Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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AfterChimney Cleaning Services in Plainview, NY
If your home was built between 1950 and 1965, the chimney standing on your roof has already outlasted the original furnace it was designed for. In Plainview, that’s not the exception, it’s the rule. Most chimneys in this town are masonry, original to the house, and have been quietly collecting creosote, absorbing rain, and losing mortar joints for six or seven decades without a single camera ever going up the flue.
We’re Top Hat Chimney, and we work these neighborhoods every week. You can reach us at (516) 968-5380. Wendell Pike, the owner, has been cleaning and repairing chimneys since 1999. That’s not a website claim, it’s just how long he’s been doing this. Call the number. He’ll answer.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Why Plainview Homeowners Choose Top Hat Chimney
Plainview is not a burner-and-run town. People stay here for decades, they pass houses to the next generation, and they talk to their neighbors. That’s exactly the kind of place where a chimney company either earns a name or disappears by spring. Wendell has earned the name. His license number is published. His phone rings in his truck, not a call center. When you call at 9:00 at night because your boiler flue smells like smoke, a live person picks up, and a good chunk of the time it’s Wendell himself.
We clean chimneys throughout the neighborhoods between Old Country Road and the Northern State, including Old Bethpage and the community around Plainview-Old Bethpage Community Park. Homeowners in Plainview Manor and the blocks surrounding the Plainview Jewish Center have been calling us for years, often on a neighbor’s recommendation. Ask anyone on your street. Somebody has our number.
Every job includes a written assessment, camera footage of your flue if anything looks questionable, and a price before we start. If it’s not done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise brings us back at no cost. That’s in writing on every invoice, not a verbal nod.
- Owner-operated since 1999. Wendell Pike runs every job, not a rotating cast of subcontractors.
- Upfront pricing. The number quoted on the phone is the number on the invoice. No surprise at the door.
- Camera inspection included. If we find anything beyond basic cleaning, you see the footage yourself.
- Live answer, 24/7. Real person. Often Wendell. Never a voicemail box.
- Background-checked crew. Uniformed, named, and accountable. You’ll see them again at the deli.
Chimney Cleaning Services We Offer in Plainview
Here’s what we do on the hundreds of homes we visit in Plainview each season. Everything’s done by our own crew, with tools off our own truck. Each service below links to a dedicated Plainview page where you can get more specifics.
Chimney Cleaning & Sweep
A proper sweep removes creosote, soot, and any blockages from the entire flue system, not just the part you can see from the hearth. In Plainview, we sweep wood-burning, oil, and gas flues, and the cleaning includes a full visual inspection of the firebox, damper, and chimney cap. Nobody leaves until the mess is bagged and the hearth is cleaner than we found it. Chimney Cleaning & Sweep in Plainview
Chimney Repair
We repoint loose brick, rebuild spalled masonry, replace cracked crowns, and repair flashing leaks. Most of the chimneys we repair in Plainview are original to 1950s and 1960s construction, and they’ve never had a single joint repointed. Once a crack opens, freeze-thaw cycles do the rest. Chimney Repair in Plainview
Fireplace Services
From dampers that won’t seal to fireboxes that smoke back into the room, we handle the full range. We also install gas log sets, repair wood-burning fireplace boxes, and replace doors and screens. If your fireplace has been more decorative than functional for years, we can likely make it run clean and draft right. Fireplace Services in Plainview
Chimney Cap & Crown
A cracked crown or missing cap lets water into the entire chimney structure. We install stainless caps from Gelco and Olympia Chimney, and pour new crowns that shed water properly instead of holding it. A $400 cap can prevent a $4,000 rebuild. If you have no cap and haven’t looked up in years, this is where you start. Learn more about our chimney cleaning and sweep service in Plainview where we always check the cap condition.
Chimney Liner & Rebuild
This is the big one for Plainview, and we’ll cover why in a moment. We reline flues with HeatShield or DuraFlex systems sized to the appliance that’s actually venting into them. We also rebuild chimneys from the roofline up when structural damage makes relining alone unsafe. We’ll show you the camera footage. Then we’ll tell you honestly whether you need it now or can wait. Chimney Repair in Plainview
Neighborhoods We Serve in Plainview
We work the entire 11803 ZIP, from the residential streets north of Old Country Road to the blocks up against the Northern State. Typical scheduling for a cleaning runs two to five days out during peak fall season, and we always give a real arrival window, not an eight-hour stretch.
- Old Bethpage
- Plainview Manor
- The blocks near Plainview-Old Bethpage Community Park
- Streets north of Old Country Road
- The residential area near the Plainview Jewish Center
Why Plainview’s Climate & Housing Affect Chimney Cleaning
Plainview developed almost entirely in the 1950s and 1960s as a classic Nassau County suburb. That means the vast majority of homes in this town contain masonry chimneys that are now 60 to 70-plus years old, built with clay tile flue liners originally sized for oil-fired heating appliances. Long Island’s freeze-thaw cycle hits these chimneys hard. Temperatures cross the freezing point dozens of times each winter, and every crossing expands the water in old mortar joints just a little more. After 60 years of that, the joints are dust, the brick faces are spalling, and water is finding its way into places it should never be.
Add nor’easters driving wind-blown rain against the chimney, and hairline cracks become interior leaks between cleanings. That’s not a conjecture, it’s what we see in the camera footage from Plainview homes every week.
And then there’s the oil-to-gas conversion wave. As Plainview homeowners join the Nassau County-wide shift away from oil, those oversized oil-era flues often fail to meet the smaller diameter and condensation-resistance requirements for modern gas equipment. The old clay tile liners in these chimneys were never designed for the cooler, wetter exhaust of a high-efficiency gas boiler. Gas exhaust condenses, runs down the flue, and attacks the clay from the inside. Relining becomes not a luxury but a code requirement before the Town of Oyster Bay signs off on the new installation. That’s why chimney relining is one of the most in-demand Plainview-specific services we provide.
Pricing for Chimney Cleaning in Plainview
We don’t hide prices. A standard chimney cleaning and sweep in Plainview typically runs $220 to $390, depending on the height of the chimney, the condition of the flue, and whether there’s more than one flue to clean. That includes the full cleaning, visual inspection, and a written report.
If the camera finds something beyond cleaning, you get the footage and a line-item price before anything else is touched. No work happens without your sign-off. Simple as that.
- Cleaning & sweep - $220 to $390, sometimes higher for steep or tall chimneys.
- Chimney cap supply and install - $250 to $550, depending on cap size and style (Gelco or Olympia Chimney).
- Crown reseal or pour - $450 to $1,200, depending on damaged area and height of access.
- Chimney relining - $2,400 to $6,500, always quoted after camera footage and a site visit. We recommend HeatShield for many Plainview homes.
- Full chimney rebuild - $5,000 to $12,000, quoted case by case. These are the ones where a cap years ago would have saved the structure.
And remember: if you’re a Plainview senior or veteran, you get 10% off, always. If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it. The second opinion is free, and we’ll show you exactly what you’re paying for.
Service Area - Cities Near Plainview
We work across the border into Levittown, over toward Huntington Station, down to Seaford, and up to Huntington. If you’re in one of those communities, you’ll get the same Plainview-level service, same pricing, same promise.
Serving Plainview, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Plainview area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Cleaning in Plainview
A standard sweep in Plainview costs between $220 and $390, depending on chimney height and flue condition. Larger homes on split-levels with steep roof pitches or multiple flues may run higher. We quote a fixed price before starting, and that price is the invoice price. Call (516) 968-5380 for an exact quote based on your house. Estimates are free.
Once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too. The freeze-thaw cycle we get on Long Island doesn’t care whether you’re using the fireplace. Water in an unused chimney still freezes, still expands, still widens cracks. Annual cleaning catches the problem when it’s a repointing job, not a rebuild. If you burn wood regularly from October through March, you may need a mid-season sweep depending on how seasoned your wood is.
In most cases, yes. The clay tile liners in Plainview’s 1950s and 1960s chimneys were sized for oil exhaust, which is hotter and drier than gas exhaust. Gas systems push cooler, wetter air, which condenses in an oversized flue and attacks the clay from the inside. The Town of Oyster Bay typically requires relining to match the new appliance before they sign off on a gas conversion. We’ll show you the camera footage of your current flue and explain exactly what’s needed. Then you decide.
Creosote builds in layers. First-degree creosote is a brush job. Third-degree is a glaze. A flue glazed with hardened creosote is a chimney fire waiting to happen, and the heat from that fire cracks flue liners, which then lets exhaust and embers into the structure of the house. Separately, water intrusion from uncapped or cracked chimneys does silent damage to mortar and brick, and you won’t see it until it’s expensive. A $300 cleaning once a year is the cheapest insurance you can buy for this house. Call us at (516) 968-5380 to schedule before the burn season fills the calendar.
Yes. Pre-purchase chimney inspections are common in Plainview, especially for those mid-century ranches and split-levels that have never had a camera in the flue. We do a visual inspection from the crown down, then a camera run. You get the footage, a written report, and a plain-English verdict. If the buyer or seller needs a price for repairs found, we quote it line by line. Bring us the address. We’ll tell you what’s actually there.
Have a question we didn’t cover? Call (516) 968-5380. A real person answers, day or night, and we’ll tell you what we know about chimneys in Plainview. No pressure. Just answers.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Plainview residents across Long Island since 1999.
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees - talk to a local chimney cleaning pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3We come out and measureLicensed & insured, at a time that suits you - the visit and the quote are both free.
- 4You get the price in writingLine-itemed, yours to keep, and nothing starts until you say go.
What Plainview Customers Say
"Wendell has swept our chimney every autumn for six years now. He knows the flue better than I know it and he tells me when it does not need doing, which is not something most trades will admit to."
- Eleanor Prescott"Gave me the photos from inside the flue on a memory stick along with the invoice. I have never had a trade hand me evidence before."
- Priscilla Ng"Honest work and a fair price. The masonry repair took longer than the two weeks he first said because of the weather, which I understand, but I would have liked being told rather than having to ask."
- Isaiah Brantley