Before & After Gallery - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in Staten Island, NY

We’re not big on talking about how thorough we are. We’d rather show you. These are real jobs we’ve completed across Staten Island, from Tottenville to St. George, where a camera inspection revealed what the homeowner couldn’t see and our crew put it right. Every photo here is documentation from a Level-2 inspection report the customer received themselves.

Call (516) 613-3035

Recent Transformations

Heavy Creosote Buildup, Westerleigh

The homeowner in Westerleigh noticed smoke backing up into the living room during the first fire of the season. Our camera found glazed creosote a quarter-inch thick in spots, choking the flue to roughly half its designed capacity. We ran mechanical whips and hand brushes from the roof down, then verified clearance with a second camera pass. The draft pulled clean and strong afterward, and the customer kept the photos for their insurance file.

Blocked Flue from Animal Nesting, Great Kills

A family in Great Kills called in late September with what they thought was a draft problem. The camera revealed a dense plug of nesting material about four feet down from the crown, likely built that spring when the flue sat unused. We extracted it in pieces, then swept the remaining debris and checked for any birds still present. No cap or screen had ever been installed; we noted that in the report with a photo of the open flue top so they could decide before next spring.

Fallen Tile Debris from Deteriorated Flue, New Dorp

This New Dorp chimney hadn’t been swept in eleven years. The camera showed us why smoke had been seeping into the basement: flue tiles had spalled and fallen, collecting on the smoke shelf and creating an obstruction that redirected exhaust. We cleared the debris, documented the tile damage with photos the homeowner could see for themselves, and explained that sweeping had solved the immediate hazard but the flue needed relining before the next burning season. They had facts they could verify, not a sales pitch they couldn’t.

Exterior Staining and Interior Soot Blowback, Stapleton

A rowhouse in Stapleton near the waterfront had black stains creeping out from the fireplace surround every time the wind blew hard from the harbor. The flue was packed with soot to roughly seventy percent obstruction, and the damper was rusted nearly shut. We swept the flue, serviced the damper assembly, and ran a draft test under the same wind conditions that had caused the problem. No more blowback. The homeowner told us later they’d almost repainted the room before realizing the wall was the symptom, not the cause.

Chimney Cap Failure Leading to Water Damage and Debris, Annadale

An Annadale homeowner called after finding leaves and a surprising amount of granulated debris in their firebox. The original galvanized cap had rusted through after twenty-two years, turning the flue into an open gutter every time it rained. We cleared the flue, documented water staining on the clay tiles with the camera, and installed a Gelco stainless steel cap with proper mesh screening. The flue was clean, the water entry stopped, and the customer had photos showing exactly why the old cap had failed and what the new one prevented.

Prefabricated Fireplace Factory Buildup, Port Richmond

This Port Richmond home had a prefabricated metal fireplace installed in the early 2000s, and the homeowner didn’t realize these systems need sweeping just like masonry chimneys do. The metal flue was coated with soot that had begun to restrict airflow enough that the unit was shutting down on its own safety switch during longer burns. We used poly brushes sized for the metal diameter, cleaned to the manufacturer’s clearance spec, and showed the customer the before-and-after photos side by side. The unit ran a full three-hour burn that evening without tripping.

Want Results Like These?

Every job here started with a phone call to a live person and ended with photos the homeowner could see for themselves, plus a plain-English verdict on what was urgent, what could wait, and what was fine as-is. If your chimney hasn’t been swept in the last year, or you’re seeing smoke where it doesn’t belong, call us at (516) 613-3035. We’ll book a Level-2 inspection with camera documentation, give you no-hassle upfront pricing before any work begins, and stand behind what we do with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. Done right, and we stand behind it.

Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Staten Island since 1984.