If it’s your first time looking for a chimney sweep, it can be difficult to know how much is the ‘going rate’.
In this article, we look at various factors it’s important to consider before making a booking for a chimney sweep in Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan, Stockport or St Helens.
Sweeping Qualifications/Acccreditations
Legally, there is no requirement for sweeps to be registered at all. However, most people look for some form of an accreditation or membership.
HETAS is perhaps one of the best known names in the world of solid fuel and fireplaces. As a company, we are HETAS-approved sweeps and have our own HETAS training centre.
There’s also a plethora of chimney sweep association accreditations and some, such as our owner David, even hold a sweeping NVQ.
For your peace of mind, it always pays to check whether the sweep you are booking is appropriately recognised.
How Soon Can I Get A Chimney Sweeping Appointment?
This depends on both the time of year and the size of the company.
Most sweeps are one-man bands. As a result, from August-January, these smaller companies can have waiting lists stretching to weeks or even months.
At Mr Soot, our waiting times are significantly shorter as we have a team of professional sweeps who can usually get to customers within days – sometimes even the next day!
How Long Is A Sweeping Appointment?
Most experienced, professional sweeps can undertake routine cleans, with no unexpected issues, within an hour. And sometimes in even less than 30 minutes.
More in-depth inspections, or commercial heating systems, may take longer. Blockages can take hours to remove. For your first appointment, we recommend leaving as much time free as possible.
What Paperwork Should I Receive?
Most sweeping appointments end with some form of paperwork being issued. Usually, this is a Certificate of Sweeping which goes through various elements of an installation which are checked.
Sometimes, if there is a major fault, a Warning Notice will be issued, detailing why an installation should, in the opinion of the sweep technician issuing it, not be used.
And Finally, How Much Does It Cost For A Chimney Sweep in Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan, Stockport or St Helens?
Costs do vary for routine sweeping appointments, and information can be hard to come by without ringing up individual sweeping companies.
Even when you do find out prices, you have to weigh up things such as availability, accreditations, ease of booking, payment options and reliability.
At Mr Soot, we are fully transparent and publish all our prices for domestic cleans and inspection on our website.
We aim to make it as easy as possible for customers to book, with fully staffed booking lines open from 8.30am-5.30pm, Monday-Friday, and a 24/7 online booking service.
All our sweep technicians carry card payment machines which accept all major cards, including American Express.
And for those who provide a mobile number, we will even send a ‘Track Your Sweep’ text alert so you can see how far away they are!
