Chimney Guides for Northwest Indiana Homeowners
Seven reference pages written to answer a question completely, whether or not you ever pick up the phone.
By Mark Jason, owner of NWI Chimney Sweep · owner and author of every guide here
Who wrote these
Every guide on this site was written by Mark Jason, the owner of NWI Chimney Sweep, which is why each carries the same byline. Mark was born and raised in Crown Point, has spent 34 years in the chimney sweep business, and owns NWI Chimney Sweep. The trade detail comes from that experience. Anything that is a number from outside it, a fire statistic, a code limit, a date in history, was checked against the publishing body and is attributed in the text. Where we could not confirm a claim, we left it out. More about Mark and the company is on the About page.
The seven guides
The seven chimney guides cover history, maintenance, safety numbers, local housing data, fireplace alternatives, wood versus gas, and symptoms.
The History of Chimney Sweeping
How the tools changed, from Joseph Glass’s 1828 cane rods to video scanners, and how the U.S. trade revived in the 1970s.
02Homeowner Chimney Maintenance Guide
Eight ground-level steps you can do yourself, a four-question self-check, and where the DIY line sits.
03Chimney Safety by the Numbers
A text infographic of sourced figures: heating-fire data, creosote stages, moisture and dryer duct limits.
04Data Study: Home Age and Chimneys
Census year-built and heating-fuel figures for both counties and fourteen towns, with a sweep’s reading of each era.
05Alternatives to an Open Fireplace
Six options in one table, with what each asks of the chimney and the drawbacks sellers skip.
06Wood vs Gas Fireplace
Five criteria, a winner for each, and a verdict matched to six kinds of household.
07Chimney Symptom Checker
Thirteen warning signs sorted by cause, each tied to the service that resolves it.
Where to start
Start with the guide that matches your situation: a new house, a warning sign, a change of fuel, or a need for quick numbers.
You just bought a house with a fireplace. Read the maintenance guide, then the symptom checker, and arrange a Level 2 chimney inspection before the first fire; NFPA 211 calls for one when a property changes hands.
Something looks or smells wrong. Go straight to the symptom checker. The data study then shows which faults are most likely for a house of your home’s age.
You are thinking of changing what you burn. The wood-versus-gas comparison and the alternatives guide are meant to be read as a pair.
You want the short version. The infographic fits on one screen per panel.
Beyond the guides
The guides explain chimney problems, and the service pages describe the work that fixes them. That work is described on the chimney services hub, what it starts at is on the pricing page, and the sixteen towns we cover are listed on the service area page. Shorter, seasonal pieces go on the NWI Chimney Sweep blog.
About these guides
Who writes the guides on this site?
Mark Jason, the owner of NWI Chimney Sweep, who has worked in the chimney trade for 34 years. There is no staff writer and no pen name. Mark was born and raised in Crown Point, and the trade detail in the guides comes from his own work on Northwest Indiana chimneys.
Where do the statistics in your guides come from?
From the bodies that publish them: the National Fire Protection Association, the U.S. Fire Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the EPA’s Burn Wise program and the International Residential Code. Each statistic in the guides is attributed by name where it appears, and any figure we could not confirm was left out.
Are the guides specific to Northwest Indiana?
The trade principles apply anywhere. The examples lean on local conditions: freeze-thaw winters off Lake Michigan, humid summers, older brick homes in the mill-era towns and newer factory-built fireplaces in the south-county subdivisions. One guide, the housing data study, uses figures for Lake and Porter County only.
Do I have to hire you to use the advice in these guides?
No, you do not have to hire NWI Chimney Sweep to use these guides. The maintenance guide in particular is built around things a homeowner can do alone. The guides also say plainly where a chimney job stops being safe to do yourself, such as roof work, glazed creosote and gas components.
Is the case study about a real job?
No. The page at the case study address is a data study, not a job report. It presents U.S. Census Bureau figures on when Lake and Porter County homes were built and what heats them, followed by Mark’s clearly labelled trade opinion on what each housing era means for chimneys. No customer or address appears in it.
Which guide should I read before buying a fireplace insert?
Start with the alternatives guide for the full list of options, then the wood-versus-gas comparison to settle the fuel. Both guides explain why the chimney liner matters as much as the fireplace insert you choose, and why an inspection should come before the purchase.
How do I suggest a topic for a new guide?
Call and tell whoever answers, or send a note through the contact page. Questions that come up repeatedly on service calls are the ones that turn into new chimney guides, so a topic several homeowners ask about is likely to be written.
Do the guides list prices?
No, the chimney guides do not list prices. Starting prices for every service live in one place, the pricing page, so the figures never fall out of step from one page to another. The guides link to that page wherever cost is relevant.
Read enough and ready to talk to a sweep?
Call between 7am and 9pm, any day of the week.
Call (219) 203-9797