Before & After Gallery - Top Hat Chimney

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in Commack, NY

Anybody can tell you they did a good job. We’d rather show you. The photos below are from real chimney cleaning calls around Commack and nearby Suffolk County towns. Some are routine yearly maintenance. A few are the kind of mess that makes you wonder how the house is still standing. You’ll see creosote, nesting debris, rusted dampers, and the moment everything started breathing again. This is what the work actually looks like.

Call (631) 502-3612

Recent Transformations

Third-Degree Creosote Glaze, Split-Level off Jericho Turnpike

The homeowner hadn’t burned in two winters and figured the chimney was fine because it looked fine from the living room. A camera inspection showed third-degree creosote glazed onto the clay liner, the kind that doesn’t brush off without rotary chains and some patience. Wendell and his crew ran the mechanical cleaning, knocked the glaze back to bare tile, and dropped the camera again so the homeowner could see every inch. The flue drafts noticeably better, and the fire no longer smells like a campfire that won’t quit.

Starling Nest Inside the Flue, Cape off Harned Road

A family in a cape-style house near Harned Road called because smoke was backing into the den every time they lit a fire. The sweep found a starling nest packed into the smoke shelf, twigs and dried grass jammed in so tight the flue had maybe forty percent of its draft left. We pulled the nest, swept the full length of the flue, and installed a new chimney cap with stainless mesh so the birds don’t get a second lease. The fire draws clean now, and the den doesn’t smell like a barn.

Cracked Flue Tile Discovered During a Routine Sweep, Colonial near Wicks Park

This one started as a standard yearly cleaning and turned into something more useful. A colonial near Wicks Park had its chimney swept every fall, but nobody had ever run a camera up there. We found a cracked clay tile about fourteen feet up, the kind of gap that lets heat and carbon monoxide find their way into places they shouldn’t. The homeowner watched the footage, asked good questions, and we relined the flue with a DuraFlex system the same season. It’s the difference between a $289 sweep and a repair that actually needed doing. We showed them the photo. They made the call with their eyes open.

Water-Damaged Smoke Chamber, Ranch on Burr Road

A ranch off Burr Road had a chimney that looked fine from outside and worked poorly inside. The homeowner said fires were getting harder and harder to start, and sometimes a little smoke would drift into the kitchen. The camera showed a smoke chamber with missing mortar joints and rust stains from years of water getting in around a bad crown. We parged the chamber smooth with HeatShield, fixed the crown, and the difference in draft was immediate. The homeowner’s first fire after the repair drew so well she called us just to say so.

Rusted-Out Damper, Raised Ranch near the High School

Sometimes the problem isn’t the flue at all. A raised ranch near the high school had a damper so rusted it wouldn’t close, which meant cold air dropped down the chimney all winter and the heating bill reflected it. We swapped the old damper for a top-sealing model that actually seals when it’s closed, and swept the flue while we were at it. The homeowner said the living room felt warmer within a day. The fire burns better, the house holds heat, and the damper opens with one hand now.

Ten Years of Neglect, Center-Hall Colonial off Vanderbilt Parkway

A center-hall colonial near Vanderbilt Parkway hadn’t had the chimney swept in ten years, by the homeowner’s own estimate. The flue was wearing a coat of creosote thick enough to catch a fingernail in, and the smell in the room when the wind blew a certain way was the chimney telling on itself. We spent the better part of an afternoon on it, rotary-cleaned the worst sections, and showed the homeowner the before and after on camera. The house smells neutral again. The chimney drafts the way it was supposed to. The homeowner said he had no idea it had gotten that bad, which is exactly why we show people the footage.

Want Results Like These?

Every chimney has a story, and most of them end better with a look from someone who’s been doing this in Commack since 1999. If your fireplace is drafting poorly, smelling odd, or hasn’t been swept in longer than you’d admit, call Top Hat Chimney at (631) 502-3612. Wendell or one of his crew will give you a straight answer, a real appointment window, and pricing before any work starts. The camera footage comes standard.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Commack and surrounding Suffolk County since 1999.