Frequently Asked Questions

A standard sweep can often be scheduled within the week, and we do same-week appointments whenever the calendar allows. We keep dispatch local, and when a spot opens in the schedule, we fill it with a house we can reach quickly. That said, we don't promise same-day service, because a proper sweep isn't a twenty-minute job and we won't rush yours to squeeze in the next one. The good news is that chimney work is rarely an hour-to-hour emergency. But before burning season starts, that's when you want us booked. Call (631) 378-3317 and we'll find you the soonest real opening.

We protect the hearth and floor with drop cloths, run brushes through the flue to remove creosote and soot, clean the smoke chamber and damper, then vacuum everything out. After that, we run the camera up the flue and check the exterior, crown, flashing and cap. In Long Beach we look extra closely at rust on the damper and cap, because salt air will eat through them fast. You get the footage, a written report, and an honest answer about whether you should burn or not. The whole visit typically takes forty-five minutes to an hour.

Figure forty-five minutes to an hour for a standard open fireplace, a little longer for a wood stove insert or a chimney with heavy buildup. If we're doing a full Level 2 inspection with the camera, add another half hour. Older Long Beach homes can have awkward rooflines that slow access down, and we'd rather take the extra ten minutes than treat your chimney roughly. We won't blow through your house in fifteen minutes and leave soot on the mantel. A good sweep is deliberate, and you'll see the difference when you watch the camera footage.

Clear the area around the fireplace, move small furniture or decor out of the way, and make sure there's a path from the door to the hearth and up the roof. If you use your wood stove regularly, let the last fire go out at least 24 hours before we arrive so the flue is cool. Don't worry about moving heavy furniture, we'll work around it, and drop cloths protect the floor. If your dog isn't fond of visitors, putting them in another room helps. That's the whole list. We bring everything else.

Once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too, and Long Beach's damp, salty air does no favors to a flue that just sits there. Even if you use the fireplace ten times a year, creosote still builds up, and last winter's ash turns acidic when humidity gets to it. Annual cleaning also keeps your chimney in line with most home insurance expectations and catches small problems before they're expensive ones. In a coastal climate like ours, once a year is not a suggestion. It's the cheapest chimney insurance you'll ever buy.

You can brush a lightly used flue if you're comfortable on a ladder and buy the right equipment, but we don't recommend it on a roof with any real pitch or height, which is most of Long Beach. The bigger issue is that a DIY sweep won't include a camera check, and you won't know if a tile cracked or the liner is failing. You'll also be on the roof with brushes and a vac, which is exactly where roof injury claims start. If you just want the creosote down for the season, call us. Seeing the inside of the flue matters more than most people think.

We carry a tight, trusted list of brands rather than whatever is on sale at the supply house that month. DuraFlex covers most of our stainless flue liner work, because we've seen it hold up to coastal conditions with less rust and better fit than knockoffs. For custom masonry pieces and dampers we look at Copperfield first, and for chimney caps and chase covers we'll often spec Olympia Chimney. In Long Beach, where salt spray shortens the life of cheap galvanized steel, these brands actually matter. We use what we'd put on our own houses, no fluff.

Yes, and we do it often here. A rusted-out damper or a failing chimney cap is one of the most common findings on Long Beach homes, because the marine layer keeps everything damp. We measure and install the right cap for your flue, usually Olympia Chimney or Copperfield depending on what's already there, and we repair or replace top-sealing dampers when the chain breaks or the frame warps. A cracked or missing cap lets rain straight down your flue, and rain plus a dirty chimney turns acidic fast. It's a cheap fix compared to what comes after it.

For most Long Beach homes, a stainless liner like DuraFlex protects better than original clay tiles, especially after the tiles have cracked or shifted. Stainless handles the temperature swings of a coastal climate and resists the condensation that eats at masonry. That said, if your clay tiles are intact and the camera shows no gaps, there's no reason to replace them. We don't push liners on sound chimneys. The right answer comes from what the camera shows inside your flue, not from what's easiest for us to sell. We'll show you the footage, and you decide with the facts in front of you.

Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires, no exceptions. Long Beach homeowners deserve to know the person on their roof and in their home is covered if something goes sideways, and you should ask any chimney company for proof before they start. We'll show you ours without making a fuss. Wendell Pike puts his name on every job and publishes his address too, not just a phone number. That's the kind of accountability you want when someone is standing on your chimney and working in your living room.

This Top Hat Chimney branch is local to Long Beach, run and managed here, not operated from a call center three states away. Our team lives in this county, drives out of this area, and we run into customers at the hardware store on weekends. Wendell leads the branch and his name goes on every quote. You get a live coordinator when you call, who connects you to the local team, and we try to keep that as human as possible. We know Long Beach's chimneys, not just chimneys in general. That's the whole point of how this company works.

Chimney work in New York falls under home improvement contracting rules, and any company you hire should be able to produce proof of the license and insurance their work requires. Ask for it before they schedule. You should also want proof of worker's comp, because if someone slides off your roof, it shouldn't become your problem. We carry what we're required to carry, and we'll show you on request. Long Beach has specific coastal building realities, and working on a three-story roof a block off the beach isn't a place for someone uninsured. It's your legal and financial safety net.

We handle two kinds of chimney emergencies, and both start with a phone call to (631) 378-3317. If you have an active chimney fire, call 911 first, not us, then call once the fire department has cleared the scene, because a chimney fire can compromise the flue and the house needs a professional's eye before the next burn. The second kind is water pouring down through the chimney during a coastal storm, and for that we can assess the damage and get you a plan quickly. We don't promise around-the-clock service, but we move fast on genuinely dangerous situations.

Call 911 immediately, get everyone out, and let the fire department do their job. After the fire is out and the scene is clear, call us at (631) 378-3317 to inspect the flue before anyone builds another fire in that fireplace. A chimney fire can crack the liner, warp the damper, and leave seams open to the house structure. The fire department will tell you the same thing: don't burn again until a pro has looked inside. We'll run the camera and tell you exactly what kind of repair, if any, your chimney actually needs.

Yes. Our hours run seven days a week, 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM. Long Beach homeowners with weekend jobs and family schedules often book Saturdays, and we set those up regularly as the season picks up. That said, weekends fill fastest in the fall, when everyone in Long Beach suddenly remembers the holidays are coming and the fireplace is the centerpiece. If you're thinking about a sweep in September or October, calling earlier in the week gets you more choices. Reach us at (631) 378-3317 and we'll find a weekend spot that works with your plans.

Yes. Wendell Pike gives ninety days in writing on every chimney job, not as a marketing line but as a personal promise. If anything we touched isn't right, one call brings him back to make it right, no arguing, no runaround. That's the standard here, and it follows the brand's older rule: the sweep puts his name on the job and stands behind it. In Long Beach, where houses sit in salt air and hidden issues can take a season to show themselves, a written guarantee is the only kind that matters. Ask for the terms in writing before we start.

Anything related to the work we performed. If the damper we repaired sticks, the cap we installed works loose, or the sweep didn't get the full creosote load out, we come back and fix it at no charge. It covers our labor and parts for ninety days, in writing. What it doesn't cover is anything unrelated to our work, or normal wear and tear after we leave. This is how we've kept customers coming back for two decades. Call (631) 378-3317 and we'll walk you through the terms before you sign a thing.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Long Beach, NY since 1999.