Partner companies across Toronto
(858) 284-0173

Toronto · insured, WSIB-covered

Chimney Services in Toronto

Sweeping, WETT inspections, repointing, liners and caps. One call puts you through to an insured local company that works your part of Toronto — and for a gas appliance we will tell you it needs a TSSA-registered technician instead.

  • WETT inspections with a written report
  • Repair quoted before rebuild, where a repair will do
  • Gas work sent to somebody TSSA-registered, not a sweep
Call (858) 284-0173 What have you noticed?

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(858) 284-0173

No charge to you, and you are never committed to going ahead.

What happens when you call

  1. You describe the problem and where you are.
  2. We put you in touch with the insured partner covering that area.
  3. They arrange the visit and agree the price with you directly.

Worth having ready

  • What the appliance is — open fireplace, wood stove, insert or gas
  • When it was last swept or inspected, if ever
  • What you have noticed, and whether it happens when it is lit
  • Your postal code
  • Licensed & insured Ontario does not licence this trade at provincial level, so the checks that actually mean something are current liability insurance and a WSIB clearance certificate. Ask the partner to see both — a legitimate one hands them over without being chased.
  • Know what to ask You are told what actually decides the price, so you can judge a quote.
  • Someone local You are put through to a technician who works your area, not a call centre in another province.
  • Calls answered 7 days Someone picks up seven days a week, weekends included.

Start from what you have found

People know what they have noticed rather than what it is called. Each of these points at a different job — and a different level of urgency.

Smoke coming back into the room Usually the smoke chamber or the damper rather than the flue itself. Used all last winter and never swept An annual sweep on a wood burner in regular use. Book it before November. An insurer or a home inspector asking for a report That is a WETT inspection. Ask which level, because they differ in scope and price. Mortar crumbling out of the joints Repointing, and the mortar mix matters more than people expect on an old house. Cracks across the top of the stack The crown. It is the first thing to fail and the reason the rest gets wet. Shiny black tar-like deposits in the flue Glazed creosote. Stop using it — this is the fuel in a chimney fire. Scratching or movement inside the chimney Do not light a fire to drive it out. It needs removing and then capping. A gas fireplace that has not been serviced TSSA-registered work. We will put you through to somebody registered for it.

What we can help with

This week Chimney Sweep and Cleaning Removing creosote and soot from the flue so the chimney draws and does not catch fire. Annual for a wood burner in regular use, and not needed on a schedule for a fireplace nobody lights. What to look for → This week WETT Inspection The inspection insurers and home inspectors ask for on a wood-burning appliance in Ontario. A written report against a real standard rather than somebody's opinion. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Repair A specific fault fixed rather than the stack rebuilt. Worth asking for first, and worth a straight answer about where repair stops being sensible. What to look for → This week Chimney Repointing Raking out failed mortar and replacing it. The single most common chimney job in this city, and the one where the mortar mix matters more than people realise. What to look for → This week Chimney Rebuild Taking the stack down to a sound course and rebuilding it. The expensive answer, and the right one when repointing would be money into something that has already failed structurally. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Liner Installation A stainless liner run down the flue. Needed when the existing liner has cracked, when a new appliance needs a different size, or when an old stack has no liner at all. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Cap and Damper The cheapest useful thing you can put on a chimney. It keeps rain, snow and animals out, and rain in a flue is what destroys the liner from inside. What to look for → Can wait Chimney Crown Repair The concrete slab on top of the stack. It is the first thing to crack and the crack is how water gets into the whole chimney. What to look for → Can wait Creosote Removal Hard glazed creosote that a normal brush will not shift. This is the stage where a chimney fire becomes a real possibility rather than a warning on a leaflet. What to look for → This week Fireplace Cleaning The firebox, the smoke chamber and the damper — the part you can see and the part just above it, which is where most of the soot actually sits. What to look for → This week Gas Fireplace Service Annual service on a gas fireplace or insert. In Ontario this is TSSA-registered work, and that is a different contractor from a chimney sweep. What to look for → Call today Animal Removal from Chimney Raccoons, squirrels, birds and wasps. Common in Toronto, and the reason a cap pays for itself the first time. What to look for → This week Chimney Waterproofing A breathable water repellent on the masonry, after the real faults are fixed. Useful last, useless first, and sold the other way round more often than not. What to look for →

Why a Toronto chimney fails from the top down

Almost every failed chimney in this city started with its crown. The crown is the concrete slab on top of the stack, it cracks first, and once it has cracked the whole structure is taking water. Everything after that — spalled brick, open joints, a shaled liner, damp on the chimney breast two floors down — is that water and the freeze-thaw cycle working on it.

That is why the order of work matters so much here and why a quote that starts with waterproofing should be questioned. Sealing a stack that has open joints and a cracked crown traps water inside the masonry rather than keeping it out. Crown first, then pointing, then a cap, and a breathable repellent last if at all.

The mortar is the other thing people get wrong. On a pre-war Toronto house the brick is soft and the mortar is supposed to be softer still, so that the joint takes the movement rather than the brick face. Repointing soft old brick with a hard modern mix looks neat for a few years and then spalls the faces off the brick, which is a far more expensive problem than the one it was meant to fix.

And the credential question is genuinely different here. Ontario does not licence chimney sweeps. What exists is WETT certification for solid-fuel work — voluntary, but it is what insurers and home inspectors ask for — and TSSA registration for anything involving gas, which is a separate trade. A company that offers to service your gas fireplace without being TSSA-registered is offering something it should not.

Toronto specifically

Freeze-thaw takes chimneys apart in this city, and it starts at the crown. Water gets into a crack, freezes overnight, widens it, and from then on the whole stack is wet — which is why so much chimney work here is masonry rather than sweeping. The older brick through the pre-war neighbourhoods is soft, so the mortar has to be softer still or the brick faces spall.

Ontario does not licence chimney sweeps. For solid fuel the credential that counts is WETT certification, which is what insurers and home inspectors ask for, and for anything involving a gas appliance the work is TSSA-registered and a sweep is not qualified to do it. Installation work falls under the Ontario Building Code, with permits through the City of Toronto.

Find your town →

How it works

Three steps, and you decide at the end of them.

  1. 1

    You call and describe the problem

    Tell us what you have noticed and where — the room, the smell, the noise, how long it has been going on. Give us your postal code and we will match you to a licensed company covering your area. There is no form to fill in.

  2. 2

    A local company takes it from there

    They discuss the problem with you directly, arrange a time to inspect, and agree the work and the price with you before anything starts. That conversation is between you and them.

  3. 3

    You decide whether to go ahead

    You are under no obligation. If the quote or the approach is not what you wanted, you are free to say no and call someone else.

Common questions

Which areas of Toronto do you cover?

All of it. The quickest way to find out about your own town is to call and give us your postal code — if the nearest company is an hour out we will say so rather than waste your afternoon.

How soon can someone come out?

Sweeping and inspections are usually within a few days, except from the first cold week of November when the whole city calls at once — book late summer if you can. A cracked liner or anything smelling of combustion gases is same-day.

Are your partners insured?

Ontario does not licence this trade at provincial level, so the documents worth asking for are liability insurance and a WSIB clearance certificate. Any legitimate partner will show you both without being chased.

What does it cost?

Nothing, at any point. The work is carried out by our partner company, and everything about it — the price, the schedule and the guarantee — is agreed directly between you and them.

Call now How it works