Level 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.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Reading, PA
We could tell you our chimney sweeps in Reading are thorough. But showing you is better. The photos below are the kind of thing we see every week around Berks County: creosote buildup, blocked flues, and chimneys that haven’t been touched since the last homeowner moved in. Some of these transformations took an hour. Some took a full day. Every one of them ended with a fireplace that actually breathed again. No stock photos, no borrowed images from a franchise website. This is the work Wendell and his crew do in Reading, West Lawn, Wyomissing, and the neighborhoods in between.
Recent Transformations
Heavy Creosote Removal in a 1960s Reading Split-Level
The homeowner had burned green wood for three winters straight. The flue had narrowed from thirteen inches to maybe seven, with third-degree creosote glazing every surface. That’s not a brush job, that’s a process: we broke up the glaze with a rotary chain whip, swept it clean, and ran the camera through to confirm nothing was missed. The after shot shows bare clay tile. The draft improved immediately, and the fireplace stopped pushing smoke back into the living room on damp Reading evenings.
Animal Debris and Nest Removal in a Wyomissing Colonial
A customer called because smoke was curling into the den every time they lit a fire. When Wendell got up on the roof, he found the problem fast: a starling had built a nest about four feet down from the crown. We pulled the debris, swept the full flue, and installed a new chimney cap so it wouldn’t happen again. The firebox went from unusable to fully functional in a single visit. That’s the kind of before-and-after that changes how a family uses their hearth.
Third-Degree Creosote Glaze in a Reading Rowhome
Rowhomes in Reading come with tight flues and a lot of years behind them. This one had a flue completely glazed over, the kind of buildup that burns like candle wax and is a genuine chimney fire risk. We ran a chemical treatment first to loosen the glaze, then swept with a chain whip on a drill-mounted rod system. The after image is spotless. The homeowner admitted they’d postponed a sweep for seven years because they were told they’d need a new liner. They didn’t. The camera footage proved it.
Ash and Bird Droppings Cleanup After a Storm in West Reading
A strong spring storm knocked a branch onto the roof and tore part of the chimney crown. Before that, the flue had already been collecting ash and rust flakes from a deteriorating damper. We cleaned out everything above the firebox, swept the flue, and then repaired the crown damage the same day. The homeowner’s big concern was whether they’d have to skip fires the next winter. They didn’t. The chimney was safer after we left than it had been in years.
Rust and Flaking from a Failed Damper in a Hamburg Cape Cod
The damper had rusted through just enough to drop flakes onto the smoke shelf all summer long. When we arrived, the firebox smelled like wet metal and old soot. We vacuumed the entire smoke chamber, swept the flue, and then the homeowner had Wendell’s crew install a new top-sealing damper before the first frost. The difference in draft was noticeable the very next fire. And the smell was gone completely.
Smoke Chamber Clearing in a Berks County Farmhouse
Older farmhouse chimneys have smoke chambers with angled brick that catches creosote in ways a straight flue never does. This one had an accumulation thick enough to smell even in July. We hand-scraped the entire chamber, vacuumed everything out, and then did a standard top-down sweep. The homeowner said the fireplace pulled better than it had in two decades. If you have an older home in the Reading area, that smoke chamber is the first place we check.
Want Results Like These?
Every chimney in Reading tells a story when you put a camera inside it. Yours might be clean and boring, or it might look like one of the before photos above. Either way, you’ll know exactly what you’re working with before we recommend a single repair. Call Wendell at (484) 209-0837. Upfront pricing, no trip charge inside the county, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Reading, PA since 1999.