Chimney Sweeps offers a second location and summer safety inspections

Business Spotlight:

Chimney Sweeps Inc. has expanded from one location to two and has a special summer offer to help San Diego residents keep their chimneys clean.

Chimney Sweeps, a family-owned business that has been servicing chimneys and fireplaces all over the county since 1985, will now operate out of its original spot in Lakeside and a new site in Oceanside.

Julian Margo, who is in charge of Chimney Sweeps’ daily operations, said the Oceanside location opened last month “to better serve communities in northern San Diego.”

Chimney Sweeps also is running a summertime special that expires July 4.

“We’re offering a free safety inspection to first-time customers,” Margo said. The service is normally priced at $89.

“It’s our way of helping the community right now,” Margo said. “We know everyone’s coming back from having been out of work for a while. We know money is tight.”

Margo said the company doesn’t want chimneys and fireplaces to be neglected, “because that means more chimney fires and more damage to residences as a result.”

Margo recommends that people “make sure that throughout all this, the safety of your home and fireplace isn’t something that gets neglected simply because you’re in the midst of rough fiscal times,” adding that the offer of a free safety inspection may help.

To those who don’t normally think of servicing their chimneys and fireplaces during the warmer months, Margo said “the majority of structural damage to brick and masonry fireplaces occurs in the summer,” similar to how sidewalks crack.

“We have the intense heat that bakes out the moisture and minerals from the bricks and mortar. You get cracks, separations and deterioration of the fireplaces,” he said, noting that chimneys absorb heat twice — from the sun as well as “the heat that ricochets off the roof.”

The safety inspection, Margo said, looks for that kind of damage. “It’s a good idea to catch those before they become something that is not easy to repair,” he said.

Margo said his company is still committed to its regimented cleaning process, beefed up during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re still doing sanitation and cleaning processes to protect our clients and employees,” he said.

For more information about Chimney Sweeps Inc., call (619) 593-4020 or visit chimneysweepsinc.com.

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