Certified Fireplace &
Chimney Experts for Meriden, KS

Meriden is about twenty minutes north of Topeka in Jefferson County, and we run that direction on a regular route. If you’re in Meriden, Grantville, or anywhere in the Jefferson West area, we can get to you.

Wood heat that earns its keep

Jefferson County is rural, and rural means wood. A lot of Meriden-area homes have a wood stove, an insert, or an open fireplace that runs hard from November through March, offsetting propane that has to be trucked in and stored on site. That’s a sensible way to heat a house. It also puts real load on a chimney.

The failure mode we see most often is creosote accumulation in homes that are sweeping on a calendar rather than on usage. “Once a year, in the fall” is a fine rule for a fireplace used on holidays. For a stove burning several cords a season it can leave you with a glazed, tar-like third-degree creosote deposit that a standard brush won’t remove and that ignites at low temperature. Glazed creosote requires chemical treatment or rotary removal — both of which we do, but both of which are more expensive and more disruptive than sweeping on the right schedule in the first place.

A few things that reduce buildup regardless of how much you burn:

• Burn wood seasoned at least a year, split and stacked off the ground under cover
• Run hotter, shorter fires rather than damping down for an all-night smolder
• Keep the flue insulated where it runs through unheated space — a cold flue condenses creosote

What we do in Meriden

Chimney and stovepipe sweeping, glazed creosote removal, full system inspection, stainless steel relining, masonry repointing and crown repair, Class A metal chimney service, cap and chase cover replacement, and stove and insert installation.

Get on the Jefferson County route

Call (785) 670-6600 or request an estimate online and we’ll fit you into the next trip north.

Nearby service areas: Ozawkie · Topeka · Tecumseh · Lawrence