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WHO ARE WE?

Kennedy Chimney Sweeps are a well established family team that have built up an enviable reputation in the sweeping business. We pride ourselves on our commitment to providing a professional and punctual service at all times, whilst maintaining the highest quality of work in a demanding environment. We have years of knowledge in the industry, effective problem solving and attention to detail is our forte. 

Finn and Nick are proud members of NCSSA and both hold an NVQ Level 2 in Chimney Sweeping (Construction), Nick's other qualifications include:- Registered OFTEC Solid Fuel Technician for stove installations, service and repair.

This website shows some indication of the strange things we find in our day to day work, we usually only take photographs of the problems we find, many flues are just fine and don’t make it onto these pages.

WHAT DO WE DO?

Our goal is to meet and exceed the expectations of every customer. We take on all types of jobs from the smallest domestic stoves and open fires to larger commercial projects, all carried out to the highest standards and at very competitive prices. As sweeps we get called to clean, inspect and generally check the safety of many flues and appliances. These can range from stoves to inglenooks, oil boilers, solid fuel range cookers (AGA, Raybun or Stanley), biomass, pizza ovens or school heating systems you just never know!
We carry out CCTV inspections at varying levels. This takes away the guess work - it allows us to look for holes in flues, combustible materials and judge the internal diameter before fitting flexible liners.

We also get called into inspect problem flues - appliances smoking back into the room, syphoning, damaged liners, chimney fires or poor installations to stoves with little or no draw. CCTV can help identify problems but the knowledge gained from experience is the main advantage.

Stove maintenance is a big part of our work. We stock a large selection of stove spares, glass, heat paint, door rope and vermiculite bricks for various stoves. Keeping stoves burning safely is important for the welfare of your house and your family. 

SWEEPING

Sweeping a flue is the best way to remove soot. Soot is an amorphous carbon deposit produced by the incomplete burning of a solid fuel and can quickly clog your flue. This needs to be done every three months during the burning season, for most fires in our climbs once a year is adequate. If in any doubt about your chimney ask a sweep. A sweep can tell you if you have a blockage, restricting the exhausting gases can cause Carbon Monoxide to spill into your house - it can kill you!

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, but highly toxic. (wikipedia.org)

STOVE SERVICING

Stove maintenance is a big part of our work. A good sweep is always looking for defects in your stove, holes that can allow harmful gases escape. A stove with poor fitting door rope can over fire: the rope seal creates an air tight seal allowing you to control the rate at which the fuel is burnt with the air controls. We stock a large selection of stove spares, glass, heat paint, door rope and vermiculite bricks for various stoves. If it is not in stock we can usually get it within a couple of days. Keeping stoves burning safely is important for the welfare of your house and your family.

STOVE INSTALLATIONS

Nick is a Registered OFTEC Technician for installations, commissioning and servicing on solid fuel dry appliances, this mean we can fit stoves, flexible liners and twin wall rigid flue systems all signed off though OFTEC under their CPS (competent person scheme). Please make sure whoever fits your stove is a registered OFTEC or HETAS technician, we see too many cases of dangerous installs by DIYs and builders. Your install must be notified to your Local Building Control otherwise your house insurance maybe void in the event of a fire. We take pride in our work and will only install quality stoves that meet the latest emissions.

OBSTRUCTIONS

Do you know what’s up your chimney? It’s not a place that many if any people consider looking up, however chimney maintenance is essential especially if you’ve just moved into your property and want to open up an old fireplace, get it inspected first. The most common problems are nesting, most in the South East are created by Jackdaws. These are tenacious characters that build nests all year round and the only way to move them on is to fit a bird guard cowl. If you remove a nest they can be back within a couple of days, this is not only a fire hazard it also stops the free flow of gasses and can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

CCTV INSPECTIONS

We carry out various levels of CCTV inspections depending on the clients requirements. This can be a quick check for blockages and or liner breaks to detailed internal inspections looking for defects in old masonry flues prior to stove installs. We have the experience and knowledge to carry out surveys on existing stove installations to give the client peace of mind that their stove complies with current building regulations.

SOOT

It’s horrible stuff, a deep black powdery or flaky substance consisting largely of amorphous carbon, produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter. Coal soot is usually fine and light, wood soot is more dense, oil soot is very greasy. It needs to be swept from a flue, you cannot use just a vacuum to remove it. The fire brigade advocates sweeping every 3 months in the burning period, most of us will only need our flues sweeping once a year. If you are burning lots of wood then maybe twice a year. NEVER burn damp fuel, the ideal moisture content should be below 20%.

ADVICE

We are always happy to give advice, many issues with stoves and open fires are easily rectified with a little knowledge. Problems can include: poor performing flues, stoves that burn too hot, down-draft issues, syphoning, soot falls and smelly stoves. We can even give you tips on how to light a fire. Just call - if we can help we will. Check out https://burnright.co.uk for more info on how to burn wood efficiently.

CREOSOTE

If creosote accumulates in the chimney in a substantial quantity, it may be the cause of chimney fires. This is one reason why chimneys should be regularly inspected and cleaned.