Before & After Gallery - Hearthstone Chimney Co.

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in Plainview, NY

We’ve learned that homeowners in Plainview don’t need to hear us talk about clean chimneys. They need to see what a proper sweep and inspection actually uncovers, and what comes after. These are real jobs we’ve completed across Nassau County, documented with photos our customers could see for themselves.

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Recent Transformations

Wood-Burning Fireplace: 1.5 Inches of Creosote Buildup in Old Bethpage

The homeowner burned cordwood every winter for twelve years without a sweep. Our Level-2 camera inspection showed Stage 3 glazed creosote from the smoke shelf to the crown, a genuine chimney fire hazard in a neighborhood where most houses sit close together. We used rotary cleaning with professional-grade equipment, ran a second camera pass to verify, and documented everything in photos the customer kept. The fireplace draws properly now. No more smoke backing into the living room on cold Plainview mornings.

Gas Insert with Debris Blockage: Hicksville Split-Level

A family in Hicksville smelled something off every time they ran their gas insert. The vent was partially blocked with a nest from last spring, plus years of accumulated debris that the previous owner never addressed. Carbon monoxide doesn’t announce itself, so we treated this as urgent. Cleared the obstruction, installed a proper stainless cap from Gelco to prevent recurrence, and ran a combustion spillage test. The insert runs clean now. We finished in one visit, which is how most of our jobs go.

Historic Masonry Restoration: Plainview Cape Cod

This 1956 Cape on a quiet Plainview street had a crown that was flat as a pancake and cracked through to the flue. Water had been entering for years, freezing in our Nassau County winters, and popping flue tiles loose from the inside. We don’t guess at this kind of damage. Our camera showed exactly which tiles were compromised and which were sound enough to keep. Replaced the damaged sections with Olympia Chimney components, poured a new crown with proper drainage slope using HeatShield crown seal, and showed the homeowner every photo. Work that could have been a full rebuild stayed a targeted repair because we caught it before another winter.

Chimney Liner Failure: Syosset Center-Hall Colonial

The Syosset homeowner called because their living room smelled like a campfire even when the fireplace wasn’t lit. Our camera found a clay liner with longitudinal cracks running from the smoke chamber to within three feet of the crown, a pattern we see in houses from the 1970s construction boom around Plainview. Gaps that size let combustion gases leak into the chimney cavity and seep through mortar joints into the house. We installed a DuraFlex stainless steel liner with proper insulation for wood-burning duty, connected it correctly at the insert and termination, and pressure-tested the system. The smell disappeared. The homeowner told us they’d been running a HEPA filter for two years trying to solve it.

Neglected Oil Flue Conversion: Plainview Ranch

An older ranch near the Plainview-Old Bethpage border still ran its original oil boiler through an unlined brick flue that had never been swept. The sulfuric residue from oil combustion eats mortar from the inside out, and this one was halfway there. We cleaned it to bare masonry, measured the flue against the appliance specs, and found it was oversized for modern efficiency equipment, which causes condensation and accelerated deterioration. Explained the options without pushing the most expensive one. The customer opted for a proper sizing consultation with their HVAC contractor before we did anything irreversible. That’s the call we’d want if it were our house.

Chimney Cap and Crown Rebuild: Woodbury Heights Property

A Woodbury Heights homeowner wondered why their attic insulation was damp every spring. The chimney cap had blown off in a nor’easter three years prior, and nobody had noticed. Rain entered freely, saturated the crown, worked through freeze-thaw cycles, and started popping brick faces off the top six courses. We rebuilt the damaged masonry, sealed the crown with HeatShield, and installed a proper Gelco stainless steel cap with mesh screening. The damp attic issue stopped. This is the kind of slow-motion damage that cameras reveal and guesswork misses.

Want Results Like These?

Every job here started with a phone call to (934) 348-4832. A live person answers, 24 hours a day. We’ll schedule your Level-2 camera inspection, show you exactly what your chimney needs with photos you can see, and give you a plain-English verdict. No surprises on the bill. Our 90-Day Done Right Promise covers everything we do. Call us today.

Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Plainview and Nassau County since 1984.