Chimney sweep near you
We serve all of Powellhurst-Gilbert, Portland's most populous neighborhood in 2020, where many chimneys serve tile-lined ranch fireplaces or metal fireplaces in framed chases, and the winter east wind out of the Gorge is hard on caps, flashing and draft.
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Most Powellhurst-Gilbert houses are 1950s to 1970s ranches built under county rules before the city arrived, since Portland annexed the area piece by piece between the 1960s and 1994.
Powellhurst-Gilbert ranches usually have either a masonry fireplace with a clay tile liner or, on the later ones, a factory-built metal fireplace venting through a metal chimney inside a wood-framed chase with a sheet-metal cover. Scattered among them are early 1900s farmhouses from the days when rail service, which began in 1892, first drew people out here, with old brick chimneys built for a stove and an oil furnace.
The 1980s to 2000s apartments and subdivisions along SE 122nd Ave and SE Division St mostly have gas fireplaces or none, so their calls are for dryer vents and ducts. What every house here shares is the weather: this part of the city takes the cold east wind that pours out of the Columbia River Gorge in winter, and the January 2024 ice storm hit the east side hard.
Powellhurst-Gilbert has two main chimney types: a tile-lined masonry fireplace on the 1950s and 1960s ranches, and a factory-built metal fireplace with a metal flue in a framed, sided chase on the later ranches and split-levels.
The chase is where the newer type fails: the sheet-metal chase cover rusts and pools water, the metal cap is often the first thing an east wind takes off, and the refractory panels in the firebox crack with age. On a masonry stack the east face takes wind-driven rain that finds every open joint, and on a hard east-wind day either type can backdraft and push smoke into the room.
Metal fireplaces, east wind and a lot of apartments give Powellhurst-Gilbert a call list unlike the inner neighborhoods.
A factory-built fireplace in a Powellhurst-Gilbert ranch gets a Level 2 inspection that covers the parts a masonry chimney does not have: the chase cover, the metal flue sections and their joints, the firestop at the ceiling, and the refractory panels in the firebox. A cracked panel or a rusted-through cover means the unit stays cold until it is repaired or replaced.
The east wind out of the Gorge lifts a loose cap off a metal flue or a tile and drops it in the yard, and the next storm drives rain straight down into the fireplace. We fit a cap that is fastened for wind rather than held by friction, and on a chase we replace a rusted chase cover with one that is cross-broken to shed water instead of pooling it.
Wind-driven rain on the east face of a masonry chimney, or against the siding of a chase, finds its way in at the flashing and shows up as a stain on the ceiling or water in the firebox after an east-wind storm. We reseal and reflash the roof joint, repair the chase siding where it has opened, and check the crown or chase cover at the same time.
The 1950s ranches with a tile-lined fireplace get a fall sweep with the Level 1 look-over, and a factory-built unit gets brushed with a brush sized to its metal flue rather than a masonry one, since the wrong brush can damage the liner. Both come with photos of the flue before and after.
The apartments and subdivisions along 122nd and Division often have forced-air heat and no chimney to sweep, and the calls from there are for dusty supply registers and a musty smell when the furnace kicks on, along with dryer vents that take two cycles. We clean the supply and return runs and the dryer duct on the same visit.
We reach Powellhurst-Gilbert from I-205 on the west edge or along SE Powell Blvd (US 26), with SE 122nd Ave and SE 136th Ave running north and south and SE Division St, SE Holgate Blvd and SE Foster Rd crossing them.
On the ranch blocks a single-story roof keeps the ladder short, but a split-level chase can put the cap two stories up. On an east-wind day we may ask to move a roof job to a calmer morning, since a ladder on an icy, gusty roof is not worth it. Apartment managers: tell us how many units and where the hoods exit.
Powellhurst-Gilbert was the most populous neighborhood in Portland at the 2020 census, with 32,852 residents, and has the largest Asian population of any neighborhood in the city.
The name joins two schools that honored settlers Jackson Powell, who came in the 1850s, and William M. Gilbert, who arrived around 1890.
Rail service to Portland began in 1892 and brought the first residential growth, and the city annexed the area gradually from the 1960s until 1994.
Pressure differences on either side of the Cascades pull very cold east wind toward the west mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, which helps set up snow and ice storms on this side of the city.
Kelly Butte Natural Area, Raymond Park, the SE 122nd Ave and SE Division St corridors and the Heart Beacon public art are the points residents steer by.
Yes, both ZIPs and the whole neighborhood. From the I-205 side east past 136th, along Division, Powell, Holgate and Foster, it is one route for us at the posted price, with no travel charge when we do the work. It was the city's most populous neighborhood in 2020, so pairing your visit with a neighbor's is easy.
It is a factory-built fireplace, and it is swept and inspected on its own terms. The firebox is a metal unit with refractory panels, the flue is a metal pipe inside a framed chase, and the top is a sheet-metal chase cover with a cap. We brush the flue with a brush sized for it and inspect the panels, joints and cover; cracked panels or a rusted-through cover keep the unit cold until it is fixed.
The wind is overpowering the draft, and the fireplace should stay unlit until we have looked. A strong east wind off the Gorge can push down a short flue or set up a pressure difference across the house that pulls smoke back in, and a missing cap, a dirty flue or a kitchen fan running makes it worse. A camera check and a wind-rated cap are the starting points. Keep a carbon monoxide alarm on that floor.
Keep the fireplace cold and get a Level 2 inspection, which is the level the standard recommends after storm damage. On a masonry stack we look for cracked tile, shifted brick above the roof and a broken crown; on a factory-built unit we look for a dented or displaced flue section, a crushed chase cover and a cap knocked loose. Any of those sends gases where they should not go, so the camera comes before the next fire.
Yes, and we book complexes by the building. The dryer vent is cleaned from the dryer connection to the exterior hood with the hood cleared and its flap checked; the ducts get the supply and return runs cleaned and the registers wiped. Managers along 122nd and Division in Powellhurst-Gilbert can schedule a block of units at once and get a short note per unit on what came out.
Multnomah County decides, based on the air quality forecast, and it can post a yellow day or a red day in any month. On a red day, fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and outdoor fires stay off from noon to noon unless the household holds a county exemption, such as for sole-source heat or income. The wind is not the trigger; the forecast is, so check the county status before lighting. Our wood burning rules guide has the detail.
Our contractor-check guide shows how to run the state lookup and read the result. Then ask the company whether its price is posted before the visit and whether you will see the camera footage of your own flue. For a factory-built fireplace in a Powellhurst-Gilbert ranch, add one more: do they inspect the chase cover and refractory panels, because a company that only brushes the flue will miss the two parts that often fail first on these units.
West of I-205 the same truck covers Lents and Foster-Powell, north of Division it covers Montavilla and Hazelwood with Mill Park, and east it runs on into Gresham.
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.