Bringing Warmth and Safety to Every Chabad Home in Crown Heights
Professional chimney sweeping and fireplace safety for the historic brownstones of Crown Heights, a few blocks from 770 Eastern Parkway. We clean, inspect and repair the flues that carry a family through a Brooklyn winter.
CSIA CertifiedChimney Safety Institute of America
NCSG MemberNational Chimney Sweep Guild
NFI CertifiedNational Fireplace Institute
BBB A+ RatedBetter Business Bureau
5-Star Google ReviewsVerified customer feedback- Licensed & InsuredGeneral liability and workers comp
- Family OwnedLocally owned and operated
HomeAdvisor ScreenedBackground checked and approved
Angi CertifiedVerified reviews and licensing
EPA Lead-SafeCertified renovation firm
NYC DOB LicensedDepartment of Buildings
OSHA 30 TrainedSafety-trained crews
Do you serve the Chabad community around 770 Eastern Parkway?
Yes. The blocks around 770 Eastern Parkway are our home ground, and we work the brownstones and apartment buildings along Kingston Avenue, Montgomery Street, Crown Street, Union Street and President Street. We sweep fireplace flues, inspect boiler and heating vents, and repair masonry above the roofline. Scheduling is built around Erev Shabbos and Yom Tov, so appointments do not collide with your week.
Serving the Heart of the Global Chabad Community
Crown Heights is the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch world. Families who live here share these blocks with visitors arriving from every continent, and 770 Eastern Parkway is the landmark the whole neighborhood navigates by. Working on these streets means working in houses that are rarely quiet and almost never empty.
Hachnasas orchim is not an occasional event in these homes, it is the normal state of the house. A Shabbos table that stretches for guests, bochurim staying over, cousins in from out of town for a simcha: all of it puts steady demand on the building. The heating system runs harder, the fireplace gets lit more often, and the flue that vents it collects more soot than a house with two people in it. A yearly chimney sweep is simply maintenance on a home that works this hard.
The idea of a Jewish home as a mikdash me'at, a small sanctuary, shapes how people here think about their houses. The Rebbe spoke often about the home as a place of warmth and light that reaches outward to others. We are a chimney crew, so our part in that is strictly physical: a clean flue, a sound chimney and a fireplace that draws correctly rather than pushing smoke back into the room where everyone is sitting.
To be clear about who we are, Crown Heights Chimney Sweep is an independent chimney and masonry business. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to 770 Eastern Parkway, Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Agudas Chassidei Chabad or any other Chabad institution. What we bring to the neighborhood is a crew that knows these buildings and gives an honest inspection whether or not it leads to work.
Chimney and Fireplace Services Built for Crown Heights
The housing here is mostly pre-war: limestone and brownstone rowhouses with multiple flues sharing one stack, plus the larger apartment buildings along Eastern Parkway with flat roofs and parapet walls. That stock needs a different approach than a suburban house with one modern fireplace, from repointing soft old mortar joints to sorting out which flue actually serves which appliance. In apartment buildings our most common call is dryer vent cleaning, because long runs through old walls clog quietly.
- Historic brownstone sweeping: We brush and vacuum fireplace and boiler flues in pre-war rowhouses, clearing soot and creosote buildup that narrows the passage and raises the risk of a chimney fire.
- Winter and Yom Tov readiness: Before the cold season we run a Level 1 or Level 2 inspection of fireplace flues, boiler and water heater vents, so nothing surprises you in the middle of a long Yom Tov.
- Masonry, caps and waterproofing: Above the roofline we handle crown recasting, cap installation to keep out rain and nesting birds, and leak repair where water has been tracking down the stack into the top-floor ceiling.
Chimney Leak Repair
Water near a fireplace has four possible sources, and sealing the wrong one wastes money. We trace the actual path on Crown Heights rowhouses and pre-war buildings, then fix that path with the right material.
Learn more →Chimney Crown Repair
The crown is the slab that seals the top of the chimney around the flues, and on most Crown Heights stacks it is a thin mortar wash that cracked years ago. We rebuild crowns as reinforced cast-in-place slabs with an overhang and drip edge, so water sheds away from the brick.
Learn more →Chimney Tuckpointing
Mortar joints are the sacrificial part of a chimney: they are meant to wear before the brick does. We grind out failed joints on Crown Heights stacks and repoint them in a lime-rich Type N mortar that matches the original in strength and color.
Learn more →Chimney Flashing Repair
Flashing is the metal that bridges the chimney and the roof, and it fails quietly under layers of tar. We cut out the old work, install new base flashing in copper or aluminum, and let counter-flashing into the brick joints so the seal does not depend on caulk.
Learn more →Chimney Sweep
A proper sweep removes soot and creosote from the firebox to the flue cap and ends with a camera look at what is left behind. Our crew works Crown Heights rowhouses, pre-war co-ops and frame houses with the same drop-cloth discipline.
Learn more →Chimney Inspection
Buying a rowhouse, converting a boiler, or just unsure what is behind the firebox? We run NFPA 211 Level 1 and Level 2 inspections with a flue camera and give you a written report you can hand to a buyer, a co-op board or an insurer.
Learn more →Why Your Neighbors Trust Crown Heights Chimney Sweep
Most of our work comes from people on the next block telling someone about us. That only happens if the crew shows up when they said they would and leaves the house the way they found it.
- Rooted in the neighborhood: We work the blocks around Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue regularly, so we already know how these stacks were built and where they usually fail.
- Scheduling that respects your calendar: We book around Erev Shabbos, Yomim Tovim and Chol Hamoed, and we do not send a crew at a time when Anash families are getting ready for Shabbos.
- Insured crews, code-aware work: Our crews are insured, and we work to NYC fire-safety and building-code requirements as they apply to older homes and landmarked blocks.
- A clean finish: Drop cloths go down before anything else, a HEPA vacuum runs through the whole sweep, and the fireplace surround and floor get wiped down before we pack up.
What a Visit Looks Like
- Written findings: You get a plain written summary of what we found in each flue, what is safe to use now and what is not, in language you can hand to a managing agent or a buyer.
- Photos of what we saw: Anything we report from the roof or from inside the flue comes with photos, so you are not taking our word for a crack you cannot see yourself.
- No-pressure recommendations: We separate what is a safety issue from what can wait until spring, and we are glad to tell you that nothing needs doing this year when that is the truth. Our chimney and masonry FAQ covers the common questions in more detail.
- One point of contact: The same person who scheduled you handles the follow-up, so you are not re-explaining your house to someone new. Everything runs through one number on our contact page.
The Blocks We Work
Our regular route runs along Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue and through the residential blocks around them: Montgomery Street, Crown Street, Union Street and President Street, plus the surrounding Crown Heights blocks north and south of the Parkway. Being this local means a chimney that starts smoking on a Tuesday does not have to wait a week for someone to cross the borough.
From here we also cover the neighborhoods next door, including Prospect Heights to the west, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill to the north, and Flatbush, East Flatbush and Brownsville to the south and east. Families who own a house here and a second property nearby can usually get both handled on the same visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a historic Crown Heights brownstone need regular chimney maintenance?
These houses were built for coal, then converted to oil and later to gas, and the flues were rarely rebuilt to match. Many are bare brick with no clay tile, and a century of acidic condensation has eaten the mortar joints from the inside. On top of that, Brooklyn freeze-thaw cycles crack the crown and open the brickwork above the roofline, which is where most chimney leaks start. An annual check catches that while it is still a repair instead of a rebuild.
Can you schedule around Shabbos and Yomim Tovim?
Yes, and we plan for it rather than treating it as an exception. We do not book Erev Shabbos afternoons or Yom Tov, and we keep Chol Hamoed and the weeks before Pesach and Tishrei in mind when we set the calendar. If you tell us the window that works for your household, we will fit the visit into it. We would rather move an appointment than have a crew in your front room while everyone is preparing for Shabbos.
Do you work on the streets right around 770 Eastern Parkway?
That area is the center of our service map. We cover Eastern Parkway itself, Kingston Avenue, Montgomery Street, Crown Street, Union Street and President Street, along with the blocks running between them. Both the rowhouses and the larger apartment buildings on the Parkway are familiar to us. If your building is within a few blocks of 770, we can usually get there quickly.
What is the difference between a Level 1 and a Level 2 chimney inspection?
A Level 1 inspection is the annual check on a chimney that has not changed: we examine the readily accessible parts of the chimney and the connected appliance, looking for blockage, soot buildup and obvious damage. A Level 2 adds a camera run down the full length of each flue, plus a look at the attic, crawl space and roof where access allows. You want a Level 2 when a house is being bought or sold, after a chimney fire or a bad storm, or when you convert fuels or add a new appliance. The camera is the only way to see a cracked flue tile.
How often should a wood-burning fireplace be swept?
Once a year is the baseline, and more often if you burn frequently through the winter. The practical trigger is soot depth: once buildup reaches about an eighth of an inch on the flue walls, it should be brushed out before the next fire. Burning unseasoned wood accelerates this and produces glazed creosote, which is harder to remove and far more flammable. A fireplace that only gets lit a handful of times a year still needs an annual look, because nesting birds and falling debris block flues just as effectively as soot.
What happens if your crew finds a cracked flue?
We stop and show you the footage before we talk about anything else. A cracked flue tile lets heat and combustion gases reach the surrounding brickwork and framing, so we will tell you plainly whether that appliance or fireplace is safe to keep using in the meantime. The usual fix is a correctly sized stainless steel liner run down the existing chimney, which restores a sealed passage without rebuilding the stack. If the damage is limited to a short section, a partial repair may be enough, and we will say so rather than quoting the bigger job.
Keep Your Home Safe, Warm and Prepared
Book an inspection before the cold weather sets in. Tell us your address, which fireplaces or heating vents you use, and the days that work for your household, and we will find a time that fits around your week.