Chimney Sweep Cost
You will see many different prices when trying to find a good Atlanta chimney
sweep. There are some things you need to know.
We charge around $299.00 for a chimney cleaning in the Atlanta Metro.
“But wait“, you say, “I’ve seen a price of $79 or $89”. Yes you have, but you need to know something about that price. If you love high pressure salesmen, you will love that price.
It is designed for them to get their foot in the door so they can do what they really came there to do……scare you and get you to pay for HUGE repairs.
They come in with a camera, run it up the chimney, and “find” dangerous cracks or other situations. They then tell you that if you don’t have the repairs done, and you have a chimney fire, your insurance may not pay, because you had been warned.
They say things like “You should not use your fireplace even one more time it is so dangerous”.
The problem is, about 96% of masonry chimneys have some kind of crack, or space between flue tiles. It is the rule rather than the exception. It is the nature of a large masonry structure that small cracks develop. But remember, around the flue pipe there are several layers of brick and mortar. So the crack you see on the inside is backed up by quite of bit of masonry. In only a teeny number of those cases is it a problem, and I mean teeny.
Now, if the video of your chimney shows that your flue pipe is actually cracked and broken in many places, with large gaps in the breaks, then you should definitely be concerned. But even then, why wouldn’t you get a second opinion? Before you spend thousands of dollars at least have someone you can trust take a look and give another bid. Actually , three bids is about right.
Also, make sure you watch them take the video. If you don’t, they could show you any video from another chimney that’s in really bad shape.
But “I’m too smart for them” you think. I’ll just get them to clean it cheap and ignore anything they tell me. OK, but what if they actually do find a problem? If you ignore them then, you might actually be in danger.
Also, these guys make their money on Commission. If you aren’t going to pay them, they have been known to do a lousy job cleaning in a rush to skeedadle on to the next victim….uuhh customer.
Think about what it costs to have a truck driving around, insurance, equipment, paying one or two employees, all for about $45 an hour (since each job is about 2 hours including travel there and back). The company could not survive on that. They MUST sell large repair jobs to stay in business.
Chimney sweep cost can be much more than the “Bargain” price you see at first.