YOUR LOCAL PROFESSIONAL CHIMNEY SWEEP
& STOVE INSTALLER
Tel: 07542 071659
Chimney CCTV inspection equipment is now an important piece of the chimney sweeps armoury, chimney inspections are now an essential service that is provided by chimney sweeping companies. The main problem that I am up against is (in the majority of cases) we are dealing with older chimneys. In 1965 the regulations changed that improved the way that new chimneys would be built, up until then they were built more or less the same way for centuries and like everything else, the older they get, the more issues and problems arise.
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So, for many years, this problem was exacerbated with a chimney because how would anyone even know that there was a problem in the first place? Or if they did, what was causing that problem? Luckily there is specialised equipment for this type of inspection.
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There are several advantages and uses for this type of survey, firstly we can use the camera in order to identify problems that we encounter within the chimney itself. For instance, if we were sweeping a chimney and we find an obstruction or a narrowing of the chimney flue, it would help us determine the best course of action to take to remedy the problem. If we encounter a nest in the chimney, by carrying out a CCTV inspection after we can be sure that whole nest has been removed. Damage can occur at any time in a chimney flue which may just be due to age and general wear and tear but also the likes of chimney fires can cause massive amounts of damage with a chimney another reason could be subsidence of the property.
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This survey uses a miniature camera that can get into all those corners and move through the entire chimney identifying potential problems and the best part is that you can then be shown it on the monitor.
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When our clients are carrying out works on chimneys to the party wall property, it is considered best practice to carry full investigations of all flues concerned usually by CCTV inspection to get a before and after view of what has happened (if anything) within the flue system.
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The advantage being is that this survey then makes it easier to come up with the appropriate solutions to fix the problem. The images that are captured on this camera allows the company to come up with the correct plan and this means that it takes less time to repair the chimney and it also saves you money as well. We are able to collect these images on a memory card and put them onto a DVD to allow the inspection to be viewed on a large computer screen, the inspections that we carry out can be either in black & white or colour.
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Finally, it also makes it easier for the company to look at your chimney should you be thinking about having it lined. It may help them decide on the best lining system for your chimney as they are able to see the full extent of the flue and any damage or considerations well in advance and this can sometimes save major headaches later.
This is an image of a customer’s chimney. As you can see within the orange circle that the mid feathers (brickwork between two chimney’s) is missing.
This means that there is a breach between the two chimneys.
By being able to identify and then resolve problems, or discovering that everything is fine, thanks to the CCTV survey it does of course mean that you will feel more secure about your chimney and be more confident in using it.
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This is a good enough reason to have this survey carried out because how can you put a price on knowing that there are no structural issues or blockages in the flue itself and all the potential hazards associated with those kinds of problems?
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Conducting this survey is relatively easy and the entire survey does not take up too much time. We are talking about high tech, effective, equipment that sends back high-quality images of the whole chimney system.
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It takes very little time to set the equipment up and of course you get instant results and we will know there and then whether there is an issue and then how severe it may be. Previously, it could be said that there was a certain degree of guesswork involved and some repairs were carried out that may not have been required, so it is clear as to why this approach is indeed far more effective.
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So, if you have any concerns whatsoever, do think about having a chimney CCTV inspection carried out even if it is just to give you that peace of mind. It is not too expensive, it gets results, and you then know where you stand with the potential of further work.