. Not much else on your end; call (626) 657-5513 and we’ll walk you through the rest.
Schedule Your Chimney Sweep Service in Pasadena Today
You’ll get a written price before any work begins, a uniformed and background-checked technician at your door, and a one-year written guarantee on any repair we make. The phone is answered by a live person around the clock. Call (626) 657-5513 for a free, no-obligation estimate today.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Co Pasadena, serving Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley since 2002.