Masonry chimney care in Tewksbury Township, NJ
Tewksbury is spread thin across hills and farm roads, with about 74 homes per square mile and four villages on the state and national historic registers, Oldwick, Mountainville, Fairmount and Cokesbury. Almost nine homes in ten are detached, and a third of households still heat with fuel oil.
In brief
We sweep and repair masonry chimneys, clean oil flues and repoint stone stacks in Oldwick, Pottersville, Mountainville, Cokesbury and the farms between them, and we clean dryer vents and air ducts. On a historic stone chimney the mortar has to suit the stone, so we choose it with care.
Historic stone and the mortar it needs
Oldwick's historic district alone includes houses in Federal, Georgian and Victorian styles, and Zion Lutheran Church there dates to 1714. Older stacks in this part of the county are often built from local fieldstone, sandstone or argillite, and those stones are softer than modern masonry. Repointing them with a hard cement mortar is a mistake, because the mortar ends up stronger than the stone and the face of the stone breaks off instead of the joint. We repoint with a softer, lime-rich mortar that lets the joint do its job. Fuel oil is the other big factor, since a third of the township burns it, and oil flues need regular cleaning to keep scale from building up. Houses heated by electricity often still have a fireplace in use, and those flues tend to be the ones nobody has looked at in years. Because homes are far apart here, we try to cover every chimney, stove and dryer vent at a house in one visit.
Neighborhoods on our route in Tewksbury Township
- Apgar's Corner
- Bissell
- Cokesbury
- Fairmount and Lower Fairmount
- Farmersville
- Fox Hill
- Laurel Farms
- Mountainville
- Oldwick
- Pottersville
- Sutton
- Vernoy
Services we offer in Tewksbury Township
- Chimney sweepingCamera first, brushes second
- Chimney inspectionLevel 1 or Level 2, written up for you
- Chimney repairCrowns, caps, flashing and liners where water gets in
- Fireplaces & stovesPilots, dampers and door gaskets
- Dryer vent cleaningThe full run cleaned, dryer to outside hood
- Air duct cleaningIf cleaning will not help, we say so
- Duct repair & replacementCrushed, torn or sagging runs fixed
Reviews from our Google listing
A selection of our 5-star reviews on Google.
Polishing the ceramic glass and unblocking the air-wash intake passages turned our heavily used woodstove back into an effective heat source.
Static-cling barriers locked the aperture tight, so that high soot agitation inside the top flue never wandered into the next-door kitchen.
The entire sweep was completed with engineering precision and purity never before witnessed from meticulous pre-setup to HD inside camera feature.
What Tewksbury Township homeowners ask us
Our stone chimney needs repointing. What mortar do you use?
For old sandstone or argillite we use a soft mortar with plenty of lime, softer than the stone itself. A hard cement mortar would crack the stone face over time instead of letting the joint wear first.
Our house is in the Oldwick historic district. Does chimney work need approval?
Work on a building in a listed historic district can need extra review, especially anything visible from outside. We check with the township before quoting a rebuild and match the original materials as closely as possible.
We heat with oil. Should the flue be cleaned every year?
An inspection every year is the standard recommendation, and oil flues usually need cleaning at that visit because scale keeps building. We also check the connector between the boiler and the chimney.
Can you service the fireplace, the stove and the dryer vent on one trip?
Yes. In a township as spread out as Tewksbury, combining them in one visit saves you a second appointment.
Our listing on Google Maps
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Royal Chimney Sweep Repair Cherry Hill
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