Chimney Sweeps - A Step in Time

A Step in Time Chimney Cleaners
is a chimney repair, fireplace, gutter and dryer vent cleaning company that services Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., North Carolina, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Our certified sweeps have extensive experience with chimney repair, liners, chimney caps, chase covers and gutter cleaning. Our cleaning service includes full fireplace inspections of the brick crowns, flashing, caps, roof shingles, lining and firebox. Our corporate office is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia and can route a local certified fireplace cleaners to areas including Raleigh, Richmond, Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Atlanta and Philadelphia. In the fall season of 2008 our areas will expand to Boston Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware. Our technicians can be radio dispatched for quick prompt service.

Ask our technicians about gutter cleaning and dryer vent cleaning while he is performing your chimney inspection service. While at your house, sometimes our technicians encounter birds which nest inside your chimney. Thesefederally protected birds are called chimney swifts. These birds, which look like bats, form nests which can produce dangerous situations that might cause a chimney fire. Flammable elements like soot, creosote, leaves and bird nests can catch fire. The Chimney Safety Institute of America, C.S.I.A. and the National Chimney Sweep Guild, has a wealth of information concerning the importance of fire safety. These sites discuss the venting hazards of carbon monoxide and that leaking smoke above masonry dampers can cause potential fire hazards. This is a great reason for waterproofing your chimney and installing screens or chimney caps.

A Step in Time Chimney Sweeps has over ten years experience with the president and C.E.O., Raymond Gessner having numerous qualifications including civil engineering degrees from Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University. Further, Ray has a Virginia professional engineering license, class A contractors license, C.S.I.A. chimney sweep certificate and has published articles in various nationwide trade magazines. A Step in Time has excellent references from the Better Business Bureau and over 20,000 satisfied customers. Call us for your chimney cleaning, gutter cleaning, dryer vent cleaning, animal removal and chimney repair and smoke guard needs.

Lucky Sweep?
Every day we get calls from various customers asking about the tradition of luck and the chimney sweep. Whether if it's from Bert (Dick Van Dyke) talking about luck rubbing off onto you when he plays his part on Mary Poppins or maybe the same concept is employed when sweeps are hired to attend weddings in England for good luck. Perhaps the story started when an 18th century sweep saved the life of a rider on a panicked horse. To everyone's surprise, the rider was the king himself. The sweep had already disappeared into the crowd and from that day forward, the king declared all chimney sweeps as lucky.

We like to think that perhaps it's not luck. In the 3rd century there was a roman soldier who was a closet Christian. He performed many heroic feats including saving an entire town from a rampaging fire with one bucket of water. The emperor ordered this roman soldier to kill a town of Christians. At that point, this roman soldier professed his Christian faith and the emperor had the roman soldier killed. The roman soldier was name a saint and is now the patron saint of all chimney sweepers, known as Saint Florian. So when you have your chimney cleaned by a chimney sweep and happen to experience a little bit of good luck, maybe it's just a little bit of blessing from the big man upstairs thanks to Saint Florian and his courageous deeds.

Service Areas by city:

Washington DC

Virginia: Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Ashburn, Burke, Centerville, Chesapeake, Chester, Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, Dumfries, Fairfax, Falls Church, Front Royal, Hampton, Haymarket, Leesburg, Manassas, McLean, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Smithfield, Springfield, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Williamsburg.

Maryland: Annapolis, Annapolis Junction, Baltimore, Bel Air, Bethesda, Bowie, Chevy Chase, Colombia, Damascus, Dundalk, Ellicott City, Forest Hill, Fort Washington, Gaithersburg, Glen Burnie, Havre De Grace, Joppa, Laurel, Leonardtown, Lutherville Timonium, Middletown, Monkton, Monrovia, Odenton, Owings Mills, Oxon Hill, Pasadena, Reisterstown, Rockville, Severn, Silver Spring, Towson

Raleigh, North Carolina:Apex, Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Creedmoor, Durham, Franklinton, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Leesville, Louisburg, Morrisville, Raleigh, Wendell, Zebulon

1-800-FIREMAN
(1 - 8 0 0 - 3 4 7 - 3 6 2 6)

Some of our credentials

Fire certified

CSIA certified

Virginia Tech - 1991

O.D.U. - 1998

Local telephone numbers
757-244-6639 - Hampton Roads
804-244-6639 - Richmond, Va.
540- 710-9730 - Central Va.
703- 536-9220 - Northern Va .
301- 530-7300 - Suburban, Md
410- 760-9410 - Baltimore, Md
919- 846-1100 - Raleigh, N.C.
215-244-6639 - Philadelphia
770-244-6639- Atlanta, Ga.

April is for Chimney sweeps

Warm weather is has arrived. Your chimney might be acting a little funny or perhaps some unwanted guests have made a home inside your chimney. A Step in Time can get your chimney in tip top shape. Look for A Step in Time to featured on Design to Sell which airs next month. The Home and Garden television channel has a national television show which airs Deign to sell. Click the photo above for air times.

In 1998, there were 18,300 residential fires in the United States originating in chimneys, fireplaces and solid fuel appliances, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. These fires resulted in 160 personal injuries, 40 deaths and $158.2 million in property damage.

Virtually all of these fires were preventable according to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), a non-profit institution dedicated to public and chimney professional education. Both CSIA and the National Fire Protection Association recommend yearly chimney inspections to help prevent these hazards.

Many American homeowners think their chimneys only need to be cleaned and inspected if they burn wood in their fireplaces or wood stoves. But almost all heating appliances, whether they burn gas, oil, wood or coal, rely on the chimney to safely carry toxic gases produced by the heating system of the house.

A carbon monoxide detector can warn homeowners of potential poisoning after the deadly gas has already entered the living area, but an annual chimney check can help prevent carbon monoxide from entering the home in the first place.

Each fall, homeowners shift into home-improvement mode. They clean gutters, garages and basements -- preparing homes for winter. But they usually don't inspect, repair or clean their chimneys, despite the potential for damage to their property or even to their lives.

An annual chimney inspection by a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep® is a modest investment that can reduce the danger of chimney fires or carbon monoxide poisoning. CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps have earned the industry's most respected credential by passing an intensive examination based on fire codes, clearances and standards for the construction and maintenance of chimneys and venting systems.