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.
Fast, Reliable Chimney Sweep Across Melrose Park
A chimney sweep in Melrose Park typically costs $189 – $320 for a standard cleaning with a Level 1 inspection, and most jobs are completed in 60 – 90 minutes. If your home still has its original clay tile flue from the coal era, expect the conversation to go deeper than just sweeping: many of these stacks were never sized right for gas appliances. Call (833) 589-7835 and we’ll schedule a sweep, inspect what’s actually inside your flue, and show you camera evidence of anything we recommend.
We work throughout Melrose Park’s 60160, 60161, and 60164 zips, from the older blocks near Broadway Avenue to the postwar tract homes along the western edges. Our team knows the difference between a 1920s brick bungalow chimney and a 1950s frame cape addition, which matters when you’re trying to figure out why smoke backs up or a gas furnace won’t draft. We’re a local company serving Melrose Park homeowners directly, not a call center dispatching subcontractors from two counties away.
Key Takeaways
- Standard chimney sweep in Melrose Park: $189 – $320, including Level 1 inspection
- Coal-era clay liners often need resizing for gas appliances, not just cleaning
- Camera evidence before any repair recommendation. No guesswork, no upsell.
- Hidden uncapped flues in rear additions are a documented problem on Melrose Park’s alley-lined blocks
- Free estimates by phone: (833) 589-7835
Why Sandstone Chimney Sweep Is Melrose Park’s Preferred Chimney Sweep Company
Homeowners in Melrose Park call us because we explain what we found and hand over photos before we ever quote a repair. Norm Sobieski built Sandstone around a straightforward idea: the person who sweeps your chimney should be the same person who diagnoses and fixes it. That continuity eliminates the familiar frustration of a sweep company finding a “problem” and then pointing you to a contractor you’ve never met.
We work with HeatShield, Gelco, and Olympia Chimney materials on repair jobs, which means when a Melrose Park homeowner actually needs a liner resized or resurfaced, the fix is built around a system engineered for chimneys, not a workaround. Most customers who call us are dealing with one of three things: draft problems from oversized flues, deteriorating mortar after decades of freeze-thaw cycles, or concerns about creosote buildup from regular fireplace use. We address each one the same way: inspect first, show you the evidence, then decide together what’s urgent and what can wait.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Sweep Certified in Melrose Park
Chimney Sweep Certified in Melrose Park means the flue is cleaned to bare masonry or tile, the firebox is cleared of debris, and the entire system is inspected for structural problems and clearance violations. For Melrose Park’s older housing stock, this certification matters because so many homes still run original clay liners that have absorbed decades of moisture, spalled from freeze-thaw stress, or cracked under heat cycling. A certified sweep documents what’s found with camera footage, so you’re not taking someone’s word for a $4,000 relining job.
Most Melrose Park homeowners need this when their fireplace starts smoking back into the room, when a gas furnace vent shows signs of condensation damage, or when it’s simply been more than two years since the last sweep. A standard certified sweep with Level 1 inspection runs $189 – $320 in Melrose Park. We’re not the cheapest option in town, and we’re fine with that, because cheap sweeps tend to skip the camera work that reveals what’s actually wrong.
Sweep with Camera Inspection
Every sweep we do in Melrose Park includes camera inspection of the flue interior. That’s how we find the cracked clay sections, the deteriorated mortar joints, and the hidden blockages that brushes can’t see. You’ll see the footage yourself before we make a single recommendation.
Creosote and Soot Removal
Shoulder-season fireplace use is common in Melrose Park, and it produces creosote that hardens into a glassy glaze during cold snaps. We remove first and second-degree creosote mechanically; third-degree glaze often requires chemical treatment or liner replacement. Either way, you’ll see before-and-after footage.
Gas Fireplace Cleaning in Melrose Park
Gas Fireplace Cleaning in Melrose Park means more than vacuuming dust off fake logs: it involves checking the venting system, cleaning the burner assembly, verifying the pilot and thermocouple, and confirming the flue is properly sized for the appliance. Many Melrose Park homes were converted from coal or wood to gas decades ago, and the original chimney was never resized for the smaller, cooler exhaust stream a gas appliance produces. That’s exactly when oversized clay liners cause condensation, staining, and draft problems.
A gas fireplace cleaning in Melrose Park runs $149 – $249 depending on whether it’s a direct-vent unit, a B-vent, or a gas log set in an existing masonry fireplace. If you’ve noticed soot staining around the glass, a sulfur smell when the fireplace runs, or the pilot light keeps going out, call us. These are signs of venting problems, not just dirty components. We service gas fireplaces throughout Melrose Park including units installed as part of postwar additions that were never vented correctly in the first place.
Venting and Draft Verification
After cleaning a gas fireplace in Melrose Park, we verify the draft with simple smoke tests so you know exhaust is actually leaving through the flue instead of spilling into the room. Recent building code changes don’t grandfather old installations, and many gas units added to 1940s and 1950s chimneys were never inspected at all.
Glass and Burner Media Service
We clean the glass with appropriate non-abrasive compounds, clear the burner ports, and check the log set for proper flame impingement. A neglected gas fireplace often works fine visually while the burner ports are partially clogged, producing carbon monoxide rather than clean combustion. You can’t see that without testing. We test every unit we clean.
Trusted Brands We Service in Melrose Park
We use HeatShield resurfacing systems when a flue can be saved, and we stock Gelco and Olympia Chimney components for common repair scenarios in Melrose Park homes. The advantage of working with a company that carries real liner and resurfacing materials is speed: when we find a cracked clay section or a deteriorated mortar joint during a sweep, we often have the repair materials on hand rather than needing a week to order parts. That’s the difference between chasing a problem and fixing it before the burning season starts.
Common Chimney Sweep Problems We See in Melrose Park Homes
Most of the chimneys we clean in Melrose Park share a handful of predictable issues that come from the age of the housing stock and the local climate. These are the recurring failures we document with camera footage on a regular basis:
- Oversized clay liners on coal-converted stacks. Homes built in Melrose Park before 1960 were often designed for coal, and the flue dimensions are too large for the low-temperature exhaust from a modern gas furnace or water heater. This causes poor draft, condensation, and sometimes dangerous backdrafting.
- Spalled brick crowns and shoulders from freeze-thaw cycles. The Chicago-area winter cycle of wet snow, freezing nights, and warming days opens up masonry on exposed chimney crowns year after year. On Melrose Park’s single-wythe exterior chimneys, we see spalling that can let water into the flue itself.
- Uncapped abandoned flues hidden in rear additions. On the alley-lined blocks off Melrose Park’s older core, flat-roofed rear additions and enclosed porches often contain a second flue or an abandoned furnace chimney that was never properly capped. We’ve found these venting directly into enclosed living spaces.
- Third-degree creosote glaze from shoulder-season fires. Melrose Park homeowners who burn occasional fires in September and October, then again in March and April, create the exact conditions for creosote to deposit and then harden during cold snaps into a fuel-rich glaze that’s difficult to remove and a serious chimney fire hazard if ignored.
See the difference
Before
After
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After
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AfterPricing for Chimney Sweep in Melrose Park, IL
Here’s what you can expect to pay in Melrose Park as of 2026:
- Standard chimney sweep with Level 1 inspection: $189 – $320
- Gas fireplace cleaning: $149 – $249
- Level 2 camera inspection (for real estate transactions or after a chimney fire): $349 – $499
- Creosote removal (second-degree): $250 – $420 depending on flue size and accessibility
- Chimney cap installation: $225 – $400 including the cap
- HeatShield liner resurfacing: $1,800 – $3,500 depending on flue length and diameter
- Full stainless liner installation: $2,800 – $5,500 depending on access and appliance configuration
The cost difference between a Melrose Park bungalow with an 18-foot flue and a frame cape with a 30-foot flue matters. So does access: roof pitch, chase construction, and whether the chimney is on the alley side or the street side. Call (833) 589-7835 for an exact quote before we schedule. Estimates are free, and we’ll tell you if you don’t need the work.
We Also Serve Cities Near Melrose Park
While this page focuses on Melrose Park, our service area covers Stone Park, Northlake, Bellwood, and Franklin Park. If you live in one of those towns, the pricing and inspection approach is the same, and the chimney problems are often identical to what we see in Melrose Park’s brick bungalows. Call us and we’ll confirm coverage for your address.
Serving Melrose Park, IL — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Melrose Park area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Sweep in Melrose Park
Most likely yes, and this is the single most common issue we document in Melrose Park homes. The original flue was sized for coal, which burned hot and produced a strong draft. Your gas furnace produces cooler exhaust, and when that exhaust hits a large, cold clay tile flue, it condenses before it can exit. The result is acidic moisture dripping back down onto the tile, weakening the masonry and potentially leaking into the house. We’ll show you the camera evidence before recommending a HeatShield liner or a stainless replacement. Call (833) 589-7835 if you want an honest answer without the pressure.
If you burn wood, schedule a sweep every 30 to 40 fires or once per year, whichever comes first. If your Melrose Park chimney is used only for a gas furnace or water heater and you have a properly sized liner, an inspection every two years is sufficient. The exception is older chimneys with original clay liners that have never been resized: those should be inspected annually because the oversized flue creates conditions for condensation damage that gets worse in winter. We’ll tell you if your chimney can safely go longer between visits.
First-degree creosote is a flaky, sooty deposit that brushes off easily. Second-degree creosote is a harder, tar-like glaze that requires rotary cleaning. Third-degree creosote is a dense, hardened fuel layer that cannot be brushed away and often requires chemical treatment or liner replacement. Melrose Park homeowners who burn shoulder-season fires in cool damp weather are more likely to develop second and third-degree creosote, because the deposits harden during cold snaps. We’ll show you footage of whatever’s in your flue and explain which degree you’re dealing with. Call (833) 589-7835 to schedule.
Yes, and we actively look for them. On a recent sweep of a 1940s brick bungalow in Melrose Park, our tech found an uncapped abandoned furnace chimney venting into an enclosed porch. The homeowner had lived there for eleven years and never knew the second flue existed. That’s not unusual for the alley-lined blocks off the older core, where flat-roofed rear additions often hide vent pipes and old stacks that were abandoned when coal or oil heating was replaced. We document every flue we find with camera evidence, cap what needs capping, and recommend repairs only when the footage shows a real problem.
Yes. We clean and service gas fireplaces throughout Melrose Park, including direct-vent units, B-vent systems, and gas log sets in existing masonry fireplaces. A gas fireplace cleaning includes burner cleaning, glass cleaning, pilot and thermocouple verification, and a draft test to confirm exhaust is leaving the structure. Because many Melrose Park homes were converted from wood or coal to gas decades ago, we pay close attention to vent sizing on these units. A gas fireplace connected to an oversized clay flue can produce stalled draft and carbon monoxide spillage. That’s a real hazard we test for on every gas service call. Call (833) 589-7835 for pricing and scheduling.
Schedule Your Chimney Sweep in Melrose Park
If you live in a brick bungalow in Melrose Park and you’ve never seen the inside of your flue, we’d like to show it to you. A sweep is $189 – $320, and you’ll get camera footage of whatever we find. No recommendations without evidence. No upsell on work you don’t need. Norm Sobieski and the Sandstone team have been serving the western suburbs with this same approach, and we’d be glad to bring it to your block in Melrose Park. Call (833) 589-7835 for a free estimate.
Written by Norm Sobieski, Owner at Sandstone Chimney Sweep, serving Melrose Park and the western suburbs.