Before & After Gallery - Top Hat Chimney

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in Newark, NJ

Photos of our work in Newark tell the story better than any brochure. We’ve pulled a few representative chimney cleaning jobs from the Ironbound, Forest Hill, and North Ward so you can see what actually comes out of a flue, and what it looks like when Wendell and his crew finish. Names and addresses stay private, but these are real scenarios we see every season of the year.

Call (848) 331-2638

Recent Transformations

Third-Degree Creosote Glaze in a Forest Hill Colonial

The homeowners in Forest Hill had used the fireplace every winter for six years and thought the dark, shiny coating on the flue walls was just “how chimneys look.” It wasn’t. That shine was third-degree creosote, the kind a brush won’t move and the kind that feeds a chimney fire. We ran a camera down first, showed them the glaze on the monitor, then used rotary chain whips to break it back to the clay liner. The after photo shows clean terracotta the whole way down, and the homeowner told us the fireplace drew better than it had in years.

Nesting Debris Blocking an Ironbound Rowhouse Flue

A rowhouse near Ferry Street had a fireplace that filled the living room with smoke every time they lit it. The flue wasn’t broken; it was blocked roughly twelve feet down by a squirrel nest, twigs, and what looked like half a bag’s worth of insulation the animal had dragged in. We pulled five gallons of material out with a vacuum and inspection rods, then brushed the full length and ran the camera again to confirm nothing was left behind. Smoke drafts up clean now. Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes.

First-Degree Creosote Buildup in a North Ward Cape

The owner of a 1950s cape off Bloomfield Avenue called because her fire smelled acrid even when it wasn’t burning. The flue had a quarter-inch of first-degree creosote, the fluffy kind that brushes off but still blocks airflow and stinks in humid weather. First-degree creosote is a brush job. Third-degree is a glaze. Catch it early. We swept the full flue, cleaned the smoke chamber and damper, and left the firebox and floor around it cleaner than when we arrived. The acrid smell was gone that evening, which she told us over the phone the next afternoon.

Smoke Chamber Packed with Ash in a Weequahic Tudor

A Tudor near Weequahic Park had a fireplace that worked on paper: liner was sound, damper opened, flue wasn’t blocked. But the smoke chamber above the damper had gathered so much fine ash and soot over the decades that smoke couldn’t make the turn into the flue without backing up. Wendell and his crew opened the chamber the old-fashioned way, vacuumed and brushed it clean, and applied a smoke chamber sealant so the brick wouldn’t keep shedding. The after photo shows a chamber you could eat off of, and the fireplace now draws like a Ford on a cold morning.

Rust-Streaked Chimney Cap Above a Downtown Newark Walkup

Rain and Newark winters had eaten through the cap on a downtown walkup, leaving the flue open to water, birds, and whatever else wanted in. The old cap was rusted through in two places and the mesh had pulled loose. We pulled the old cap, inspected the crown under it, and installed a new Famco stainless cap sized for that flue. The crown itself was still solid, so the whole job was done in one visit and cost less than the building owner expected. The camera footage and a plain-English verdict, every time, no exceptions.

Heavy Soot from Years of Unseasoned Wood Off South Orange Avenue

A house off South Orange Avenue had what the owner called “a fireplace that works but smells like a campfire days later.” The flue was lined with soft, flaking soot from years of burning unseasoned or wet wood. Soot holds moisture and keeps odor for weeks. We brushed the full length twice, which is what flaking buildup needs sometimes, then showed her the camera before and after. The recommendation going forward was simple: burn only seasoned wood, and sweep once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too.

Want Results Like These?

If your Newark chimney looks more like the before photos than the after ones, call Top Hat Chimney at (848) 331-2638. Wendell answers the phone himself, gives you upfront pricing before any tool comes off the truck, and every job is backed by the 90-Day Done Right Promise. Ask anyone on your street.

Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Newark since 1999.