When you buy a house, the chimney is usually woefully under checked. This may not seem important, but the first time that the chimney is swept, the sweep may well turn around and announce that a lot of expensive work has to be done before the chimney is safe to be used. So, it does pay to get a local chimney sweep out to check it over and clean it. Especially if he is a certified chimney sweep. With certification, he will have had to demonstrate ability and knowledge to a nationally recognised standard, and that skill and knowledge will be at your disposal, and to your advantage.

A local chimney sweep will be able to advise you as to the best places to buy fuel from, and even where the best builders are should you need their services to carry out repairs. If he is a certified chimney sweep, he will have a trained eye, and that is something special. A trace of soot here, or even an absence of soot there may well indicate that work needs to be carried out – as the fireplace smokes persistently, or a look up the chimney may indicate that the chimney hasn’t been used regularly, which can indicate a serious problem.

Is the heart safe to use? Are those terminals safe, or will they need to be removed before the fire can be lit? Your surveyor will obviously look the house over, but we usually find that they are not chimney specialists and can miss certain clues. Knowledge of such work to be done, and an estimate of the price can be a valuable bargaining chip, as it is perfectly reasonable to ask a reduction in the price to compensate for over a thousand pounds that needs to be spent before the fireplace can be used.

Selling Your House?

Read here for the importance of checking your chimney when selling your house.