Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Chimney Sweep Across Monrovia
A chimney sweep in Monrovia typically runs $189 – $289 for a standard open-flue fireplace with a clay-tile liner, and most homes here are serviced within a week of calling. That price includes the full sweep, a visual inspection of the accessible flue, and disposal of the creosote and soot we pull out. We work throughout 91016 and 91017, from the streets climbing toward the San Gabriels down to the flatland tracts east of Myrtle. If you’re on the fence about whether your chimney actually needs attention this year, call (833) 589-8498 and we’ll walk you through what we look for before you commit to anything.

Why Sherwood Chimney Sweep Is Monrovia’s Preferred Chimney Sweep Company
Monrovia homeowners tend to be direct with us, and we appreciate that. You want someone who knows the difference between a 1920s clay-tile flue in the Historic District and a mid-century masonry stack on the east side, and who won’t invent problems to pad the invoice. That’s how Noel Carver runs this company. Every Chimney Sweep job here starts with the assumption that your chimney is probably in decent shape until a camera shows otherwise. Our technicians drive into Monrovia regularly from El Monte, which means we can typically have someone at your door within a few business days, not weeks. We bring our own ladders, drop cloths, and HEPA-filter vacuum, and we don’t leave soot dust on your hearth or your shrubs.
We’ve been called out to fix work done by other companies more than once, and the pattern is usually the same: a technician looked at the chimney from the roof, saw some cracked mortar or flaking brick, and recommended a full reline without ever running a camera inside. That doesn’t fly with us. If we’re going to recommend a $3,000 repair, we’re going to show you the footage that justifies it.
Styles & brands we work with





Fireplace Cleaning in Monrovia
Fireplace Cleaning in Monrovia is about more than vacuuming out last winter’s ashes, not in houses this old. In the foothill bungalows and Spanish Colonials around Old Town, we’re looking at fireboxes that have held eighty or ninety years of fires, often with mortar joints that have shifted slightly over time. A proper cleaning here means removing soot and creosote from the firebox, smoke shelf, and damper assembly, then checking the damper actually seats correctly. A lot of the old cast-iron dampers in these homes are warped or rusted open, which is how you lose heated air straight up the stack all winter.
For a standard fireplace cleaning in Monrovia, expect $169 – $249 depending on creosote buildup and whether the damper needs attention. If we find a damper that won’t close, we’ll show you and give you a price to fix or replace it before we leave.
Creosote Removal
Creosote is the tar-like residue that condenses from wood smoke, and in Monrovia’s older chimneys it hides in the smoke chamber where a standard brush can’t reach. First-degree creosote is loose and brushes out easily. Third-degree creosote is a hard, shiny glaze that protects itself from brushes and requires chemical treatment or mechanical removal. We’ll tell you which one you have, and if a simple sweep can’t handle it, we’ll show you why before recommending anything further.
Fireplace Smoke Chamber Cleaning
In older masonry fireplaces, the smoke chamber is the curved section above the damper that funnels smoke into the flue. It’s also where creosote and soot collect fastest, and where Monrovia’s older homes show the most neglect. A standard sweep that only brushes the flue miss this entirely. We open the damper, inspect the chamber, and remove what’s built up there so the fireplace draws correctly and doesn’t push smoke back into the room.
Chimney Services in Monrovia
Chimney Services in Monrovia covers the full stack, not just the firebox. And the reason that matters here is specific to this city’s housing stock. The original clay-tile liners in 1920s and 1930s homes were never designed for the earthquake activity this foothill region gets, even minor movement. Cracked tiles, shifted mortar joints, and loose crowns are common, and they’re not things a visual glance from the roofline will reliably catch. We run a camera through the flue on every visit, because it’s the only way to see what’s actually happening between the firebox and the cap.
Standard chimney services in Monrovia, including the Level 1 inspection we perform with every sweep, start at around $189. If you need a Level 2 inspection, which involves the camera run and a more detailed assessment of the flue interior, budget $279 – $389. Those are the honest numbers for this area.
Chimney Crown and Mortar Joint Repair
The chimney crown is the concrete cap at the very top of the stack. On a 1930s Monrovia home, that crown has been exposed to fifty-plus years of sun, rain, and Santa Ana wind, and it’s often cracked or worn thin. Water gets in, freezes on the rare cold night, and widens the cracks. We repair crowns with proper masonry materials and seal the joints, then show you before-and-after photos so you know the work was done.

Dryer Vent Cleaning
We offer dryer vent cleaning alongside chimney work because both are fire-prevention tasks that most Monrovia homeowners only think about once a problem shows up. Lint is the leading cause of household dryer fires, and a vent that hasn’t been cleaned in a few years is a risk, period. If we’re already at your house for a sweep, we can inspect the dryer vent and clean it if it needs it. One company, both systems, same inspection standard.

What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Monrovia
We stock and install professional-grade chimney components from Olympia Chimney and Famco, and we keep common liner parts and caps in our El Monte shop so a Monrovia repair doesn’t wait on a two-week parts order. When a clay-tile flue in the Historic District is cracked beyond repair, we quote DuraFlex flexible liner systems because that’s what certified chimney engineers specify. When the liner is salvageable, we use HeatShield to resurface the damaged section instead of tearing out the whole stack. That’s the difference between a $600 spot repair and a $3,500 reline, and we’ll show you the camera footage so you know which one you actually need.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Sweep Problems We See in Monrovia Homes
After years of servicing the foothill neighborhoods and the streets around Old Town, here’s what we encounter most in Monrovia specifically:
- Cracked clay-tile liners from seismic movement and Santa Ana buffeting. These tiles are the original material in most pre-WWII chimneys here, and they crack where mortar joints have shifted. From the roof it looks fine. Through a camera, you can see daylight through the crack.
- Third-degree creosote glaze in the smoke chamber. We see this most in chimneys that get used heavily for a few months, then ignored. A standard brush won’t remove it, and leaving it in place is what increases the risk of a chimney fire.
- Warped or rusted dampers. The old cast-iron dampers in Monrovia’s Craftsman bungalows weren’t built to last ninety years. Many are stuck open, which means your furnace-heated air exits the home through the chimney all winter.
- Crumbling mortar crowns and flashing failures. These often read as purely cosmetic, and that’s exactly how upselling starts. A cracked crown lets water into the masonry, which then freezes and expands and makes the crack worse. It also makes a good entry point for CO spillage once a fire is lit.
Pricing for Chimney Sweep in Monrovia, CA
A standard fireplace sweep in Monrovia runs $189 – $289 for most homes. Add a camera inspection and you’re looking at $279 – $389 for the full Level 2 evaluation. Fireplace cleaning with creosote removal typically lands between $169 and $249. What moves the price is creosote condition, flue height, and whether we’re dealing with an original clay-tile liner that needs careful handling. A full reline is a different conversation, usually $3,000 – $5,500, and we will never quote that without handing you the camera feed and explaining why a cheaper repair won’t do. Estimates are free. Call (833) 589-8498 and we’ll give you a flat price before we book the work.
We Also Serve Cities Near Monrovia
Sherwood Chimney Sweep provides Chimney Sweep in Monrovia and handles the surrounding foothill and valley communities as well. If you’re in Mayflower Village, Duarte, Bradbury, or Arcadia, you’re within our regular service radius and can expect the same camera-first inspection standard and the same flat-price estimate before any work begins.
Serving Monrovia, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Monrovia area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Sweep in Monrovia
You can’t reliably tell from the roof or the firebox, and anyone who claims they can without a camera is guessing. The cracks in old clay-tile liners are usually hairline, hidden inside the flue where no visual inspection reaches. That’s why we run a camera down the flue on every visit. If there’s damage from decades of minor seismic movement, you’ll see it on the monitor in real time. Call (833) 589-8498 to schedule an inspection and see your flue for yourself.
Yes, but the reason isn’t creosote buildup. In Monrovia’s older homes, the annual inspection is about catching structural changes before they become safety problems. Quake-loosened mortar joints, water intrusion through a cracked crown, or a bird or squirrel nest in the flue can all happen in twelve months, even if you never light a fire. The inspection is the part that protects you; the sweep handles what burning creates. A yearly Level 1 inspection runs $189 – $289 and gives us a baseline to compare against next year.
First-degree creosote is loose, flaky, and brushes out with standard sweeping tools. Third-degree creosote is a hard, tar-like glaze that forms when fires burn hot and the smoke chamber doesn’t heat evenly, which happens often in older masonry stacks with uneven drafts. Third-degree creosote won’t come out with a brush, and it’s the form most likely to ignite in a chimney fire. If we find it, we’ll show you the buildup on camera and explain the chemical or mechanical removal options before touching anything.
No, it’s a water entry point. The crown is there to shed water away from the flue liner and the masonry below it. Once it crumbles, water gets inside the stack, and in Monrovia’s dry-wet seasonal cycle, that water weakens mortar joints and accelerates cracking in the clay-tile liner. Left alone, a $400 crown repair becomes a $3,000 reline. We’ll show you the damage on camera and give you a price to fix it before the rains come.
Yes, and we insist on it. The only time we recommend a reline is when the camera shows flue damage that a HeatShield resurfacing or spot repair can’t safely address. We’ve walked into Monrovia homes where another company quoted a full reline based on a roof-only glance, and the camera showed two cracked tiles near the smoke chamber. We repaired the damaged section, swept the flue, and the homeowner saved thousands. You’ll see the footage before we quote anything major.
Call Sherwood Chimney Sweep at (833) 589-8498 for a free estimate on any chimney or dryer vent work in Monrovia. We’ll give you a flat price, show you the camera footage, and never recommend a repair we can’t prove you need.
Written by Noel Carver, Owner at Sherwood Chimney Sweep, serving Monrovia and the San Gabriel Valley foothills.