Chimney sweeping, inspection and repair in Geneva, IL
Rick, Jack and Andy Lee have been cleaning, inspecting and rebuilding chimneys around Kane County for 19 years. We work seven days a week, 7am to 8pm, and we show you photographs of what we found before we ask you to spend anything.
- Insured & Bonded
- 19 years in the trade
- Three brothers, one crew
- Open 7 days, 7am–8pm
A chimney needs sweeping once creosote reaches about an eighth of an inch anywhere in the flue. For a household burning wood several evenings a week through an Illinois winter that is usually once a year; for one that lights a fire at Christmas it may be five. A single-flue sweep with a Level 1 inspection takes 60 to 90 minutes.
Smoke coming into the room, flames or roaring in the flue, or a carbon monoxide alarm sounding? Get everyone out and call the fire service first, then call us. We put these calls to the front of the queue.
Most people call us about one of three things
You do not need to know what is wrong before you ring. These are the three calls we take most often around Geneva, and all three start the same way — we come out and look.
Smoke comes into the room
The fire will not draw, or a puff of smoke rolls out when you open the doors. Usually buildup, a damper problem, or a house sealed too tightly for the fire to get enough air.
Water is getting in
A stain on the ceiling, damp brick, white chalky streaking. Water enters at the crown, the flashing or an open flue — and freeze-thaw makes all three worse every winter.
Someone wants it inspected
A buyer, an agent, an insurer, or you have just moved in and nobody knows the history. A Level 2 inspection with a camera answers it properly.
Everything we do
Eight services, all of them ours — we do not subcontract the roof work or the masonry.
Three brothers who actually do the work
Zenith is Rick, Jack and Andy Lee. There is no call centre, no dispatcher and no sales team — when you ring, you get one of us, and the person who quotes the job is the person who does it.
Nineteen years. Rick has been on chimneys since 2007, and his brothers have worked alongside him for most of that. Between them they have swept, lined and rebuilt chimneys across Kane County and western DuPage in every kind of house the Fox Valley has — Victorian stacks in Elgin, limestone in Batavia, prefabricated chases in Carol Stream, and farmhouse flues out past Elburn that have been through three changes of fuel.
Insured and bonded, on every job and every roof. Award winner. A family business, which mostly means we live here and we will still be here next winter.
Not sure what you need?
Tell us what you have noticed and we will tell you what it usually means. Seven days a week, 7am to 8pm.
Questions we get asked a lot
How often should a chimney be swept?
If you burn wood regularly, once a year is the working answer. The trigger is not the calendar though — it is buildup. Once creosote reaches about an eighth of an inch anywhere in the flue, it needs to come out.
My fireplace smells, especially in summer. What is that?
Creosote holds odour, and in warm weather air flows down a cool flue rather than up it, carrying the smell into the room. Sweeping removes the source and fixes most cases outright.
There is a brown stain on the ceiling next to the chimney. Is that the roof?
Often it is the chimney rather than the roof. Water gets in at three places: the crown, the flashing where the chimney meets the roof, and an open flue with no cap. We check all three before anyone lifts a shingle.
Do you charge to come out and look?
An inspection is a paid piece of work and you keep the photographs and written findings whether or not you hire us for any repair. Starting prices are on the pricing page.
How far out do you travel from Geneva?
Fifteen towns across Kane County and western DuPage, from Elburn in the west to Carol Stream in the east. The full list is on the service areas page.
Do you carry insurance for work at height?
Yes. We are insured and bonded, and we will show you the certificate if you ask.
Can you come at a weekend?
Yes. Seven days a week, 7am to 8pm, and there is no weekend surcharge.
What if you find nothing wrong?
Then we tell you that, and you have a documented baseline with photographs. It is a legitimate and fairly common outcome.
Written by Rick Lee, owner of Zenith Chimney Service, Geneva IL. Published September 4, 2026.