QUESTIONS
ANSWERED

For a wood-burning fireplace or stove used through the heating season, once a year is the standard maintenance recommendation. The reason is simple: every wood fire leaves creosote behind inside the flue, and one Alberta heating season is enough to build a meaningful layer.

If you burn heavily — a stove as a primary heat source rather than the occasional weekend fire — it can be worth having it looked at more than once a season. And if you have not used the appliance at all, you still want it inspected rather than swept: blockages like bird nests happen whether or not you light a fire.

What an annual sweep covers · Book a sweep

Creosote is the tarry residue that condenses on the inside of a flue when wood smoke cools. It is flammable, and that is the whole problem: as it accumulates, the inside of your chimney is progressively lined with fuel. Creosote buildup is one of the leading causes of chimney fires.

It builds up faster when fires burn cool and smoky, when the wood has not been properly seasoned, or when the flue is oversized or poorly insulated for the appliance. Sweeping removes it — and there is no way to burn it off safely on purpose.

How creosote removal works · Book a sweep

A sweep is cleaning: creosote and blockages are physically removed from the flue. A WETT inspection is documentation: a WETT-certified technician assesses the installation against the Canadian standards that apply to it and produces a written report.

A sweep is routine annual maintenance you book yourself. A WETT inspection is usually triggered by something external — a home sale, an insurer, or a newly installed appliance. They are often done on the same visit, because a flue generally has to be reasonably clean before it can be inspected properly.

What a WETT inspection involves · What a sweep involves

The common ones are: smoke coming back into the room instead of drawing up the flue; a strong smoky or tarry smell when the fireplace is not in use; visible staining or dampness on the wall or ceiling around the chimney breast; crumbling mortar, spalling brick, or a cracked crown visible from outside; rust on a damper or firebox; and a draft that has noticeably changed.

Any of these is a reason to book an inspection. None of them are reasons to keep using the appliance while you wait and see.

Chimney repairs · Book an inspection

It is not a universal legal requirement, but in practice it comes up constantly on Alberta homes with a wood-burning appliance. Buyers, home inspectors, lenders and insurers all commonly ask for documentation on a wood stove or fireplace, and a WETT report is the document they mean.

Having one in hand before listing tends to go more smoothly than discovering mid-transaction that a buyer's insurer will not bind a policy without it. If you are on the buying side and the seller has no report, that is worth asking about rather than assuming.

WETT inspections for home sales · Book an inspection

Yes, though it is a different job. A gas appliance does not produce creosote, so there is no sweeping in the wood-stove sense. What it does need is the venting checked for blockage and integrity, the glass and burner assembly cleaned, the pilot and ignition checked, and the surrounding structure looked at.

Blocked or damaged venting on any fuel-burning appliance is a carbon monoxide risk. That is why a working CO detector belongs in every home with a fireplace or stove, regardless of fuel.

Gas, pellet and wood installation · Book a service

A straightforward annual sweep on a single flue is typically a job of a couple of hours rather than a full day, though anything unexpected found during the visual inspection can extend it.

On mess: drop cloths and a vacuum are used throughout, and our Zero Mess Guarantee means a full refund if any mess is left behind. You do not need to move furniture out of the room, but clearing the immediate hearth area before the technician arrives makes it quicker.

What a sweep includes · Book a sweep

Brushes and rods are sold to homeowners, and running a brush through a flue is not a secret technique. The limits are worth being honest about, though. Working at roof height carries real fall risk.

More importantly, the value of a professional sweep is largely the inspection attached to it. A cracked liner, a failed damper, a deteriorating crown or an unsafe clearance is not something most homeowners will recognise — and those are the findings that actually matter. A DIY sweep can leave you with a cleaner flue and no idea that the installation has a problem.

What a certified inspection checks · Book a service

Usually one of a handful of causes: the damper is closed or partially stuck; the flue is blocked by creosote, debris or a nest; the chimney is cold and has not established a draft yet; the house is too airtight for the appliance to draw, so it cannot pull replacement air; or the flue is the wrong size for the appliance.

Some of those you can rule out yourself in a minute — check the damper, crack a window. If it persists, stop using the appliance and have the flue inspected: a blockage that pushes smoke into the room is also pushing combustion gases into the room.

Damper and flue repairs · Book an inspection

A chimney is one of the few parts of a house exposed to weather on all sides, top included, and masonry absorbs water. In a climate that freezes and thaws repeatedly through the season, absorbed water expands as it freezes and progressively breaks the material apart. That is what spalling brick and crumbling mortar joints actually are.

Water also rusts dampers and fireboxes and can damage the flue liner. The preventive work is a cap, sound flashing, an intact crown and masonry sealant — all of which is cheaper than rebuilding a chimney that has been taking on water for years.

Chimney waterproofing · Crown and flashing repairs