APEX CHIMNEY SERVICES offer a complete range of chimney related services from simple chimney sweeping to full surveys including smoke testing and CCTV surveys for complete peace of mind.

Chimney Sweeping
Smoke Testing
CCTV Surveys
Complete Safety Inspections
Chimney Pots, Cowls and Bird guards
Fireplace Sizing

All of the above can be carried out as individual items or as a package, however, in every case it is advisable to first sweep the chimney flue.

Chimney Sweeping

We sweep chimneys in a clean, efficient and reliable manner and are fully insured. Our engineers are smart, polite, courteous and above all arrive at the appointed time. We sweep chimneys to the National Association of Chimney Sweeps Code of Practice and BS 6461 and supply a Certificate of Chimney Sweeping upon completion of the works. We use the most up to date equipment and sweep chimneys of any height and for any fuel type.

Smoke Testing

A full range of smoke testing, to test your chimney for cracks and damage, is available in accordance with British Standards and Building Regulations on chimneys intended for use with either solid fuel or gas. We are both CORGI Registered Competent persons for testing chimneys intended for use with gas and HETAS Registered Competent persons for testing chimneys intended for use with Solid Fuels.

Smoke leaking into the bedroom above the fireplace	Smoke discharging from two outlets showing a leaking flue
Here we are using a skylift whilst smoke testing chimneys for solid fuel use where the top of the chimney needs to be sealed off when under test.	This customer thought that she could smell smoke in a fourth floor bedroom, having moved the wardrobe and lifted the carpets we soon found the problem. Further investigations found that a wood burning stove fitted in the fireplace in the lower ground floor (5 floors below) was the culprit, this could have resulted in a Carbon Monoxide incident and / or a house fire, as when the floorboards were lifted we found joists and the underside of the floorboards were badly scorched.
	Smoke leaking into bathroom on the second floor whilst we were testing the chimney serving the ground floor gas fire, this could have resulted in a Carbon Monoxide poisoning had we not detected the fault. The gas fire was made safe and we advised that the flue concerned should be relined.

CCTV Surveys

Comprehensive CCTV surveys reveal the inside of your chimney and check its condition for complete peace of mind. We can identify faults or obstructions which were discovered during sweeping and which would otherwise not be visible. We use the most up to date modern equipment and technology to bring you this service and can provide a complete colour DVD package for you to keep.

This flue was found to be obstructed during sweeping, so we then carried out a CCTV survey to discover what the problem, was, it transpired that the chimney flue was full of bricks because a tenant in one of the flats above had carried out alterations to their fireplace and had damaged the brickwork that separates the chimney flues

Complete Safety Inspections

If you move in to a property and there is already a fireplace there - is it safe ? We can check your chimney and identify any potential or dangerous situations that may be present which may be harmful to you, your property or that of your neighbours. This can be either on an existing installation that has suddenly developed a fault, or a fireplace and chimney that you have never used before. We can harness our vast experience and library of chimney faults to diagnose virtually any chimney related problem and produce a full report 'in plain English' for you to act upon.

New owners were concerned about the dirty marks around the fireplace, they asked us to investigate, an inspection revealed that these marks are due to the spillage of combustion gasses from the 'still operative' gas fire. These combustion gasses contain Carbon Monoxide and the spillage was due to the chimney being capped off, all of the fumes from the fire were discharging into the room. The gas fire was made safe and we provided a report to be used as evidence.

A routine safety inspection revealed that although the chimney concerned had been relined - whoever did the reline did not do a very good job !

We were asked to sweep the flue serving the fireplace above. Initial inspection from the opening suggested a poorly fitted cast iron fireplace. When I removed the wooden fireplace surround to investigate further, it was clear that this was bad workmanship of the worst kind, with our evidence the customer received compensation from the previous owners, as the property had been 'sold' with a working fireplace.

Chimney Pots, Cowls and Bird guards

We can supply chimney pots, cowls and bird guards to suit your every need: from preventing birds and squirrels from entering your chimneys and nesting, to chimney cowls which 'cure' downdraught which would otherwise prevent you from using your chimney.

		To avoid this - fit a birdguard, this pigeon was one of the lucky ones !

Fireplace Sizing

It is imperative when designing a fireplace that the ratio between the size of the fireplace opening and that of the flue are in relation to each other. We can carry out fireplace sizing and smoke testing as required.

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