Chimneys have been around for thousands of years. In fact, since before recorded history. So it stands to reason that the job of chimney sweep is generally considered one of the oldest in the world. Of course, it was only in the last few hundred years that they were large enough for grown people to squeeze through, so the image of the man with the broom is a relatively recent invention.
When urban sprawls began to rise in the last few hundred years, more and more homes were being made with full size chimneys, so the occupation rose in prominence. More and more people sought to be professional sweepers, and the job became one that would command some degree of respect.
Years ago, children would be used as sweepers, before the health risks were really all that well known. Children are of course smaller, and can more easily squeeze through smaller chimneys. Of course, when people started learning a bit about the black lung, legislation would eventually be passed to outlaw anyone under twenty one from being a sweeper of chimneys.
Just before World War II, in Germany, Himmler would pass legislation restricting the trade to people of completely German descent, decreeing that they could enter homes at any time of the day or night in order to look for problems in the pipes. This was, of course, to use them as spies, but interestingly, the legislation remains in effect to this day.
Of course, these days, the industry is very different. It has expanded more and more thanks to the wide variety of heating devices in homes, from furnaces to stoves to fireplaces. The pipes will always keep getting dirty, and so, somebody has to clean them.
Today’s sweeper isn’t just a chimney sweep, they’re also something of a chimney technician. Regulated in the US by the Chimney Safety Institute of America, they’re trained to spot problems in the pipes and to address and repair hazards and potential problems.
Do you live near Raleigh and need your chimney cleaned? For those that do, you need to consider the Raleigh chimney sweep business. You can get your fireplace cleaning in Raleigh fast and cheap.
