specialist
Chimney sweeping
A chimney sweep charges £60 to £100 for a single flue and £80 to £150 for a stove that needs the baffle plates out first. The sweeping certificate is the part that matters beyond the soot: most home insurers require annual sweeping evidence for a solid fuel appliance, and a claim after a chimney fire is where its absence is discovered.
What this covers
What it costs. Chimney sweeping costs £60 to £100 for a single open flue and £80 to £150 for a stove, which has to be partly dismantled to reach the flue. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Open fires, wood burners and multi-fuel stoves
- Power sweeping and traditional brush and rod sweeping
- A sweeping certificate, which insurers ask for after a chimney fire
- Smoke draw testing and a visual inspection of the flue
- Bird and nest removal, and fitting a cowl or a guard afterwards
What is involved
How often depends on what you burn. Wood burned well needs sweeping once a year and wood burned badly, which means unseasoned or damped down overnight, lays creosote fast enough to need it twice. Smokeless fuel is once a year. Bituminous house coal is twice.
The certificate is not a formality. It is what an insurer asks for after a fire, and in England and Wales it is also the document a landlord needs to show a solid fuel appliance was maintained. Sweeps registered with HETAS, the National Association of Chimney Sweeps or the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps issue them as standard, and those registers are public and searchable.
A good sweep does more than clear the flue. The visit should include a draw test, a look at the pot, the cowl and the flaunching from ground level, and a word about anything that needs attention before next winter.
Choosing someone for the job
Ask which register they are on and check it. HETAS, NACS and the Guild all publish searchable member lists, which makes this one of the few credentials in this trade that can be verified rather than claimed.
Ask whether a certificate is issued as part of the price. It should be, and it is the thing you are really buying.
Ask how they protect the room. A competent sweep arrives with sheeting and a vacuum and leaves no mark; the alternative is a story people tell for years.
Common questions
How often should a chimney be swept?
Once a year for seasoned wood or smokeless fuel, twice for bituminous coal or for wood that has been burned damp or slumbered overnight. Once a year is the floor rather than the answer.
Do I need a certificate?
For insurance on a solid fuel appliance, in practice yes, and a landlord letting a property with one certainly does. It is issued at the visit and costs nothing extra from a registered sweep.