Frequently Asked Questions

We run brushes and rods from the top down and the bottom up, removing creosote, soot and any obstructions from the full flue path. Then we vacuum the firebox and smoke shelf, check the damper, the cap and the flashing, and run a camera through the entire system. You get a plain-English verdict with the footage, not a scare pitch. The whole visit takes about an hour for a standard Waterford ranch or cape.

Once a year, burn or no burn. The National Fire Protection Association says that, and so does common sense here in Connecticut: chimneys break in the off-season too. Water gets into cracked crowns, animals move in, liners rust out. If you burn more than two cords a season in Norwich or Montville, or if you burn green wood, you may need a mid-season sweep. When in doubt, call and ask.

It shouldn't be messy at all. We lay drop cloths from your door to the hearth, run a HEPA vacuum throughout, and leave the room cleaner than we found it. Soot stays in the chimney, not on your rug. If you've ever had a sweep track dust through the house, that was a shortcut, and it's not how we work in New London or anywhere else.

Plan on sixty to ninety minutes for a standard open fireplace. A wood stove insert with a liner takes a bit longer because of the disassembly. If we're also installing a cap or replacing a damper, add another half hour or so. We'll tell you the window when you book, and the window we give you is the window, with a phone call if it slips.

Yes, and wood stoves are a big part of our work in Ledyard, Preston and the more rural corners of the county. Stove flues run hotter and collect a different grade of creosote, especially with modern EPA stoves shut down for long burns. We sweep the connector pipe, the liner and the stove itself as needed, and we'll check the door gaskets and baffle while we're in there.

Creosote is the unburned fuel that condenses on your flue walls every time you light a fire. It's what chimney fires are made of. First-degree creosote is flaky and brushes off. Third-degree is a hard, shiny glaze that burns like candle wax and needs chemical or rotary treatment. In Waterford's damp coastal air, creosote also holds moisture, which accelerates liner damage. Catch it early and it's a brush job.

Some systems can be swept from the firebox with rotary rods and a vacuum, especially straight runs with a clean cap. But most chimneys in this area need a top-down pass to do the job right, which means we're on the roof. That's part of why you hire someone who knows New London County roofs: salt air, moss, steep pitches, and chimneys that haven't been touched since the last big storm.

Yes, at least inspected. An unused chimney is still a hole in your roof. Water keeps getting in through the crown and flashing, animals build nests in the flue, and the liner rusts whether you burn or not. We see it regularly in Essex and Old Saybrook, where summer homes sit empty and nobody's looked at the chimney in years. Once a year, burn or no burn.

We work with Copperfield and DuraFlex stainless steel liners, two names we trust because they've held up in New England's freeze-thaw cycles. The right liner depends on your appliance: wood stoves, oil furnaces and gas inserts all have different requirements. We don't sell you a liner you don't need. The camera footage tells the story, and if your existing liner has years left, we'll say so plainly.

We install HeatShield cerfractory sealant when a liner has cracked joints but the structure is still sound. It's a genuine alternative to a full reline in the right situation, and it costs less than tearing out the old flue. Whether it's right for your chimney depends on what the camera shows: the size of the cracks, the condition of the clay, and how the chimney is used.

A stainless steel cap with a full mesh screen is the standard we recommend for coastal towns like Waterford, Old Lyme and Stonington, where salt and moisture eat galvanized steel fast. The cap keeps rain, birds, squirrels and raccoons out of the flue, and the mesh keeps sparks from landing on your roof or your neighbor's. We'll size and install it while we're up there, usually the same visit as the sweep.

We do. Rusted dampers are the most common repair we make in older Waterford homes, and a sticky or warped damper is both a draft problem and a safety problem. Firebox repair depends on what's there: minor mortar joints can be repointed, and cracked firebrick gets replaced. If the damage runs into the smoke chamber or the throat, we'll show you the footage and talk through the options honestly.

Every pro working under the Top Hat name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires, and we carry the coverage Connecticut demands for work on your roof and in your home. Wendell Pike publishes his name, his address and his license number, and he doesn't hide behind a website form. Ask us anything you want to verify when you call (860) 390-4899.

We're local. Top Hat Chimney serves Waterford and the surrounding towns as an owner-operated branch, not a dispatch desk three states away. Wendell lives twenty minutes from most of the homes he sweeps, and he's going to run into you again at the hardware store. That's the oldest accountability mechanism there is, and it's why people around here trust a name they can verify.

The sweep in the top hat is the oldest good-luck figure in the trade, and Wendell actually wears one to the door. It started as a nod to the tradition and became the brand: a sweep who still dresses like he respects the craft, and who still shows up looking like the name on the truck. Ask anyone on your street. They've probably seen the hat.

Call the fire department first, even if it seems like it burned itself out. Chimney fires can smolder inside the flue and flare again, and the heat can crack the liner and ignite the framing around it. Once the fire department clears the scene, call us before you burn again. We'll inspect the full system with the camera and tell you whether the chimney is safe or needs repair.

Yes. We get calls after every nor'easter from homeowners in Groton, Ledyard and along the shore whose caps blew off or whose chimney took a hit from a branch. Animals are the other big one: squirrels, raccoons and chimney swifts all find their way into open flues. We'll remove what's there, clean what they left behind, and get a proper cap on so it doesn't happen again. Call (860) 390-4899 to get on the schedule.

We're open Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sunday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Those hours cover the fall rush and the slower months both, because we know chimney problems don't always announce themselves during business hours. Leave a message and we'll get back to you within the same day.

Ninety days in writing on every chimney job. If something isn't right, one call brings Wendell back to your door. That's the Top Hat promise, and it's stamped on every job we do in Waterford and the surrounding towns. The guarantee is short enough to mean something and long enough to know the work held up through a few good fires.

Manufacturer warranties apply to every liner, cap and damper we install, and we'll register them in your name so the paperwork is clean. Copperfield and DuraFlex both stand behind their stainless liners for decades, and we handle the claim if anything ever goes wrong. Labor from our own work is covered by our ninety-day written guarantee.

Call us. We don't disappear after the check clears. If water is getting in, if the draft feels off, if the damper sticks, or if you just have a question about what you saw on the camera footage, pick up the phone at (860) 390-4899. Wendell would rather keep you for twenty years than win one big ticket, and that's the way this branch has operated since day one.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Waterford, CT and New London County since 1999.