How To Make Money As A Chimney Sweep

While the demand for chimney sweeps has dropped over the last century, there is still a significant market for the service. Anyone who has a wood stove, or fireplace that gets used for actual warmth generation has a regulatory requirement to get the carbon and creosote cleared from their chimney at least once every other year, as it's a fire hazard otherwise.

What this means to you is that there's a definite demand, and that the demand must be met, giving you a shot at a second income, or even a job to replace the one you've got. Chimney sweeps perform a specialized task; you'll need to apprentice under a current chimney sweep, which can take some time to find one willing to teach you. Once you've done that, you can take on clients of your own and do the work – typical fees for a chimney sweep are about £60 or £120 or so for a basic service that has to be done once a year. On the job, sweeping a chimney takes about two hours, tops, and can be much less than that.

Now, to run your own business, you need a bit of business savvy, and some common sense. The business savvy comes from advertising. You'll need to let people know you're offering the service; this can be done as simply as going door to door in the late summer and early fall, which is when most folks have their chimneys swept. However, it's probably more efficient to take out an advertisement in the local telephone directory; the odds that someone has a chimney and doesn't have a telephone are pretty slim in this day and age. Similarly, running advertisements in the local newspaper, or in the local weekly alternative paper is probably worth doing.

The common sense, sadly, is less common than the business savvy. You need to be prompt, professional and tidy. While chimney-sweeping is a dirty job, there's no need to go tracking soot across someone's floor or rug. You're making a professional appointment – be timely; show up when you're supposed to. If you are unavoidably delayed, do have the courtesy to call ahead and let your client know.

All that said, there are some other factors to consider. First, you'll need to buy some specialized equipment; it's not terribly expensive, generally a few hundred pounds, but it is a capital investment in the business. Still, with a bit of pluck and some hard work, you'll soon be sweeping in the money on a part time job where you don't have to answer to someone else. That in itself is often a significant benefit!

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