Frequently Asked Questions

We start by covering the area around your fireplace so no soot lands on your floors. Then we run a wire brush through the flue from the top down or the firebox up, depending on access. That loosens the creosote and soot, which we vacuum out with a high-powered HEPA unit. After that, we inspect the liner, damper, cap, and crown. You get a written summary of what we found and the current condition of your chimney.

Most cleanings in Hempstead take 60 to 90 minutes from setup to cleanup. If there's heavy creosote glaze, an animal nest, or we need to remove a cap for access, it can run longer. We'll give you a time window when you book and we show up inside that window. You don't have to block off a whole day. The cleanup is part of the job - we leave the site clean and squared away.

Not much. Move anything fragile off the mantel, and if you have a wood stove, let it go completely cold before we arrive. Keep pets in another room while we work. That's it. We bring our own drop cloths and vacuums. If there's anything unusual about your setup - a steep roof, a locked gate, a chimney cap that's been dented by storms - mention it when you book.

Yes. We clean the venting for wood stoves, pellet stoves, and inserts throughout Hempstead and the surrounding towns including Freeport, Oceanside, and Westbury. The process is similar to a fireplace sweep but uses brushes sized for the smaller diameter vent pipe. The inspection is just as important, especially for pellet stoves where fly ash can accumulate quickly and reduce efficiency.

Sometimes. If your fireplace has a straight run and a clean-out door, we can often do the sweep from inside the firebox with a rotary brush system. But many Hempstead chimneys have offsets, and the only thorough way to clean them is from the roof. We'll assess your setup and choose the safest method that gets the job done right. Either way, the price is set before we start.

The National Fire Protection Association says to have your chimney inspected at least once a year and cleaned when creosote buildup reaches 1/8 inch. For most Hempstead homeowners who burn wood regularly through the winter, that means an annual cleaning. If you only burn occasionally or use manufactured logs, every other year can be enough. A quick visual check of your damper area with a flashlight will show you if black flaky buildup is accumulating.

We work with several reputable manufacturers including Gelco and Olympia Chimney. The right cap depends on your flue size, roof pitch, and whether you need spark protection or rain coverage. We'll recommend the one that fits your setup and install it as part of the job. A properly fitted cap keeps rain, animals, and downdrafts out of your flue, which extends the life of your liner.

Both. If we find cracks or gaps in your clay tile liner during a cleaning, we'll show you exactly what we're seeing on camera. Depending on the damage, we can recommend a repair approach. For minor gaps, we may apply a resurfacing product like HeatShield to seal and restore the liner. For more serious damage, a full stainless steel liner replacement is the right call. We never recommend work you can't verify with your own eyes.

HeatShield is a ceramic-based resurfacing material that can repair cracked or deteriorated flue liners without a full replacement. It restores the liner's fire resistance and seals gaps that let heat and gases escape into the chimney chase. It's a good option in Hempstead homes where the clay tiles have minor cracking but the chimney structure itself is sound. Not every liner qualifies - we'll tell you plainly if a full reline is the better investment.

We install dampers from a few proven manufacturers, and Famco is one we use regularly for chimney caps and dampers. The brand matters less than the fit. A damper that seats well saves you heat in the winter and keeps downdrafts out in the summer. We'll match the damper to your flue size and show you how to operate it before we leave.

Every pro working under the Flint Chimney Co name is required to hold the license and insurance New York State requires for chimney service work. That means liability coverage and proper certification for the trade. We're glad to show documentation before we start. Hank Delano runs this branch and holds every member of the team to The Garrison Code: price in writing, work by the book, leave the site clean, stand behind it for a year.

We're a local Hempstead branch of Flint Chimney Sweep, an established brand that's been in the chimney business since 2002. Our shop is independently owned and operated, led by Hank Delano. We live and work here, and our service area covers Hempstead, Flushing, Jamaica, Long Beach, Freeport, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Massapequa, Seaford, Westbury, Levittown, and Hicksville. The brand behind us sets the standard; we're the ones climbing your roof.

The crew that shows up at your door is scheduled and dispatched through our local Hempstead operation. They're trained on our process and answer to Hank Delano. Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance the state requires. When you book, the office gives you a time window, and the crew arrives inside that window. That discipline isn't an accident - it's the standard.

Get everyone out of the house and call 911 first. Do not climb on the roof or try to put water down the chimney - thermal shock can crack the masonry and make the situation worse. Once the fire department has cleared the scene, call us at (516) 559-6922. We'll inspect the flue for structural damage before anyone uses it again. A chimney fire can weaken the liner and masonry even if the house looks fine from the outside.

Emergency response varies. Our regular hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sunday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. We're closed Saturdays. If you've had a chimney fire or storm damage, call us during business hours and we'll get you on the schedule as soon as possible and advise you on the safest next step in the meantime. Don't use the fireplace until we've had a chance to look at it.

We schedule cleanings throughout Hempstead and the surrounding towns every week. Depending on the season, we can usually get you booked within a few days to a week and a half. This isn't a "next hour" sort of service - it's a booked appointment with a written price and a time window we actually keep. The best time to call is before burning season starts, not the first cold night in November.

Yes. We cover all of Hempstead including the neighborhoods around Hofstra University, Uniondale border areas, and the village proper. Our service area spans Flushing and Jamaica to the west, Long Beach and Freeport to the south, and Levittown and Hicksville to the east. If you're unsure whether we cover your street, call (516) 559-6922 and our coordinator will confirm.

The Garrison Standard is our guarantee: we arrive inside the window we gave you, put the price in writing before any work starts, do the job by the book, and leave the site clean. Our work is guaranteed in writing for a full year. If the work fails in that time, we come back and make it right at no charge. It's not a marketing line - it's the standard every Garrison company works to, and it's what separates a real chimney pro from a guy with a ladder and a Shop-Vac.

Call us at (516) 559-6922. We'll ask what's happening, check our notes from your job, and schedule a follow-up visit if needed. If the issue is something we should have caught or fixed during the original service, the visit and the work are covered under our one-year guarantee. We'd rather come back and make it right than have you unhappy about a chimney we cleaned.

Our guarantee covers the work we performed. If another company comes in afterward and changes something, we can't be responsible for that work. But if you have a concern within a year of our service, call us first. We'll look at it and tell you honestly whether it's something we need to address or something the other contractor should handle. Honesty is part of doing it by the book.

A lifetime warranty on a chimney cap or liner only covers the part, not the labor to replace it or the damage a failed part can cause. Our guarantee is simpler: the work we do is covered for a full year. If it fails, we fix it at no charge. No fine print, no prorated nonsense. When the time comes to replace a liner or cap, we'll talk to you about manufacturer warranties and what they actually cover. (516) 559-6922 for straight answers.

Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Co Hempstead, serving Hempstead and Nassau County since 2002.