Before & After Gallery - Ashby Chimney Los Angeles

Chimney Cleaning Before & After in Los Angeles, CA

Photos tell the truth faster than any claim we could make. Below are real jobs our crews have handled across Los Angeles, from Silver Lake bungalows to Brentwood mid-centuries. You’ll see what we found, what we did, and what the flue looked like when we left. The pictures aren’t staged, and the soot isn’t photoshopped. This is the work, documented.

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Recent Transformations

Glazed Creosote Removal in a 1940s Los Feliz Fireplace

This homeowner hadn’t swept the chimney since buying the house in 2016, and the damper had been left open through two winters. The flue walls were coated in shiny, tar-like creosote, the kind that doesn’t brush off and feeds a chimney fire if it ever ignites. We used rotary chain equipment to break the glaze down, then hand-brushed and vacuumed the full run. The after photo shows raw clay liner again, and the fireplace drafts without pushing smoke back into the living room.

Smoky Fireplace with a Stuck 1950s Damper in West Adams

The complaint was simple: every fire made the room smell like a campfire for two days. What we found was a damper rusted half-open and a throat packed with old nests, so smoke had nowhere to go but back into the house. We cleared the debris, freed the damper plate, and swept the flue from the roof down. The result is a fireplace that actually pulls air up the flue, and the room no longer smells like last Tuesday’s fire.

Heavy Soot Buildup in a Two-Story Santa Monica Chimney

Santa Monica’s marine layer keeps chimneys damp, and damp soot sticks to flue walls instead of falling to the smoke shelf. This flue had roughly a half-inch of buildup along the entire run, which narrows the path for exhaust and sends carbon monoxide back into the house. We swept top-down with poly brushes sized to the tile liner, then ran a camera inspection to confirm no cracks or voids. The after shot shows clean tile and a properly sized draft opening.

Prefab Fireplace Service with Disconnected Panels in Sherman Oaks

This Sherman Oaks home had a factory-built fireplace that hadn’t been looked at since the mid-2000s. Inside, two refractory panels had shifted out of place, leaving gaps where heat could reach the framing. We swept the flue, reset the panels, and confirmed the termination cap was still screening out birds and debris. It’s a modest fix that prevents a serious fire hazard, and the fireplace now burns the way the manufacturer intended.

Animal Nest Extraction in an Echo Park Chimney

Echo Park’s older homes often have chimneys without proper caps, and this one had become a pigeon roost between burn season and spring. The flue was more than half blocked with nesting material, twigs, and droppings, which is both a draft problem and a health concern. We removed the nest with a vacuum designed for fine particulate, swept the liner, and installed a proper cap so it doesn’t happen again. The before photo shows the blockage; the after photo shows a clean, capped termination.

Firebox Restoration After Years of Ash Neglect in Pasadena

Some fireboxes never get cleaned because people assume ash at the bottom is harmless. In this Pasadena bungalow, the firebox was buried under four inches of ash and the mortar joints behind it were crumbling. We removed the ash, vacuumed the smoke shelf, and repointed the firebox joints with refractory mortar rated for high heat. The after photo shows a firebox you can actually build a fire in, with joints that hold.

Want Results Like These?

If your chimney hasn’t been swept in the last year, or you’re seeing soot on the mantel and smelling smoke after every fire, call us at (213) 652-7061. We’ll give you a written price before any work starts, send a background-checked technician in uniform, and show you photos of exactly what we found and what we fixed.

Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Los Angeles, serving Los Angeles since 2002.