AM Chimney Sweep provides chimney cleaning, inspection, relining and repair in Newark. Newark’s housing is more varied than most towns around it, so the first question on any job here is a basic one: what kind of venting does this building actually have?
Newark’s housing in numbers
Census Bureau estimates show about four in ten Newark homes are in two- to four-family buildings and roughly one in ten is an attached single-family house. About a quarter of the city’s housing predates 1940, while nearly one in five units has been built since 2000. Those figures describe three quite different chimney situations.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates.
1. Older brick houses and multi-family buildings
These have full-height masonry chimneys, usually serving boilers and water heaters for every unit in the building, and sometimes original fireplaces as well. The flues work hard all winter. What they most often need:
- A camera inspection whenever a boiler or water heater is replaced, since the flue may no longer suit the new equipment
- A liner where the clay tile has broken down or was never there
- Crown and masonry repairs at the top, where the weather does its work
- A cap on every flue
2. Attached and row houses
Here the chimney often sits on the wall shared with the house next door, and one stack may contain flues belonging to both properties. Three practical points follow.
- Work on the outside of a shared stack affects both owners, so it helps to speak to your neighbor before repairs are priced.
- Roofs are often flat or low-slope, and the point where the chimney meets the roof or parapet is a frequent source of leaks.
- Access may be through a roof hatch. Tell us in advance how the roof is reached.
3. Newer two- and three-family houses
Much of the housing built in the last twenty-five years has no masonry chimney at all. Heating equipment vents through a metal vent that runs up through the building, or through plastic pipes out the side wall. These systems do not need sweeping in the traditional sense, but they are not maintenance-free: the termination on the roof or wall should be clear and intact, and any rust, separation or staining along the vent is a reason to have the heating contractor look at it. If you are not sure which type you have, we can tell you.
How to identify your own system
- From the street: A brick stack rising above the roof is a masonry chimney. A round metal pipe with a cap is a metal vent.
- In the basement: Follow the metal pipe from the top of the boiler, furnace or water heater. It will lead either into a brick chimney base or into a metal vent rising through the ceiling.
- At the base of a brick chimney: Look for a small metal clean-out door. If opening it reveals a pile of sand, tile flakes or soot, the flue above is deteriorating.
What to expect from a visit
We look at the chimney from the roof and from inside, run a camera through each flue in use, and give you a report with photos. If it needs cleaning, that is done the same visit where possible. We explain the findings and the price before any repair begins.
Owners of rental buildings often ask us to cover all units in one appointment, which is simpler for everyone. We also clean dryer vents, which in multi-family buildings tend to be long and easily clogged.
Request service in Newark
Call (862) 225-6529 or contact us online with the address, the building type and how the roof is reached. For a similar urban job, see our liner installation and crown repair in Jersey City, or browse Our Work.