30 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Summer 2010

Kathleen 

Green

Kathleen Green is 

an economist in 

the Office of Occupational Statistics 

and Employment 

Projections, BLS. 

She is available at 

(202) 691-5717 or 

green.kathleen@

bls.gov.

You’re a what?

Don’t know your damper from your 

flue? Chimney sweep Dawn McDermott will be happy to explain the 

difference. She can also inspect a fireplace’s 

working parts, clean your chimney, and provide other repairs and maintenance related to 

chimney upkeep. 

With 26 years in the chimney-sweep 

business, Dawn knows chimneys inside and 

out. She’s happy to clarify for customers who 

might confuse the duct that vents gases to the 

outside (the flue) with the adjustable plate that 

regulates airflow (the damper). “They may not 

know the terminology,” she says, “but I still 

have to explain what they need to know.”

Dawn considers customer education part 

of her job. Increased understanding encourages 

chimney safety, which in turn helps to prevent 

fires and other hazards associated with fireplaces, woodstoves, and heating systems. 

For example, chimney fires often occur 

when residue from wood-burning smoke accumulates inside the flue. Buildup of this smoke 

residue, called creosote, can become so thick 

and solid that it reduces airflow in the flue, 

creating even more smoke and leading to more 

creosote deposits. Eventually, these deposits 

harden into a highly flammable glaze. 

A chimney sweep—also called a 

“sweep”—inspects chimneys as well as cleans 

them. Some inspections are for a specific purpose, such as home appraisal, but most precede cleaning. “Inspection tells me a lot,” says 

Dawn. “If you’ve got a 13- by 13-inch chimney 

opening, but it’s got so much buildup that the 

only opening left is a pinhole, I can see right 

away there’s a problem.” A sweep might also 

discover that a chimney has structural flaws or 

shows signs of deterioration. 

Inspections often start on the rooftop, but 

cleaning usually begins inside the home. And 

for conscientious sweeps like Dawn, that means 

preparing the work area first. “It’s a dirty job,” 

she says, “but we never touch anything with 

dirty hands. And we leave no dirt behind.” 

Placing tarps over flooring and, if necessary, 

moving furniture out of the way helps minimize the mess. 

After the tarps are down, chimney sweeps 

bring in their equipment: rods, wire brushes, 

attachments of various lengths and sizes, a 

high-powered vacuum, and special lighting. 

Sweeps also wear protective gear, including 

goggles and a respirator, to prevent soot from 

getting into their eyes and lungs.

The cleaning equipment is designed to 

give sweeps access along walls, into corners, 

onto ledges, or into other hard-to-reach areas 

inside chimneys. With the help of bright lights, 

chimney sweeps use their brushes and vacuum 

attachments to scrape and suction soot from 

inside the flue. Ideally, cleaning is done regularly enough that a worker can easily sweep the 

chimney—hence the occupation’s title—before 

the soot becomes glossy and combustible. 

But when creosote hardens, it bonds like 

glue to surfaces and can’t be scraped off; in 

fact, attempting to chip away the solid buildup 

could cause structural damage to the chimney. 

In those cases, sweeps apply a chemical to the 

glaze to break it down over several days, after 

which they return to vacuum out these deposits. A third appointment is required to apply a 

chemical neutralizer and do a final sweep. For 

especially thick buildup, chimney sweeps may 

need to schedule additional appointments.

Dawn and her associate try to limit traveling time by scheduling each day’s appointments within a single ZIP code. From September through January, their busiest season, they 

usually work 10-hour days 5 days a week. But 

that doesn’t mean they’re idle the rest of the 

year. “Spring and summer are actually the best 

time to sweep,” says Dawn. “Removing all 

the surface soot gives relief to people who are 

allergic to it, especially when it’s worse in the 

hot, humid summer months.” It’s also easier to 
Summer 2010 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 31

are ways for sweeps to establish themselves as 

qualified professionals.

Other than the institutes’ seminars and 

workshops, there are no formal credentialing 

programs specific to chimney sweeping. Still, 

says Dawn, most sweeps are self-employed and 

need to know more than how to clean chimneys. “There’s a lot of paperwork,” she says. 

“You need to be able to keep good books.” 

Basic math skills are important for accounting, 

doing taxes, and pricing products to stay competitive. Communications skills are essential 

for advertising and customer relations.

Dawn has an associate degree in business 

management. She took over Mr. Joe’s Chimney 

Sweep Services, her father’s business in Allentown, Pennsylvania, when he decided to retire 

after the business was well established. It was 

then that her business training came in handy. 

It was in becoming a business owneroperator that Dawn understood the importance 

of maintaining the solid reputation that her father had built. A new customer once told Dawn 

that, when she was with six friends and asked if 

any of them knew of a reliable chimney sweep, 

all six replied in unison, “Mr. Joe’s!” 

“Unfortunately, the lack of requirements 

means anyone can buy a few tools and claim to 

be a chimney sweep,” says Dawn. “It’s nice to 

know that ethics, honesty, and reliability really 

do matter.” 

get an appointment when they’re not booked 

for months in advance. 

Chimney cleaning requires a certain level 

of dexterity, because the job includes a lot of 

climbing, squatting, kneeling, and stretching. 

Some of the work involves risk, too, such as of 

falls from walking on roofs or health problems 

from inhaling soot. But, Dawn says, “If you’re 

doing everything the way you’re supposed to, 

then you’ll be OK.”

Although it can be dangerous, most routine 

sweeping usually isn’t too time consuming. A 

typical inspection and cleaning takes from 20 

minutes to an hour, says Dawn, but additional 

time depends on “whether the job is really bad 

or really simple, whether getting to the chimney requires one ladder or two, and whether it’s 

cleaned annually or hasn’t been cleaned in 5 or 

10 years.” Inspection helps determine how long 

the job will take.

Most time estimates also include a cost 

estimate. The National Chimney Sweep Guild 

says that homeowners should expect to pay up 

to $300 for routine inspection and sweeping, 

depending on geographical, structural, and 

other factors. Many sweeps, including Dawn, 

charge less than that for most services. And 

sweeps may charge more for complicated jobs 

that require extra appointments, repairs, or 

equipment.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

does not have wage or employment data specifically for chimney sweeps. (Chimney sweeps 

are included in BLS estimates for the all other 

building cleaning workers occupation.) According to the guild’s most recent membership survey, annual revenue of a typical chimney sweep 

company is between $100,000 to $250,000. Of 

an estimated 5,000 chimney-sweep companies 

nationwide, the guild has about 1,100 member 

companies, most of which have been in business more than 20 years and have 2 to 3 fulltime employees.

Chimney services are largely unregulated. 

And few States license sweeps, although most 

require them to carry liability insurance. Furthermore, sweeping requires little training or 

money for startup, so entering the occupation 

is easy. Joining the guild and getting certified through the Chimney Safety Institute of 

America and the National Fireplace Institute