Chimney sweep near you
We serve Cedar Mill and Bethany from the wooded lots along Cedar Mill Creek to the newest North Bethany streets, with calls ranging from moss damage and sweeps on mid-century brick to gas vent service and rusted chase covers in the planned neighborhoods.
Updated
Cedar Mill and Bethany run from mid-century masonry chimneys on wooded lots at the foot of the West Hills to factory-built and gas fireplaces on the newest planned streets in North Bethany.
Old Cedar Mill sits on sloped, tree-covered lots along Cedar Mill Creek, Cornell Road and Saltzman Road, where the mid-century and 1970s houses commonly carry masonry chimneys, and under the Douglas firs the shaded side of that brick can stay wet and mossy through the wet months.
Between the two, Oak Hills is a 1960s planned community of about 650 homes, a National Register historic district since 2013 with 29 houses by mid-century builder Robert Rummer. Bethany Village, begun around 1991, and North Bethany, built out since the 2010s, commonly have factory-built or direct-vent gas fireplaces under HOA design standards.
Old Cedar Mill brick is often mid-century masonry on a slope under trees, which can mean moss holding water against the shaded face, mortar joints that stay damp and a crown that cracks once the freeze gets into it.
Oak Hills fireplaces sit in a National Register district of mid-century houses, and we sweep and inspect them with care for the original finishes. In Bethany expect metal and gas: factory-built boxes in tall framed chases with sheet metal covers, and direct-vent gas units that need the vent, seals and burner serviced rather than brushed. The hillside lots in both communities put some chimneys well above the downhill grade.
The calls from Cedar Mill and Bethany line up with the trees and the decade: moss and water on the old lots, covers and vents on the new ones.
Moss on the shaded side of a Cedar Mill chimney holds water against the brick all winter, and the brick drinks it, which is how a sound-looking 1960s stack can end up with spalled faces and a wet firebox. We kill and remove the moss, repoint anything open, and apply a breathable water repellent that lets vapor out but keeps rain from soaking in, never a film-forming sealer.
Where an Oak Hills house or an older Cedar Mill ranch still burns wood, the yearly sweep runs a tile-sized brush down the flue and covers the smoke chamber, the damper and the firebox, with before and after photos from inside the flue. On a Rummer house we take extra care with the original finishes around the hearth.
Bethany Village is old enough now that its first chase covers can be rusting, and a stain on the ceiling beside a 1995 fireplace is often the cover, or the flashing at the base of the chase. A sloped replacement cover, a resealed collar and new step and counter flashing against the chase siding fix it.
North Bethany gas fireplaces are young, but a direct-vent unit still wants its vent inspected and the burner serviced every year, and the builders' installations get checked for termination clearance, seal condition and log placement. On the hillside lots in old Cedar Mill, we recommend the Level 2 camera inspection before a sale or a first fire after years cold, and how the old brick above the roof is braced is part of the conversation.
An uncapped flue under the firs can fill with needles, cones and the occasional squirrel, and a cap with a spark screen on a Cedar Mill chimney keeps all three out along with the rain that rusts the damper. On a tall chase in Bethany the termination cap is the piece that can work loose over time, and we replace it with one rated for the pipe.
US 26 is the way to both communities, with Cornell Road, Barnes Road and Murray Boulevard for Cedar Mill and 185th Avenue and Bethany Boulevard for Bethany.
Saltzman Road and the lanes off Cornell Road climb through the trees in old Cedar Mill, and some driveways are steep and shared, so tell us where a van can stop and whether the chimney faces the uphill or the downhill side. In Bethany Village and North Bethany, HOA parking rules and street parking decide where we set up, so a note about them helps.
The Jones Sawmill, established in 1859, gave Cedar Mill its name, a post office opened in 1874, and western redcedars named both the mill and the creek. Cedar Mill Falls is a 32-foot basalt waterfall, and the Sue Conger Memorial Boardwalk opened there in June 2013.
Swiss settler Ulrich Gerber suggested the name Bethany for the local post office in 1878, and the Cedar Mill Community Library opened its Bethany branch in July 2007.
North Bethany entered the regional urban growth boundary in 2002, and Bethany grew from about 20,600 people in 2010 to more than 31,000 in 2020.
Oak Hills, whose first ten homes were finished in May 1965, was listed as the Oak Hills Historic District on July 10, 2013, and residents give directions by Sunset High School, the Cedar Mill Community Library and the Columbia Sportswear headquarters.
Yes, both ZIPs, 97229 and 97006, are inside the area we serve. That runs from the Cedar Mill Creek lots to the newest North Bethany streets, and Oak Hills is a regular stop whether you call it Cedar Mill, Bethany or Beaverton. Every job carries the posted price, with the drive included when we do the work. Gas fireplaces have their own line on the board, a vent inspection and service.
Yes, moss hurts brick, slowly. It grows on the shaded face because that side never dries under the firs, and once established it holds water against the surface, so the brick stays saturated through every freeze and the faces can pop off. Scraping it does not solve it; the brick needs the moss killed and removed, the joints repointed and a breathable water repellent applied so it can dry between storms. Our moss guide covers the steps.
Yes, because both communities are unincorporated Washington County and the county program follows the county line, not the ZIP. During the November 1 to March 1 season a red day means no fireplace or wood stove use unless your household is exempt, pellet stoves excepted. A 97229 ZIP does not put you under Multnomah County's rule; the county the house sits in does. The status details are in our wood burning rules guide.
A vent inspection and a cleaning, about an hour. We check the vent run and its termination outside for corrosion, nests and clearance, test the seals that keep combustion gases out of the room, clean the burner, clean the white film off the glass and set the logs back where the manufacturer put them, since a shifted log makes soot. Gas combustion makes water and acids, which is why the vent gets looked at yearly.
Yes, with the right setup. We ladder from the uphill side where the eave is lowest, work the roof with hooks and a line on a steep pitch, and when the top is unsafe we sweep from the firebox with the vacuum running and send a camera up instead of a person. The chimney's height above the roof is the other reason we bring the camera, since tall, slender stacks are the most vulnerable in an earthquake.
A Level 2 camera inspection ahead of closing, the level the chimney trade recommends for a sale. On a 1968 Oak Hills house it looks at the tile liner for cracks, the firebox and damper, the crown and the flashing, and the brick above the roofline for bracing and open joints, and it tells you whether any insert added since has its own liner. You get the photos plus a written list of anything that needs a quote.
The same crew that works Cedar Mill and Bethany covers Forest Heights, West Slope and Sylvan on the hill side and Beaverton, Aloha and Hillsboro on the valley side.
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.