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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About The Fireplace Chimney

Chimneys add a lot to a house, there is a great thing about having a fireplace in your living room and a nice picturesque smoking chimney outside your house, as you drive up to your place you can see the smoke slowly raising from it, indicating that your family is in the house and that it is nice and warm inside.

Fireplaces and chimneys need to maintained and need to be secure at all times, there is absolutely no way you can make any compromises about your fire place and chimney working state and safety.

Here are a few maintenance tips and ideas for you to consider applying to your own fir fire place and chimney.

As recommended by the National Fire Protection Association (in NFPA 211), your chimney should be checked at least once a year to ensure its efficiency; that is, if you are using your fireplace on a regular basis. However, if you are only using your fireplace for 2 to 3 months a year, you can have the option to have it checked every other year.

Stove installation should be checked at least once a year to ensure that the clearances from combustible surfaces are maintained to prevent any hazard. Stove pipes are subject to high temperature so it should be checked periodically for corrosion. Replace it if corrosion level exceeds the safe zone.

If there is a need to clean your chimney, take a professional chimney sweep to do the job. You can use the opportunity that you have a professional chimney cleaner at your property and ask for some regular cleaning advise and tips, these should be adapted to your fireplace and chimney and the area in which you live, a professional would know how humid it is in your area and what kind of animals try and get into your chimney in the summer and winter.

Keep the damper closed when the fireplace is not used to prevent the heat or air conditioning from escaping.

Installing a chimney cap of high quality can extend the life of your chimney. It also prevents birds, insects, and animals to nest in your chimney, the most known and popular chimney caps are made out of copper, which is an excellent metal to use for this purpose, if you need a chimney cap you should look into what kinds there are on the market.

Installing a smoke detector inside your home will provide you with some peace of mind, knowing that if anything will go wrong you will have a clear indication of it, and that you will have a practiced routine for a case that the fire alarm goes off.

Winter is almost here, and a Fire Place is just what you need to add character and warmth to your home. Discover how to plan, buy and place your Fire Place in your home by following Daniel Roshard?s Fireplace Chimney articles and Fireplace related articles and tips at http://fireplace.advice-tips.com