Why we started in Tampa

ApexPro Chimney Pros grew out of a frustration that any Tampa homeowner with a fireplace will recognise. Chimney care in a warm climate is treated as an afterthought. Homes get built with fireplaces because buyers like them, then the flue sits unused for years while the Gulf air works on it. When something finally goes wrong, the homeowner discovers that half the companies advertising chimney work are really roofers, handymen or seasonal operators passing through.

We built the opposite of that. A local business with a fixed address on East Kennedy Boulevard, technicians who do this full time rather than as a winter side line, and a phone line staffed around the clock because chimney emergencies are disproportionately nocturnal. Storms arrive in the evening. Animals get trapped overnight. Smoke problems reveal themselves the first cool night of the year, which in Tampa is usually a Sunday in November at nine in the evening.

The work itself is unglamorous. It is dirty, it is often on a roof in August heat, and the best outcome is that nothing ever happens as a result. But there is a reason chimney sweeps have carried a reputation for luck for three hundred years: for most of that history they were the only thing standing between a household and a house fire. The stakes have not really changed.

What Florida does to a chimney

If you understand this, you understand almost everything about why our repair recommendations look different from a company operating in Ohio.

Water is the primary enemy, not fire

Tampa averages more than four feet of rain a year, much of it delivered in short violent bursts. A chimney is the only part of a house deliberately built with a hole in the top of it. Every element that keeps water out — the cap, the crown, the flashing, the mortar joints — is a wear item, and each one fails quietly.

Humidity keeps masonry permanently damp

Brick and mortar are porous by design. In a dry climate they take on water and give it back. In a subtropical one they often never fully dry, which accelerates spalling, keeps dampers and fireboxes rusting, and turns old creosote deposits into a persistent sour odour that homeowners notice far more in summer than in winter.

Salt air corrodes metal components fast

Near the bay and the Gulf, galvanised steel caps and chase covers can be visibly rusting within a few years. We specify stainless steel or copper as standard for exactly this reason. The material cost difference is modest. The replacement cycle difference is enormous.

Storms and hurricanes test the structure

High winds lift flashing, shift caps and crack crowns. After any major storm, the chimney is one of the last things a homeowner checks and one of the first things to sustain damage, because it stands proud of the roofline with no shelter at all. Post-storm inspections are a significant part of our workload, and photographed reports help enormously with insurance claims.

Long idle periods invite wildlife

Chimney swifts, starlings, squirrels and raccoons all use unused flues. Florida's mild winter means nesting season is generous. A screened cap solves the problem permanently, but only after the flue has been cleared properly, and only if it is sized and fastened correctly.

Questions about working with us

Practical answers about scheduling, access, pricing and what happens on the day.

Chimney sweeping and creosote removal

The foundation service. Removing combustible deposits from the flue is the single most effective way to prevent a chimney fire.

Creosote is the tar-like residue left behind when wood smoke condenses on a cooler flue wall. It forms in three stages. First-degree creosote is a light, flaky soot that brushes away easily. Second-degree is harder and more granular, resembling small shiny flakes. Third-degree is a glazed, tarry coating that sets like enamel and burns ferociously once ignited. A flue fire can reach temperatures that crack clay tiles, warp steel liners and set the surrounding structure alight without anyone in the house realising what happened until later.

Our sweep covers the full flue length, the smoke chamber, the smoke shelf, the damper assembly and the firebox. We use rotary sweeping systems for heavier deposits and traditional brush and rod work where the flue geometry calls for it, always under sealed HEPA vacuum containment. Glazed third-degree creosote does not respond to brushing; it requires chemical treatment over multiple visits or, in severe cases, replacement of the liner, and we will tell you clearly which situation you are in.

What is included

• Full protection of the hearth, flooring and adjacent furnishings
• Sweeping of flue, smoke chamber, smoke shelf, damper and firebox
• Continuous HEPA vacuum containment throughout the process
• Visual inspection of the liner, damper, crown and cap condition
• Removal of nest debris and obstructions found during the sweep
• Photographed findings and a written summary by email

How often

Annually for any chimney in use. More often for heavy burners, for anyone burning unseasoned wood, and for appliances where the manufacturer specifies a shorter interval. If your fireplace has not been swept in over a year, it should be looked at before the next fire regardless of how little you use it.

Chimney inspections: levels 1, 2 and 3

Three defined levels of scrutiny. Knowing which one you need saves money and avoids a report that does not answer your question.

The inspection framework used across the trade separates routine checks from investigative work. A Level 1 is appropriate when nothing has changed and the chimney is in continued service under the same conditions. A Level 2 is required when property changes hands, when an appliance or fuel type changes, or after an event such as a chimney fire, an earthquake or a severe storm. A Level 3 is reserved for situations where a serious hazard is suspected and cannot be confirmed without removing part of the structure.

Our reports are photographed and written in plain language. Real estate agents, insurers and adjusters across Tampa Bay accept them regularly, and homeowners keep them as a record of what the chimney looked like on a given date, which becomes very useful the next time a question arises.

Chimney caps, crowns and chase covers

The top of the chimney does the most work and gets the least attention. Nearly every chimney leak we trace starts here.

A chimney cap keeps rain, debris and animals out of the flue while allowing smoke to exit. A crown is the sloped masonry slab covering the top of a brick chimney. A chase cover is the metal lid on a factory-built chimney enclosure. All three are routinely built badly, and in Florida all three fail faster than their designers assumed.

Caps

We fit stainless steel and copper caps sized to the flue, with spark arrestor mesh where required. Galvanised caps are cheaper and rust visibly within a few years in coastal air, so we do not recommend them. Multi-flue caps cover several flues under a single lid and are usually the right answer on larger stacks.

Crowns

A proper crown is cast concrete, reinforced, sloped away from the flue, with an overhang and a drip edge so water leaves the structure rather than running down the brick face. What many chimneys actually have is a thin mortar wash troweled flush to the edge. It cracks within a few years and then funnels water straight into the masonry. We rebuild crowns to the correct detail rather than patching a design that was wrong to begin with.

Chase covers

Factory chase covers are often thin galvanised steel with a flat top. Water pools, rust perforates the pan, and the leak appears inside the house long before anyone looks at the roof. We fabricate replacements in stainless steel with a proper slope, cross-breaks to shed water, and a turned-down drip edge.

Masonry repair, tuckpointing and rebuilds

Brick and mortar fail in predictable ways. Caught early it is a morning's work; ignored it becomes a rebuild.

Mortar joints are sacrificial by design: they are meant to be softer than the brick so that movement and moisture damage the mortar rather than the masonry units. That works, but it means joints erode and need repointing periodically. Once joints open up, water enters, and in Florida's climate that water stays. Freeze damage is not the issue here; saturation, salt crystallisation and sustained dampness are.

Spalling is what happens next. The face of the brick pops off, leaving a crumbling surface that absorbs even more water. The most common cause we see is a well-meant application of a film-forming waterproof paint, which trapped moisture inside the masonry instead of keeping it out. Repair means cutting out and replacing the damaged units, matching brick and mortar colour as closely as possible, and correcting whatever caused the saturation in the first place.

Masonry work we carry out

• Tuckpointing and repointing of eroded mortar joints
• Replacement of spalled, cracked or displaced brick
• Full or partial rebuilds above the roofline
• Cast crown construction and repair
• Firebox refractory mortar repair and firebrick replacement
• Hearth extension repair and hearth safety correction
• Flashing repair and replacement where masonry meets roof

Gas fireplace and log set service

Gas appliances are clean, convenient and widely assumed to be maintenance-free. They are not.

A gas log set or direct vent fireplace accumulates dust, spider webs in the burner orifices, and carbon deposits on the logs and glass. Pilot assemblies drift out of adjustment. Thermocouples and thermopiles weaken with age. Vent terminations get blocked by debris or wildlife. Any of those can produce incomplete combustion, and incomplete combustion produces carbon monoxide.

Annual service includes cleaning the burner, pilot assembly and injectors, verifying correct log placement, which is far more critical than most owners realise, testing safety shutoffs, inspecting the glass and gasket on sealed units, checking the venting run and termination, and confirming combustion quality. Soot on the glass or a yellow, lazy flame where the manufacturer specified otherwise is a symptom that should never be ignored.

Signs your gas fireplace needs service

• Black soot accumulating on the glass or the logs
• A pilot light that will not stay lit or needs repeated attempts
• A sharp chemical or sulphur odour when running
• Flames that look wrong: too yellow, too tall, or lifting off the burner
• The unit shutting itself off during operation
• Any carbon monoxide alarm activation anywhere in the home

If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the building and call emergency services first. Then call us.

Animal removal and chimney exclusion

An uncapped flue is, to a bird, an ideal hollow tree. We clear it, then close it permanently.

Birds, squirrels and raccoons all take up residence in Tampa chimneys, particularly in flues that have gone unused through a mild winter. The consequences are more serious than the noise suggests. Nest material is extremely combustible and can block the flue completely, so the first fire of the season pushes smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room. Animals that fall in and cannot climb out die in the flue, producing an odour and an infestation problem that takes weeks to resolve.

Chimney swifts are a particular case. They are a protected migratory species and their nesting period is governed by federal law, which means removal is not simply a matter of reaching in. We handle these situations correctly and advise on timing rather than putting anyone in a position they should not be in.

Once the flue is cleared and thoroughly swept of nest debris, we fit a correctly sized stainless cap with animal screen. Exclusion is the only permanent fix. Clearing a flue without capping it simply guarantees a repeat call next season.

Service questions, answered

The details homeowners most often want clarified before booking.

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Prefer to talk it through? Call (813) 229-1431 at any hour, including nights, weekends and holidays.