The chimneys
One row per flue type. Hours each is the on-roof time for a Level 1 sweep of that appliance on a single-story, easy roof — pick a type to start from a common figure, then replace it with a time from your own stops.
The stop
Stories and roof access multiply the sweep hours. Creosote, inspection, and animal work add time per flue. None of this is a CSIA, NFPA 211, or fire-safety determination — it is a time budget you can edit.
Your costs
Payroll burden covers employer taxes, workers’ compensation (roof work is not cheap), liability insurance, and paid time off. A sweep paid $28 often costs more than $36 on the truck. Underestimating that is how a $199 special loses money.
Your quote
- On-site hours
- Travel hours (round trip)
- Total labor hours
- Loaded labor cost
- Consumables & chemical
- Add-on parts
- Trip / truck
- Overhead
- Total cost
- Profit
- Price per flue
- Effective hourly rate
- Walk-away price
Where the sweep hours go
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. The starting hours are common ballpark figures, not a CSIA standard, an NFPA 211 table, or a guarantee — time your own stops and replace them. This is not a finding that any chimney is safe, clean, or due for repair.
Hand the customer a proposal
The price above is for you. This is the page you print or save as a PDF and give to the customer — your details, their details, the scope, the deposit split, and a line for them to sign. Your business details are saved on this device so you only type them once; the customer’s details are never saved.
Everything on the printed page is text you typed or a number this calculator worked out. It contains no warranty, lien, or cancellation wording — those depend on your jurisdiction and your contract, and this tool is not the place to invent them.
Common questions
What does this chimney sweep estimate include?
The price adds up sweep hours per flue — hours each × quantity × the story multiplier — then a roof-access percentage on top of the whole on-site stop, creosote, inspection, and animal-removal time per flue, any add-ons you enable (rain cap, damper, smoke test), setup/breakdown, and round-trip travel. Consumables, glazed-creosote chemical, add-on parts, and a trip fee are added as cost lines, then overhead and your target margin.
Why do stories and roof access change the price differently?
The story multiplier (1.0 / 1.35 / 1.75) applies only to the base sweep hours per flue — climbing higher takes longer to sweep, but doesn't change how long the creosote, inspection, or animal-removal work takes once you're up there. Roof access (steep, snow/ice) instead adds a percentage on top of the whole accessed on-site total, because a steep or icy roof slows every minute of the stop, not just the climb.
Why does the on-site total sometimes not match my hours?
A minimum on-site hours floor applies whenever there's at least one flue: if your calculated hours come in under that minimum, the tool bills the minimum instead and marks it “(minimum)” next to on-site hours — the same logic that protects a quick gas-fireplace sweep from being priced as if the truck, ladder, and drop cloths cost nothing to bring out.
Why does glazed creosote add a chemical cost but light and moderate don't?
Creosote condition adds sweep time at every level (light adds none, moderate and glazed add more per flue), but the chemical-cleaner cost line only triggers at “glazed / stage 3” — that's the condition where a mechanical sweep alone typically isn't enough and a chemical treatment gets added to the job, not lighter creosote levels.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No account and no network requests — the calculator runs entirely in your browser. This calculator doesn't save your quote between visits on its own; instead, “Copy share link” encodes only the allowlisted quote fields (flues, stories, access, creosote, add-ons, your rates, deposit and validity terms) into the page's own URL hash, which is never sent to a server — treat a link you copy like your rate sheet. Only your business name and contact details for the printed proposal are kept in this browser's local storage.
Does this tell me if a chimney or flue is safe to use?
No. Hours and cost figures are ballpark shop numbers you can edit, not a CSIA, NFPA 211, or insurance inspection, and a sweep plus visual inspection is not a guarantee the flue is free of defects — concealed damage can require further investigation. It is not a carbon-monoxide or gas-safety test either: a gas fireplace or furnace flue priced here still needs its own appliance and venting safety check from a qualified technician.