Sweeping Magazine- May 2017

Sweeping May 2017 VOLUME 41 #4

The Journal of Chimney and Venting Technology

NCSG Convention Recap Automation: the Good, The Bad and the Misunderstood

Continuity Of Business Flow 7+7

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Departments President’s Letter 3 Editor’s Letter 5 Coach’s Corner 10 Date and Events 30 New Members 36 Progressive Perks 37 Around the Tech Center 42 Classifieds 43 Darwin Award 44

Table of Contents May Sweeping

2017 Volume 41 Issue 4

Features

Continuity Of Business Flow 7+7

NCSG Convention Recap

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Anniversary

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6 14 34

Automation

May 2017

Jim Brewer Gas Venting and NFPA 54 (317) 203-0088 x: 3 John Pilger Oil Flue Sizing, Relining or NFPA 31 (317) 203-0088 x: 4 Randy Brooks IRC, NFPA 211 or Customer Communications (317) 203-0088 x: 5 Bart Ogden Stainless Steel Lining, Video Scanning and Narrative Report Writing (317) 203-0088 x: 6

Fred Joy Installation and Venting of Pellet Stoves (317) 203-0088 x: 7 Jay Walker Dryer Vents (317) 203-0088 x: 8 Rett Rasmussen Vented and Vent Free Gas Logs and Controls (317) 203-0088 x: 9 Rich Martinez Dryer Vents or Masonry (317) 203-0088 x: * Rich Rua General Sweeping or Relining (317) 203-0088 x: 0

NATIONAL CHIMNEY SWEEP GUILD BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2016-2017

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Chris Prior Masonry Construction and Restoration and Priorfire Fireboxes (317) 203-0088 x: 2

S W E E P I N G

2155 Commercial Drive Plainfield, IN 46168 (317) 837-1500 Fax: (317) 837-5365

Frances Kelly Excecutive Director fkelly@ncsg.org Megan McMahon Director of Finance mmcmahon@ncsg.org Debbie Cornelius Membership Development Coordinator dcornelius@ncsg.org Donna Lee Kasmer CSIA Certification Coordinator dkasmer@csia.org Claire Rutledge Program Coordinator crutledge@ncsg.org

May 2017

Darcy Marlett Director of Communications and Marketing dmarlett@ncsg.org Jordan Whitt CSIA Director of Communications and Marketing jwhitt@csia.org Ashley Edridge Director of Education ashley@csia.org Sara Sichting Office Manager ssichting@ncsg.org

COMMITTEE CHAIRS and TASK FORCES 2016 – 2017

2

STAFF

Resources

Region 4 Jeff Keefer 513-248-9600 info@chimneycareco.com

Vice President, At-Large Director Dennis Dobbs (678) 290-8200 fireplaceservicecenter@gmail. com

Region 6 Bob Ferrari (530) 941-5818 bob@flueseason.com

Treasurer, Region 3 Ron Rust (803) 730-5858 tophatswp@aol.com Region 1 Matt Mair (603) 525-7905 matt@blackmoosechimney. com Region 2 Ed Ridgeway (856) 241-7999 masons@chimney-duct.com

To contact any member of the Technical Advisory Council, please call (317) 203-0088 and select the extension for the person who is best qualified to answer your question: Be advised that advice given by NCSG’s Technical Advisory Council (TAC) reflects best practices of the chimney sweeping industry. However, we are unable to account for any particular type of situation since regional variations in construction practices and additional environmental, physical and geographical factors necessarily vary the level of service appropriate for a particular fireplace and/or chimney.

Additionally, local laws and ordinances may govern and/ or supersede the information and any recommendations provided. Final determinations are the responsibility of a local professional with firsthand knowledge of the situation, and the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). Neither NCSG nor any member of TAC will be held liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from the use of or reliance on information provided by anyone associated with TAC. By your use of this member benefit you acknowledge acceptance of these terms.

President, Region 5 Jasper Drengler (715) 304-8934 drengler01@gmail.com

Secretary, At-Large Director Tom Hunkele (641) 774-8056 topnotchchimney@gmail.com At-Large Director Gregg Boss (636) 391-2226 englishsweep@att.net At-Large Director Jeff Peterson (913) 236-7141 jeff@potomacservices.net Supplier Representative Stuart Karanovich (765) 966-5084 stuartk@saversystems.com

Bylaws Jasper Drengler (715) 304-8934 drangler01@yahoo.com

Membership Bob Ferrari (530) 221-3331 bob@flueseason.com

Ethics Andy Raycroft (703) 836-7858 andy@rooftopchimneysweeps.con

NFPA 211 Representative Jim Brewer (757) 523-2400 jbrewer@magic-sweep.com

Governance Jay Walker (850) 562-4692 sweepingJ@aol.com

NFPA 31 Representative John Pilger (631) 863-2460 chimneyman@aol.com

Government Affairs Mike Elliot (508) 987-6348 sootguy@aol.com

NFPA 54 Jim Brewer (757) 523-2400 jbrewer@magic-sweep.com

International Relations John Pilger (631) 863-2460 chimneyman@aol.com

Technical Advisory Council Michael Segerstrom (908) 253-9190 chimneysweeps@optonline.net

Long Range Planning Jeremy Biswell (913) 236-7141 fluesbrothers@yahoo.com

Scholarship Committee Greg Boss (636) 391-2226 englishsweep@att.net

ADVERTISING RATES for Sweeping: The Journal of Chimney & Venting Technology may be obtained by contacting Malisa Minetree at (317) 815-4688 or sweepingads@me.com Layout and design by David Bruce, Red2 Design Bureau NCSG encourages industry partners to submit press releases and articles to editor Darcy Marlett at dmarlett@ncsg.org. Submissions should contain items of interest or importance to the chimney and venting industry. Submissions should not contain direct solicitations, prices, or a call to action on the part of our readers. Submissions may contain images or artwork attached in a .jpg format.

In all cases, NCSG reserves the right to edit submissions to fit space limitations, keep the release and publish at a later date, or refuse to publish the release for any reason. Neither publishing, nor refusing to publish the submission should be considered a statement of NCSG’s opinion regarding the release.

NCSG further reserves the right to reject at any time any advertising determined not to be in keeping with the publication’s standards.

Acceptance of advertising by Sweeping magazine does not necessarily constitute endorsement of products or services advertised. NCSG does not make any effort to review or substantiate claims made by advertisers. © 2017 National Chimney Sweep Guild, 2155 Commercial Drive, Plainfield, IN 46168. (317) 837-1500

A

s I drive back to Wisconsin I've got many things running through my mind from this past week I got to meet many old friends and make many new friends. After board meetings and classes certifying new professionals the week kicked off with the opening keynote of Larry Wingit. I learned more history about the Guild and where we started out from the wonderful Bob Daniels he was truly a pioneer to this industry and one that most companies owe all their success to. I had the pleasure I'm sitting in another one of Chris Pryor's masonry classes he is truly one that just loves what he does and loves to teach and share his knowledge with others. There was the special closing keynote

by Chuck Hall who delivered a little bit of a story on himself but at least now everyone knows where he's coming from.

I was proud of myself for running the whole 5k of an 1st Annual Chimney Swift 5k, honestly barely beating Brandi Biswell was not easy and my legs burned the rest of the week.

We treated the International guests on The Jefferson, I always enjoy their stories.

Thanks to you all for coming.

President’s

Letter Jasper Drengler

President

Jasper Drengler

The Warrior Horse project by Kevin Russell was introduced to the masses both at the trade show and then again at the closing banquet. Just an FYI we had raised Kevin $30,000 before midnight! The hearts of our member couldn’t be bigger.

3

I had the honor of giving Jeff Schmittinger an award for his effort to make sure certified sweeps take care of the White House. Terry Dearborn was honored for attending all 40 conventions. The CSIA auction resulted in $40,000!

S W E E P I N G

We set a record for attendance and 1st time attendees.

Thanks to the volunteers and the auction volunteers and all who helped give their free time and made the convention a success.

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elcome to the convention recap issue of Sweeping Magazine!

For the third year in a row Justin Bailey of Bailey’s Chimney Cleaning and Repair in Taos, NM volunteered to be our convention reporter. Beginning on page 16 you will find Justin’s reporting on convention classes, useful information from convention speakers, interviews with members and more. Also you will find photos and our 2017 award winners.

A big thanks to Justin and our convention photographer Blume for their hard work in capturing the 2017 National Convention.

brings you an article on the emerging field of automation and what it could mean for your business. Greg Polakow of CVC Coaching tackles the topic of “the homefront,” special conditions and rules that apply once you’ve entered the customer’s home and Chuck Roydhouse continues his business series with “Continuity of Business Flow 7+7.”

Editor’s

Letter Darcy Marlett Editor

We hope you enjoy the convention recap issue and make plans to join us in Portland, OR in 2018!

Cheers,

In addition to all the convention articles we also have great business articles from our regular contributors. Taylor Hill with Spark Marketer

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S W E E P I N G

Automation: the Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood Taylor Hill

Spark Marketer

E 6 S W E E P I N G

very Presidential candidate claims they’ll bring back thousands of jobs that have disappeared in the blue collar world.

Many claim illegals have entered the country and wrongfully taken these jobs. Many blame a decline in the economy for the loss of jobs.

Many blame China and other countries we’ve outsourced work to or imported products from.

But no one wants to be honest about what’s really happening, which is that automation is taking over in many blue collar industries.

employees also eliminate HR issues because they remove the messy, imperfect human factor.

Your robotic employees will never show up late, never take time off due to a family emergency, never have an injury on the job, and never go on strike. For the business owner looking to boost operational excellence and reduce spend and employee headaches, automation is a good thing.

But for the workers being replaced, it’s not.

Think about it: Many tasks in many blue collar industries are repetitive tasks that can be done faster, more efficiently, and with less error when performed by machines. Automation technology has become smarter and more advanced, so it’s only natural for humans to be replaced in many of these roles.

So is this the end of the line for all blue collar workers? Should we go into panic mode and consider automation the blue collar apocalypse?

No. Although automation does take a lot of jobs, if you’re in the home services sector, you can relax a bit because automation isn’t coming for you quite yet. Every job you perform is different and you have to be prepared to deal with whatever unique situation you’re faced with when you get to a job.

It’s not just a job well done that makes automation appealing to the business owner. Robotic

Automation doesn’t excel in these types of work environments, so instead of being fearful about

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losing your job to automation, think about how implementing automation in certain areas of your business could actually improve the way you do things.

If you’re in the blue collar home services sector, you have job security and automation can actually be a good thing for you. Let’s look at some of the AI and automation that’s already here and coming.

Self-Driving Cars & Trucks.

Automation is already aimed to take over the trucking and driving sectors, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for blue collar business owners. Think about how much time your techs and employees spend driving.

With the rise of autonomous vehicles, time on the road could be spent preparing for the next appointment or job, studying for a certification test, or reading a sales book, instead of cursing the crazy lane-changer or the elderly lady riding her brakes.

Your employee shows up to the job refreshed and ready, instead of frazzled and frustrated.

8 S W E E P I N G

Automated Office Management Software.

Managing an office takes a lot of time and personnel, especially when business is booming. You have appointments to confirm; appointment reminders to send; estimates to follow up on; email campaigns to send; and periodic customer touches to plan and send. All of these things require additional time and additional people, which means additional money. By considering using automation software to reduce the amount of time you and your employees spend on repetitive but necessary tasks, you might actually be saving money that

May 2017

can be spent elsewhere.

With automation software, you can send your customers appointment reminders, follow up on estimates, and reach out to your customers through email or text, without taking time out of your busy schedule or hiring additional personnel to do it for you. This type of automation software frees you and your team up to do other important things and makes running and managing the office easier and less time-consuming.

You do have to determine if automation is right for you.

Most service companies already use some type of automated software associated with operations. Spark Marketer offers automation for marketing purposes that’s all about getting and retaining customers. But you have to be careful when thinking about the term “automation” as both types of automated systems need people to trigger certain actions. They are built this way because most people want to talk to someone first before making an appointment and have assurance that real people are behind the services.

Social Media Scheduling.

Many business owners complain about the timeconsuming aspects of social media - and for good reason.

After all, social media activity has to happen when it’s most convenient for your audience, not when it’s most convenient for you. You have to curate content and make sure you post when your followers are active so you can maximize the visibility of your posts.

This is a point of frustration for many business owners. There’s

only so much time in a day and you can’t exactly stop a project to post something on Facebook just because it’s your audience’s peak engagement time. That’s where automation services like Buffer and Hootsuite come in.

Both services allow you to schedule your social media posts across multiple platforms when it’s convenient for you.

In other words, you could plan and schedule all of your social posts for the upcoming week during half-time on a Sunday.

Once your posts are scheduled, you can spend your week on deep focus projects and other important work, without missing a beat on social.

Don’t Ignore Automation, Embrace It! When changes come, they can cause us to be fearful and make us want to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the reality. But when it comes to automation, ignoring the reality will really only hurt you in the long run.

Instead of ignoring the changes that are here and coming, dig deep and consider the ways you can use automation to gain a competitive advantage and run your business better.

Taylor Hill is Co-Founder and Crew Chief for Spark Marketer, a local online marketing company specializing in marketing for service businesses across the US. He loves the chimney industry and is passionate about helping service business owners navigate the Internet oceans filled with sharks and unsavory pirates. He’s also co-host of the Blue Collar Proud Show, the podcast that’s all about having and living the blue collar dream. @sparkmarketer, facebook.com/ sparkmarketer, @taylorkhill @bcpshow

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Coach’s

Corner Greg Polakow

The Homefront

W

e have begun referring to customers’ homes as the Homefront. Why? Because the term carries a stronger, clearer idea about the somewhat sacred ground of our customers’ homes.

Why is that important? Because when you, as an owner of a home service business, go to, or send your technicians to the home of a customer, you really must come to fully grasp not only what the nature of this opportunity is, but what are the special conditions and rules that apply once you’ve entered this hallowed region.

Unless and until you really come to appreciate the full implication of being in the home of your customer, you will never understand how to make the most of this remarkable opportunity. And that will cost you dearly in many ways.

“Ah, but I have been doing this for years”, you say. “I know all about it. I get it.

What’s the big deal?”

Here’s the big deal. We have all been doing a lot of things for years. And, as with home visits, we have come to take for granted that we are doing it right, that we understand all the subtleties, nuances, and delicate issues surrounding these tasks. But in most cases, we never really had a sufficiently sophisticated grasp in the first place. And, even if we did, over the years our performance has eroded due to that old nemesis, familiarity. We get so used to doing things in a particular manner that we never bother to take a deeper look to see if there isn’t a better, more effective

10 S W E E P I N G May 2017

way to do them. In short, we get complacent. Nothing seems to be going wrong with our old approach, so we don’t even bother to reexamine it.

Here are some considerations regarding the Homefront that may make it worth taking a fresh look at an old task.

• When your customer is at home he is in his most familiar surroundings. That means he can put his full attention on you, how you look, what you say, what you do, how you interact with helpers, and, of course, the lengths to which you will go to protect his sacred ground.

• This is no small thing. When you are in his home, you are the star performer in a stage play and he/she is the critic sent to evaluate every detail of your performance.

This may sound like an exaggeration, but it’s pretty close to what really happens.

• In his safe and familiar environment, the customer feels he has full command of the situation. And that means we have to up our game considerably as we operate under his commanding scrutiny.

• You are an invader. Yes, you are an invader that he as invited to come into the Homefront.

But you are still an invader, and as long as you’re there, you he will be slightly uncomfortable.

So, anything you can do to make that easier for him is going to be deeply appreciated.

Working quickly and efficiently is, therefore, of paramount importance. It is not just a way for you save time, it is also an important accommodation to his feelings of discomfort.

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It is impossible to overstate the huge importance of taking very visible, concrete actions to protect his environment.

You can’t overdo this. The more elaborate the better. Certainly, putting tarps and runners down to cover every possible inch of the area surrounding the work site is a given. And, when possible, runners from the front door to the work area.

And, these tarps and runners should not look like they’ve just come out of a coal mine. The cleaner they are the better. Even your own cleanliness or lack thereof, is a message to your customer. Everything you do conveys one of two messages.

Either: 1. I am going to take VERY good care of your sacred ground, your Homefront; or, 2.

I’m not particularly concerned about protecting your home.

Needless to say, option 2 is not your best choice if you have any hope of having this visit result in the sale of what is, in all likelihood, the significant work that needs to be done.

12 S W E E P I N G

Furthermore, nothing you do or say should seem secretive.

Whenever your customer is present or even in the general vicinity of your work, invite him to see what is being done, how you are doing it, and what the purpose is. The more you can engage him in the process, the less you will feel like an invader to him.

And, what’s equally important, the more you engage him in the process along the way, the more he will be prepared for and open to the final evaluation and solutions you propose.

When you see something amiss as you scope his chimney, hold

May 2017

the camera on it and look at his face in a way that conveys, ‘this is an issue’. If you have to, you can also explain why it’s an issue. But do it briefly and succinctly. Don’t make it a lecture or a sales promo. It’s just information you are sharing with him. And, always try to speak to him about how these concerns relate to performance issues, because performance improvements are the most tangible and immediate benefits.

should not be put off indefinitely.

The best reason for him to do this now will be something as simple and compelling as, fixing and halting the deterioration from water that has been happening since the masonry chimney and fireplace were new. Why do it now? Because if you don’t, these problems will only get worse. The chimney will continue on its downward spiral and the cost of repairing it will go up proportionally.

Remember, in the final analysis, it is likely that your findings will bring to light corrective work that needs to be done to make his chimney and fireplace better.

And, his immediate tendency will be to put this work off.

So, you must include in your presentation a call to action that presents the benefits of doing the work now, and why this work

Ultimately, in the discussion of the immediate need for getting the work done, safety should not be in the conversation for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, he may not be using the system for months… so it presents no immediate need to get the work done.

And safety, unavoidably, has unpleasant associations. Even

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though it’s all for his own good, it leaves a negative impression that can be misconstrued as pressure to get him to have the repairs completed. And that can create an invisible but very real mental barrier which prevents him from action.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider in every home visit.

If you keep constantly in the forefront of your mind that you are entering his Homefront, the hallowed ground of his family residence, it will make it much easier. Never take the importance of this for granted.

Never get so comfortable with it that you are tempted to get too familiar or relaxed and let your guard down. He will deeply appreciate you being, above all, professional in your bearing, considerate of his home, its furnishings, and

occupants. And, he will be happy and impressed that you perform your work efficiently and smoothly. He will appreciate being involved and informed in layman’s terms that are easy to understand. He will value your being truthful and sincere in all your interactions with him. And, he will be directly or indirectly, observing everything you do and listening to everything you say. Count on it.

Greg is an industry educator and coach. He served for many years as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Copperfield Chimney Supply. Greg is a member of the CVC Coaching Team. For more information about Greg and how the CVC team can assist you individually and your business in your quest for success and your ascent to the next level, take a look at www. cvccoaching.com Greg can be contacted at greg@cvccoaching.com. Follow Greg on Twitter at Greg-cvccoach@Ttrader108

It may seem too dramatic, but remember, when you are at the Homefront, you are on sacred ground for the customer.

Everything you do from the moment you get there must convey your sincere respect for him, his home, family, and possessions. Tread lightly.

But be clear and precise in your communications. And always be professional.

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Seminars and Presentations at NCSG 2107

By Justin Bailey

Larry Winget Opening Keynote: The Cold Hard Truth about Success

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Nationally known motivational speaker, author, and television personality Larry Winget gave an entertaining speech. Wearing cowboy boots and several huge rings on his fingers, he said there are no secrets to success, but just a handful of good ideas that allow it to happen.

The first idea is… Take responsibility. Winget says your life is exactly the way you want it to be, because if it wasn’t, your life would be different.

“The people who really become successful in life wake up every day thinking about what they can do to make it better,” he said. “If your life sucks, it’s because you suck. If your business sucks it’s because as a businessperson you suck.”

The second idea is… Flexibility.

“Is your industry changing?” he asked. “Is technology changing?

Everything in business changes.

My speech on how to deal with change: ‘shut up, stop whining, and get a life.’”

Winget said success “takes three sheets of paper.”

“On the first sheet of paper write down how your business and your life is right now, a snapshot of what your life looks like,”

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said Winget. “On the second sheet of paper write down what you want your life to look like.

And on the third sheet write down “what you’re gonna give up to get from where you are to where you want to be. Success comes from sacrifice. You don’t get successful, you give up what’s keeping you from being successful. You don’t get skinny, you give up what’s making you fat. You don’t get rich, you give up what’s keeping you broke.”

The Third Idea is… Lighten up. “People like to do business with people they enjoy and with people who are enjoying themselves,” Said Winget. “You better keep your sense of humor.

Step back and laugh a little.”

Then And Now: 40 Years “Sooty” Bob Daniels Speaks to NCSG A chimney sweep in the United States 40 years ago was way out on a limb. He had no training, no wholesalers or distributors, no mechanical chimney cleaning equipment, no publications, no organizations, no inspection forms. His chimney vacuum was so big and heavy it took three trips from the truck to set up.

Replacing chimney liners wasn’t an option because there were no liners available, and nobody knew how to do it. In fact, many sweeps thought it was taboo to do anything to a chimney besides sweep it.

In 1977 the chimney industry didn’t exist, said to “Sooty” Bob Daniels, during his presentation at the NCSG conference this year in Louisville, KY, on March 18th.

Most sweeps know who Sooty Bob is, but in case you are from another planet, I will quote from John Meredith’s introduction to his presentation: “Bob Daniels is largely responsible for the success of many of us in this room,” said Meredith, founder of Saversystems. “He taught us how to answer the phone...

He showed us how to prosper.

He honored us by starting Copperfield and teaching us how to be business people.”

Like most successful people, Bob Daniels isn’t somebody who publicly pats himself on the back, rather he tends to credit his good fortune to others.

“That’s probably giving me a lot of credit that’s not due,” he said in response to Meredith. While acknowledging his impact on the industry, Daniels attributed his success to luck, being in the right place at the right time, and his ability to see potential.

“I saw that the industry did not have its own vision of what it could be,” he said. “I’m credited with business building ideas. But I got 99 percent of my business building ideas from you guys.

These ideas all came from you.

I just had… the luckiness of being a packager of ideas.”

Daniels said three factors led

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beyond just sweeping the chimney.

When the conventions started, and he had his booth at the trade shows, he got to know a lot more chimney sweeps.

“There was one word to describe sweeps back then: Lonely” said Daniels. “You could tell everyone was lonely. They were often the only sweep in town, and if there were other sweeps in town they couldn’t talk to them.”

That’s one of the reasons the NCSG is important, he said.

“The guild has two parts: the educational part where you learn stuff, but then it has another thing that is equally important — the brotherhood part. The early days of the guild, the first 20 years, were about consolidating brotherhood, and we talked about what we were doing.”

Now that the industry has grown, ‘There are sweeps here that are one-man shows and there are companies that are big and want to get bigger,” said Daniels. “But everyone wants that brotherhood.”

In the early days, things were different. “The idea of regular chimney maintenance was unheard of.” said Daniels.

“Roland Robidoux came along, he had the idea of setting up the repeat appointment.

Then next year he would call and say: ‘you and I made an appointment.’ It was Roland’s idea; I think I came up with the ‘forward scheduling’ name.”

Nowadays, a lot of sweeps use CRM software apps that run on iPads, paperless inspection

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early guild conference in 1979, “Nobody was talking about hiring employees.” Those who tried to hire helpers had mixed results. “We would just hire somebody and hope they didn’t quit,” said Daniels. “And oftentimes they would quit.”

One guy he hired to help him sweep chimneys didn’t last long, he said. Daniels took a few minutes to set up the interior, and he showed the guy how to clean the firebox and damper assembly, “with soot falling on my head, and then I went on the roof to clean the chimney. When I came back inside, the guy was gone,” Said Daniels. “He’d parked his car at my house, which was about 12 blocks away, and he just walked over there and left.”

There happened to be a chimney cap manufacturer in Tulsa, where Daniels opened his first business. He noticed that some of the local chimneys had these caps on them, and he had the idea that chimney sweeps could sell them to their customers.

He got a loan from the bank to buy a truckload of chimney caps, finagled a list of chimney sweeps from Black Magic, and “After sweeping every day I would get on the phone and call chimney sweeps. I’d say, ‘Have you ever heard of chimney caps?’” “[They’d say,] ‘No.’” “I’d say, ‘Let me send you one, and if you sell it you can pay me.’”

That’s how Copperfield Chimney Supply started.

As the company grew, Daniels did a lot of outreach and education. There was, in the beginning, a taboo against selling products or repairs

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to the sudden appearance of chimney sweeping as a trade in the US. First was the energy crisis of the 1970’s which led to sudden growth in wood as a heat source, and “chimney fire statistics soared.” Secondly, August West and Black Magic developed and sold cleaning equipment. Third, Mother Earth News published “a big article in 1978 on how sweeping was an excellent bootstrap business.”

There were 2000 new sweeps within a year of the article’s publication, and “another 1000 per year for 10-15 years.”

Daniels was quickly recognized as an effective messenger for the new industry, and he appeared on Tom Snyder’s “The Tomorrow Show” within a year of opening his own chimney sweep business in Tulsa, OK. The show is a must see for all chimney sweeps. You can find it on YouTube. It shows a young Sooty Bob in a top hat and tails, telling the story of how he got into the business and demonstrating how a chimney cleaning is done.

“Sweeps all wore a top hat and tails,” said Daniels. “Mary Poppins was our image.”

But that image, while useful in gaining attention from passersby and even local media, eventually became problematic.

“It was one thing to come to the door in top hat and tails for a $40 sweep,” Daniels said.

It was another thing to dress like that while presenting an estimate for $4000 in repairs. Thus the look of a sweep evolved to a uniformed home service professional.”

In the beginning, all sweeps were one-man shows. At an

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forms complete with photos from the scan of the chimney interior, and the standard of care includes a video scan of every chimney we clean. Daniels mentioned that, while there were more chimney sweeping companies in the mid 1980’s than there are now, the industry has grown due to the increase in multi-truck chimney sweeping operations. Daniels mentioned some important milestones that helped the chimney industry become more professional. The idea to use diesel truck exhaust hose for flexible chimney liners had a big impact, and then later ceramic wool blankets with aluminum foil on them to insulate the liners. Daniels’ incorporated these ideas into the Copperfield catalogues.

After Tom Urban took a trip to Chicago and put his camera in some chimneys that had been lined with stainless steel and found they held up for decades, Daniels started offering lifetime warranties on stainless

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1977: First trade show/ chimney sweeps conference.

1980: First certification testing began 1983: The Chimney Safety Institute of America formed 1984: Tom Urban invented the Chim Scan 1992: CSIA Chimney Sweeping School started May 2017

liners. That is now the norm.

After hearing Daniels’ story and giving him a standing ovation, a few hundred chimney sweeps who had heard him were giddy with their own little trips down memory lane.

Afterwards, I spoke with a couple of sweeps.

Dave Bancroft, Master Chimney Sweep and owner of Sweepnman Chimney Sweeps in the Boston area, said about Sooty Bob: “If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Ken Robinson, also a Master Chimney Sweep, owner of Coopertown Services in Memphis, who started sweeping in 1976, said “I remember seeing him on the [Tom Snyder’s] Tomorrow Show, and I said to myself, ‘There’s another one!’”

What every Chimney Sweep Should Know about Animals in Chimneys with Ken Robinson Ken Robinson has been sweeping chimneys since 1976.

Now a CSIA master chimney sweep, his chimney business has expanded into wildlife control, which now represents a third of his revenue.

A great storyteller, Robinson is the kind of guy you could listen to all day long. He filled his ninety minute presentation with tales of raccoons, roof rats, and other critters. The first person in the history of Tennessee to ask for the animal control permit, Robinson gave a seminar on the opportunities available for chimney sweeps in the animal control business. He

also spent a lot of time talking about things to watch out for.

Sweeps should not take part in animal control unless they have the necessary knowledge of the rules and regulations in their area. They should find out what kinds of licenses and permits they need. Unless those permits are secured, Robinson said, sweeps should leave animal control to the animal control professionals.

There can be huge fines for not following the rules when it comes to wildlife. In some states, animal control folks may be required to kill any raccoon they catch. In other states, killing a raccoon could get you in big trouble. It behooves a sweep to do his research.

Some of the common tactics sweeps use to remove animals from chimneys, such as setting mothballs or a rag with ammonia on a smoke shelf, can be very harmful to the animals and in some areas are illegal.

Ammonia can permanently damage a raccoon’s respiratory system and damage their eyes so they go blind, and mothballs contain Naphthalene, which is in carcinogenic that can cause respiratory distress and birth defects. Using these techniques, and doing animal control exposes a sweep to a lot of potential problems.

Similarly it would be problematic if an animal control guy decided to seal up a gas vent to keep animals out, and it filled a house with carbon monoxide.

Nevertheless, sweep companies have most of the resources (trucks, ladders, tools, labor) for an easy transition into an animal control unit during

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John Meredith, founder of Saver Systems, and Chris Prior, president of the Masonry Heater Association, are having a blast in their new testing lab in Richmond, IN. They named the lab Wardenclyffe because that was the name of legendary inventor Nikola Tesla’s facility on Long Island.

The idea for their lab, they said, was first expressed with a sketch a napkin.

Their PowerPoint presentation had videos of colored smoke

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Anniversary going in crazy vortex patterns in smoke chambers, plenty of photos of Meredith and Prior wearing blue lab coats, and lots of napkin drawings.

“Sometimes the universe unfolds its secrets on the face of a napkin,” was the informal thread running through their talk. The mixture of creativity and strict precision in the lab appears to be a potent one.

Wardenclyffe Lab consists of two identical masonry fireplaces in a large room, with a humidity controlled chamber to store the firewood, in an old brick warehouse on South H street in Richmond. The fireplaces vent with insulated factory built chimney pipe.

There has been, historically, very little testing of masonry fireplaces, said Meredith.

That’s why Prior and Meredith decided to focus their lab’s attention on masonry fireplaces.

“You can’t monetize a masonry fireplace,” said Meredith, explaining the lack of scientific data on masonry fireplaces. “You can’t put it in a box and ship it.”

I had the good fortune to get a personal tour of the lab last summer when I took the CSIA Masonry Repair for Chimney Sweeps course last summer.

The site-built fireplaces are indeed identical. One is used as the “control” and the other for test modifications. Tests are conducted for safety, emissions, and efficiency.

Prior and Meredith measure safety by using dozens of thermocouples embedded in e, ill

Fireplace Testing at the Wardenclyffe Hearth Lab with Chris Prior and John Meredith

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“It’s well worth the money,” said Robinson.

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the summer. If they get the right kind of training, licenses, permits, it can be quite lucrative.

Just as chimney service companies can earn several thousand dollars for a chimney repair or reline, a good animal control company can bring in similar amounts to remove all the animals from a house and seal the house up so that they can’t return.

Robinson recommends getting in touch with your local game wardens to find out about the rules and regs in your area.

Some states may recognize certain online courses. The NWCOA (National Wildlife Control Operators Association) is an excellent resource, and they have their own annual convention and trade show.

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the masonry structures.

They monitor performance with cameras hooked up to an intervalometer (time lapse recorder) so that every time it takes a temperature reading it takes a picture.

(Tom Urban of Chim-Scan designed special cameras to record flue gas behavior, and the backs of the smoke chambers are fitted with tempered glass walls.)

Emissions can be measured with condor filters in the chimney pipes, which get weighed to within a 10,000th of a gram before and after burning.

All conditions (indoor and outside temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, etc.) are plugged into a formula in order for accurate readings to be taken. “We stole the spreadsheet from the MHA,” said Meredith.

“Well, not stole. Borrowed.”

Although Prior has already created and invented the most efficient masonry fireplace design in the world, known as the “Prior Fire,” the fireplaces in the lab are nothing fancy.

“We wanted it to represent the average American crappy fireplace that we all see out in the field,” said Meredith.

When it comes to that kind of fireplace design, Prior said, “None of it is based on science.

It’s all based on tradition. ‘This is how grandfather built it.’

“It’s interesting how practices became standards,” he said.

One of the earlier tests conducted at Wardenclyffe was a comparison between parged and unparged smoke chambers.

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Pointing to video footage of the behavior of two different colors of smoke in the chamber, which showed how the smoke mixes and forms a vortex on its way to the chimney, Prior said “Smoke is a fluid just like water is a fluid. What we should really be thinking of is making [the smoke chamber] like a toilet.”

How did they make the colored smoke?

“We went to a fireworks store and we bought every single smoke bomb you could find,” said Prior. “It was kind of fun actually.”

Results?

“The purging of the smoke chamber made a remarkable difference in the flow,” Prior said.

They commissioned a 60 second video that shows the test results, using video footage and animation.

Now that testing has begun, Prior and Meredith plan to begin trying out new products.

“You will see some cool stuff coming,” said Prior.

Another interesting test they did was to measuring the emissions difference between a top-down fire and a bottom up fire. Photos of the condor filters after each firing were remarkable. The upside-down fire added a faint grey sheen to the filter, while the bottom up fire caused the filter to turn dark brown.

How to be Successful Regardless of Company Size with Chuck Roydhouse Chuck Roydhouse is a Master Chimney Sweep, and legendary for his success and profitability in the chimney business. His presentation covered lots of ground. His experience as an Eagle Scout, student at military school, and later as a professional firefighter, influences how his business runs. A few of the highlights from his talk: • Accountability and Discipline: The training sessions conducted

by Roydhouse are followed by a test or a quiz, to measure how much of the info is retained by his staff. Training is continuous.

Jobs that have been completed are inspected afterwards.

Sometimes Roydhouse shows up at ongoing jobs in a borrowed car and parks across the street to make sure his guys are following safety protocols and standard operating procedures.

• Standard Operating Procedures: “Fire service is nothing but SOP’s and training,” said Roydhouse. “On a fire truck, every day there is an equipment check; that’s how I modeled my company.” Roydhouse has three identical service vehicle and placement of all tools, equipment and inventory on each truck is 100 percent uniform and standardized.

There is a reserve vehicle that can be put into service if one of the service trucks needs repairs.

• Bench Strength: “Build a deep bench to deal smoothly with changes—you always want to have the next man.

You want to have your second string ready.”

• Size Doesn’t Always Matter: “Bigger is not always better,” says Roydhouse. It doesn’t help to have a larger business if it’s something you can’t control, and a larger company does not always mean you bring home more money.

• What to Focus On: Critical for success are the three P’s: Profitability, Predictability, and Professionalism. Roydhouse says a business should always promise less and deliver more, exceeding customer expectations. Several times during his talk he said, “Know your numbers.”

• Financial Controls: Business owners should know and track total labor hours, total labor costs, sales per opportunity (SPO, a concept introduced to the industry by Rob Lindeman and Michael Boudart—if you don’t know what SPO is, you should visit Lindeman in Chicago and they’ll explain it to you) and for even tighter results, Roydhouse tracks profit per opportunity, which is how much the business profits from every service call plus whatever sales that service call generates. A business owner should also know his direct and indirect costs.

• People Power: It’s important to remember that people and relationships are your biggest asset, Roydhouse said.

Always try to build relationships rather than burn bridges. Maintaining good relationships with customers, vendors, employees, and even competitors will allow your business be successful.

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SAFETY A LERT:

H ELMETS S AVE L IVES. B Y J USTIN B AILEY

SAFETY ALERT: Helmets Save Lives.

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t the 2017 NCSG trade show, Brian Barnhill told me a story about why his supply company, Barnhill Chimney Supply, is selling a line of climbing helmets made by Petzl. I called him up recently and asked if he would go on the record. He agreed, and told me the whole story over the phone:

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“We’ve been pushing safety, we’ve got the safety manual, we have the safety meetings. We’re following the accepted guidelines for our trade to the best of our ability. And that didn’t keep our guy from getting hurt.

“If you listen to safety guys talk, they always say ‘Its not if, but when.’

They also say that a majority of falls occur at the transition point between the ladder and the roof.

“We had a guy who was working on a ranch [single story house], guy’s 6’4”, name’s Blake Giles, he’s been with me for years. It was a low pitch roof. We don’t know what happened, because he doesn’t

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remember, but there was a fall.

“He hit his forehead and cracked his skull. Long story short, he ends up at the ER and [it seemed like] we might lose Blake. It was terrifying.

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare. There were a lot of days of touch and go.

“Yesterday was his first day back. He was out for a few months with this injury, and it could have killed him. This kind of fall has killed other folks.

“I really did some deep soul searching, I thought ‘Is this worth it?’ I can go do something else to earn a living. Is it worth it to have a business that can get people killed? I really got into a dark place with that. But I came to the conclusion that, firefighters don’t not do their job because it’s dangerous. Their job is to protect people and save lives…

“One of the big things with safety is culture. I can tell people to wear gloves and place their ladders carefully but if there’s not a culture to

support it, it doesn’t happen.

I wanted to make safety cool, and have good gear, and give my guys the best gear to be safe with and go help people and continue in this business that we’re passionate about...

I read about the five second rule… It’s if you want to start something new, like say meditating, you don’t start and say ‘I’m going do an hour of meditating every day.’ Because you’re probably not going do that. But you can say, ‘I’m going meditate for five seconds,’ and five seconds turns into more.

“Instead of throwing everything at the guys at once, we asked, what could be the safest thing we could start with, that doesn’t take a lot of training and that we can just do? That was the helmets.

“We picked up a helmet line that’s the lightest, most functional thing which is made for climbers and is certified for what we do.

“I thought we would have some difficulty getting the guys to

wear helmets because they just never had to before. The opposite was true. They love them. I think they were ready for it after what happened. I think our guys, they had their own dark nights [after the accident], thinking ‘is this for me?’ They adopted them wholeheartedly.

“Our motto with it is ‘Every roof, every job, every time.’”

“I picked up those helmets because I want to be a part of positive affective change, I want to help change the culture. [Putting on a helmet] is easy to do.

“If you fall and break a leg or an arm, you’re most likely not going die from that, but the

same blow to the head can kill.

“When folks stopped at our booth, the stories started coming out. There was a whole lot of ‘Me too,’ or ‘We had a fall last year.’

“I think that we all need to wake up and realize that this job is potentially hazardous and we need to gear up to take care of ourselves so we go home to our wives and children and we can show up to help somebody tomorrow.”

In hearing this story, I remembered how when I used to ski as a kid in high school, nobody wore a helmets. We would be going fifty or sixty miles an hour sometimes. People died. Now the vast majority

of skiers wear helmets. Same with seatbelts - when I was a kid nobody wore them. Now everybody wears them. The car seat we grew up with our mom sticking her arm out to keep us from slamming into the dashboard. Now people have car seats for kids. I mentioned these things to Barnhill.

“I think in two years, anybody who is anybody in this industry will be requiring their guys to wear helmets,” he said.

Let’s hope so. In the meantime, if you are interested in purchasing helmets for your crew, call Barnhill Chimney Supply at 859-389-8607 or go to www.barnhillchimney.com.

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2017 Your

Terry Dearborn In recognition of attending all 40 NCSG National Conventions

Award Winners

Chris Prior CSIA Don Leavitt Education Award

Chuck Roydhouse, Clean Sweep of Arundel County Sweep Away Breast Cancer Fundraising Award

Mark Stoner NCSG President’s Award

Kevin Russell Unsung Hero Award John Bordelon (accepted by Graham Wilder) NCSG Friendship Award

Jeff Schmittinger In recognition of the Sweeping the White House Program

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Veteran Attendee Spotlight:

Cleveland Pope

By Justin Bailey Cleveland Pope has sung the National Anthem at the opening ceremony in a deep baritone at most of the conventions I’ve been to. Pope has been coming to the conventions, on and off, for 20 years. I got a chance to sit down with him for a few minutes during the CSIA auction.

A former president of the Southern Association of Chimney Professionals, Cleveland has been sweeping chimneys since 1986. He first attended the NCSG conference in Myrtle Beach in the mid-90’s.

He became a certified sweep in Asheville, NC about ten years ago. Cleveland said he comes to the NCSG conferences to enhance his business and further his education.

His business is an old-style one-man operation.

mid-80’s, one of his co-workers asked if he wanted to help him clean chimneys.

“Why would you want to do that?” Pope asked him.

“Duh, to keep them from catching on fire,” said his friend.

So he went and started helping him sweep chimneys after work and on weekends, until his friend decided he would rather have his days off to rest, and he turned the chimney operation over to Pope. Pope kept his job at Michelin until he qualified for retirement benefits, but he kept on sweeping the whole time.

“The thought of expanding has crossed my mind,” he said, “But now we are at a crossroads. I am in semi-retirement now.”

When working at a Michelin tire factory in the

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28 S W E E P I N G

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LESS time BETTER solutions GREATER profits

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Hearth Industry

Test yourself! Here’s a quiz, made from some of the questions in NFI Executive Director Rick Vlahos’ “Hearth Jeopardy” session. Test your knowledge of all things chimney: h. What’s the ideal moisture content of seasoned firewood? i. How many CEU’s to renew CSIA Certification? j. What are the three things necessary for combustion to occur? k. How many pascals (Pa) are in 1" water column (w.c) l. What year was the original chimney sweep’s guild founded? m. How many BTU’s are in a Therm of natural gas? n. What’s the approximate cross sectional area of a 6" round stovepipe?

29 a.1150 degrees b. New Source Performance Standard c. Conduction, convection, radiation d. UL 1777 e. Frances Kelly f. Mercaptan g. 8 inches (12” for rumfords) h. 20 percent (per the NFI manual) i. 48 j. Oxygen, Fuel, Heat k. 25 l. 1977 m. 100,000 n. 28 inches

QUESTIONS a. At what temperature does Natural Gas ignite? b. What is NSPS? c. What are the three ways heat can be transferred or delivered? d. What is the UL standard for relining chimneys? e. Who is the executive director of the NCSG? f. What’s an odorous ingredient added to Natural Gas so it can be detected by our sense of smell. g. What’s the minimum distance of the lintel below the throat of the fireplace?

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Dates and

Events May 2017

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May 1-2, 2017 CSIA Inspection & Report Writing CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 2, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Finksburg, MD – National Chimney For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com May 1-7, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon April 28th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 8-14, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon May 5th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 8-9, 2017 Ropes Safety Class Houston, TX For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 9-12, 2017 WGCSS Summer Workshop For more information, please call Katie Maynard at (920) 830-1920 or Bill Majewski at (920) 375-0005 May 9-10, 2017 CSIA 2-Day Masonry Class Sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Chimney Association National Chimney Supply - Finksburg, MD For more information, please contact MACA, Jim@ BlackGoose.com May 10-11, 2017 CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician® 2-Day Workshop & Exams

May 2017

CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 11, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Charlotte, NC – Olympia Chimney Supply For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com May 11, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Richmond, IN – National Chimney For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com May 12, 2017 CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep® Review & Exams CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 15-21, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon May 12th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 19, 2017 CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep® Review & Exams Scranton, PA For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 22-28, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon May 19th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org May 24, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Portland, OR – Olympia Chimney Supply For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com

May 29 – June 4, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered

by Noon May 26th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

June 2017 June 1, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Fairfield, IA - Copperfield For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com June 2, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems NY - Lindemann For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com June 5-9, 2017 Installing & Troubleshooting Gas Hearth Appliances w/ NFI Exam CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 5-11, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon June 2nd - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 7, 2017 CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep® Review & Exams Mount Laruel, NJ – Sponsored by Lindemann Chimney Supply For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 7-8, 2017 CSIA 2-Day Masonry Class Richmond, IN – SaverSystems Facility For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.csia.org June 12-18, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon June 9th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning

- Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 15-20, 2017 Introduction to Masonry for Chimney Technicians with master mason Gene Padgitt.

Learn the basics of masonry required when relining or doing common repairs to masonry chimneys. Handson. This is the ONLY time this particular course will be offered in 2017. CEUs for CSIA and NFI. Independence, Missouri For more information and to register please visit http:// www.hearthmasters.net./ June 19-25, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon June 16th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 20, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems Richmond, IN - Copperfield For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com June 21-24, 2017 Midwest Chimney Safety Council Annual Conference Independence, MO For more information, please call Marge Padgitt at (816) 461-3665 or visit www.mcsc-net.org June 24-25, 2017 Sweepfest 2017 New Hampshire For more information, please contact Phil Mitchell at sootski@aol.com June 26 - July 1, 2017 CSIA National Chimney Sweep Training School CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org June 26 – July 2, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered

by Noon June 23rd - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

May 2017

31 S W E E P I N G

July 2017 July 3-9, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon June 30th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 10-16, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon July 7th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 10-11, 2017 NFI Gas Review & Exam CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

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32 S W E E P I N G

July 12-13, 2017 NFI Wood Review & Exam CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 14-15, 2017 NFI Pellet Review & Exam CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 14, 2017 HeatShield Repair System by SaverSystems CA - Lindemann For more information, please call (800) 860-6327 or visit http://heatshieldchimney.com July 17-23, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon July 14th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

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May 2017

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July 24-30, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon July 21st - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 31 – August 6, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon July 28th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org July 31 – August 5, 2017 CSIA National Chimney Sweep Training School CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

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August 2017 August 7-13, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered by Noon August 4th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org August 11, 2017 CSIA One Day Chimney Physics CSIA Technology Center For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org August 14-20, 2017 CSIA (online) – Must be registered

by Noon August 11th - Chimney Physics - CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep Review - CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technician Review - CSIA eLearning - Health & Safety Multi-User Courses - Lining Masonry Chimneys with Stainless Steel For more information, please call (317) 837-5362 or visit www.CSIA.org

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May 2017

33 S W E E P I N G

Continuity Of Business Flow 7+7

By Chuck Roydhouse

M 34 S W E E P I N G

any small chimney companies rely on one or two key people to manage the business. Most companies have not developed systems and processes that will allow the company to operate without the owner present. Any chimney company operating this way is ripe for problems.

• DESIGNATE A SUCCESSOR — One person in the company must be knowledgeable in all systems and procedures in case of an emergency or long term absence. This includes all records to conduct daily business with a full knowledge of internal and external systems to keep things running.

We don’t want to deal with or talk about because we are “invincible”, which we are not.

• DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE — In smaller chimney companies, the owner is usually the only face of the business. Ensure that the vendors and key contacts are familiar with your designee and has the authority to act on your behalf if you are absent.

As the owner you should think about how your company will continue if you are not available for a long period of time. A continuity plan is not a difficult task if taken in a paced and orderly implementation.

To get started I have listed seven key items to use as a starting point: • DON’T WAIT — Do it now, putting off the process only makes any potential situation even worse.

May 2017

• FINANCIAL RESERVES — Is there cash at the bank to sustain the business during times of difficulty. Who has access to pay bills? Do you have a team member who has the skills to maintain the company financially and do they have that authority?

• INSURANCE — Do you have “key man insurance”. This is a life insurance that the company purchases on the key executives life. The company is the beneficiary and pays the premiums. This is used for sudden loss of a key executive creating a negative impact on company operations. This allows the company time to find a replacement to run the company or implement other strategies.

you a starting point to work from. Remember, what can go wrong will go wrong and changes in circumstances happen in the blink of an eye. Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

• SOPs — You must have written (detailed) operating systems which can be duplicated for each business task. If your day to day operational decisions rely on you and what is in your head, you are putting the company at risk. These steps go with you if you step away or if you are taken away from the business. That won’t help the employees you leave behind.

• Give knowledge to others.

LIFE RULES FOR SUCCESS: • See failure as starting point, not the end.

• If you don’t pursue it, you won’t obtain it.

• Always do more than expected.

• THE BOSS — Who manages your staff daily?

Have you delegated key tasks to be managed by others?

Who does the staff report to in your absence?

How does this reporting take place and who has authority to manage the staff in your absence?

• Never assume, question everything.

• The past is the past, move on.

• Stop thinking so much and start implementing.

Chuck Roydhouse has managed a successful chimney maintenance and repair company for over 25 years. He is President of Roydhouse Effect Inc. This firm offers fractional CEO and Social Media Marketing Consulting Services that are tailored for small service businesses needing help, but not needing a full time employee to develop and execute the plan.

Chuck has served on the CSIA Board of Directors since 2014.

He has held the positions of Chairman of the Educational Development Committee and Chairman CSIA Master Sweep Committee. He is currently serving as CSIA Treasurer

This list is not the end all be all. But gives

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May 2017

2017-01-20 11:19 AM

35 S W E E P I N G

New

Members

VIRGINA

MICHIGAN

COLORADO

Mike Greer | Lakes Region Chimney Pro | Gilford

Stefani Becker | Becker’s Chimney and Roofing | Wilmington

Matthew Watkins | Chimney USA LLC |Chesapeake

John White | Dr. Sweep Inc. | Royal Oak

MARYLAND

FLORIDA

Jackie Buratovich | Mountain Home Stove & Fireplace | Steamboat Springs

Joseph Pilat | J & J Fireplace Repair | Lothian

Lawrence Westberry | North Florida Chimney | Orange Park

NEW JERSEY

Michael Colino | Specialized Cleaning & Restoration |Somerdale

REGION REGION

Richard Spano | Advanced Furnace & Air Duct Cleaning, Inc | Bayville

MASSACHUSETTS John F. Koch | Master Sweep and Repair | Pittsfield

Mike Dintino | Tri State Chimney Service | Charlton

MAINE

Wayne England | The Chimney Men | Patten

Mark Mastripolito | Masters Chimney | Bowie Carlos Aragon | Aragon Chimney Services |Silver Spring

TENNESSEE

Joshua Cate | TN Chimney and Home | Knoxville Kent Thornton | Gold City Sweeps LLC | Dahlonega

OHIO

Greg Vonderhaar | Vonderhaar Fireplace, Stoves & Masonry | Cinncinnati

KANSAS

Roger W. Miller | Miller, Roger | Hayesville

KENTUCKY

James Jacobs | Louisville Masonry Restorations | Fairdale

ILLNOIS

Rick Larkin | Imperial Manufacturing Group | Alton

CALIFORNIA

REGION

S W E E P I N G

Jerome Milton | CSR Chimney Service | Glen Burnie

REGION

36

James Horne | Old Line Chimney Sweeps, LLC | Pasadena

REGION REGION REGION

DELAWARE

REGION REGION REGION REGION

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Joseph Tilly | Cypress Sweeps Chimney Service | Del Rey Oaks

WYOMING

John Jowett | Jowett, John | Sheridan

MONTANA

Jeff Gibson | Bitterroot Stoves & Billiards Inc | Victor

International

Zigi Gadomski | WETBC (Wood Energy Technicians of BC) | Port Coquitlam, BC

May 2017

REGION

REGION REGION

REGION REGION

REGION REGION

2 234 34 35 5 2 3 5 56 6 6 5 6

REGION

REGION REGION

1 12 1 4 45 4

I

t takes a village of Volunteers to determine the success of an event no matter how big or small. And, I have to say that in the years I have been organizing volunteers for the NCSG Convention, it is always great working with the many sweeps, spouses and suppliers who give of their time.

Several years ago, three company owners developed a friendship at one of the NCSG conventions and not only did they start arriving at the convention several days prior to it officially beginning, but they have shown up each year early on Monday morning to assist the NCSG staff with unloading the truck and setting up the office.

Other volunteers have been helping for many years at the registration desk and as scanners and with maybe some minor tweaks and changes, know the drill of what they are doing which certainly eliminates extra stress on the staff.

One group of volunteers that I don’t feel get enough credit are those that work each year to make the CSIA Auction such a success. Headed by Judd Berg, who begins his meltdown a day or so before the volunteers

begin on Friday morning. They start early and begin visiting exhibit booths to see what may be donated by each vendor.

Once the tradeshow ends they help retrieve donations and stage them in an area to then be moved again once the auction area is set. With barely enough time to grab something quick to eat if they are lucky, they are off again to work the auction all evening and normally do not finish until after 11:00 pm. Again, many of those that volunteer as “Roadies” and “Runners” help every year and give many, many hours on that Friday just to make sure the CSIA Auction is a success. Remember, Judd and his dedicated group of volunteers are the people behind the $$$’s raised each year. I want to personally thank Judd Berg and those volunteers who work so hard on this event.

Progressive

Perks Debbie Cornelius

Membership Development Coordinator

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

So often we take things for granted BUT there is a volunteer workforce behind the scenes that contribute to almost everything that takes place at the NCSG Convention. Take time to thank these people for everything they do!

37 S W E E P I N G May 2017

CSIA UPDATE May 2017 Report

www.CSIA.org

CSIA’s 2017 - 2018 Board of Directors

(L to R) Chuck Roydhouse (Vice President), Darin Bibeau (Treasurer), Hope Stevenson (Secretary), Chuck Hall (President), Mark Stoner (Past-President), John Pilger, Michael Segerstrom, Brion Barnhill*, Tommy Nelms*, Patrick Tinsley*, (not pictured: Eric Adair) * first time board members

CSIA Award Winners at the 2017 National Chimney Sweep Guild Convention Ashley Eldridge Scholarship (for National Chimney Sweep Training School) - Chris Simmonds Don Leavitt Education Award - Chris Prior

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Unsung Hero Award - Kevin Russell

May 2017 Report

Newly Certified Chimney Sweeps Alabama John Hunter | Clean Sweep Chimney Service | Hayden California Keith O’Kelley | Absolute Chimney | Corning Joseph Tilly | Cypress Sweeps Chimney Service | Del Ray Oaks Scott Jacobs | Chimney Doctor | San Luis Obispo Colorado Daniel Freeman | The Chimney Doctor | Grand Junction Georgia David Pace | Chimney Solutions | Alpharetta Illinois Eric MacCoy | Lindemann Chimney | Lake Bluff John Torgerson | Superior Chimney Services | Lombard Tyler MacKay | Safeway Chimney Sweeps | Frankfort Janelle Haar | A-1 Safety Chimney Services | Carol Stream Evan Vining | Leonard & Sons Bldg. Service | Algonquin Rodney Kneller | Klein’s Chimney Sweep Service | Springfield Indiana Zachary Tharp | Four Seasons Chimney Sweeps | Hobart Maryland AJ Wells | Clean Sweep of A. A. Co. | Millersville Mark Mastripolito | Masters Pellet Stoves | Bowie Vincent Hasinger | ChimneyTek | Pasadena Brandon Geibel | Monocacy Chimney Care | Myersville Dennis Dell | Ash Away Chimney Service | Finksburg Christian Cukr | Columbia Chimney Services | Columbia Jordan Whitcomb | Ash Away Chimney Service | Finksburg Justin Bray | Ash Away Chimney Service | Finksburg Tony Ottomano | Ash Away Chimney Service | Finksburg Jonathan Chance | ChimneyTek | Pasadena Massachusetts Krzysztof Moryl | Atlantic Chimney | Randolph Stephen Bradway | Atlantic Chimney | Randolph Matthew Burgess | Atlantic Chimney | Randolph Michigan Andrew Mikoleizik | The Chimney Doctor | Midland Missouri Gary Yates | Chimney Sweep | St. Joseph Lucas Sheeley | Premier Climate Control | Green Ridge

Royce Sullens | Advanced Chimney Techniques | Jamestown Brett Weaver | Northwest Chimney Service | Platte City Nebraska John McKenzie | McKenzie Chimney Service | Otoe New Hampshire Daniel Lee | Z-Flex U.S. | Bedford Lisa Taylor | Z-Flex U.S. | Bedford

Wisconsin Hunter Ludvigsen | Chimney Mechanix | Shawano Mitchell Pasqueno | Chimney Doctors | Milwaukee David Lepak | Quality Fireplace Inc. | Waukesha Wyoming John Jowett | Jowett’s Handyman & Carpentry | Sheridan Drew Happ | Peak Chimney Sweeps | Jackson

New Jersey Matias Sposato | Sposato Construction | Watchung New York Robert Doherty | North Country Chimney Services | Baldwinsville Simon Petro | Felgemacher Masonry | Amherst Pennsylvania Nathaniel Heagy | Smokestack Masonry | Lancaster Matthew Opfer | Johnston’s Chimney Sweep | West Newton Robert Harper | Chimney Cricket | Woodlyn South Carolina Paul Heyward | Chimspector Venting Specialists | Columbia

Mark Stoner | Ashbusters Chimney Service | Smyrna, TN Chuck Hall | Winston’s of Northern Virginia | Fairfax, VA Mike Segerstrom | Bridgewater Chimney Sweeps | Bridgewater, NJ Lou Curley | Lou Curley’s Chimney Service| Drexel Hill, PA Joe Sauter | Your Chimney Sweep | Indianapolis, IN W. Mark Hudson II | Hudson Chimney | Middleburg, FL

Tennessee Ryan Emerson | Chimney Master | Nashville Joshua Cate | TN Chimney and Home | Knoxville Lane Cunningham | Sweeps & Ladders | Franklin Collin Harber | Sweeps & Ladders | Franklin

DRYER EXHAUST

Texas Pete Pohlman | Black Velvet Chimney | Mansfield

Colorado Dan Akers | Service Monkey | Silverthorne

Vermont Ben Provencher | Brickliners | Williston Nick Shepard | Brickliners | Williston

Georgia Christopher Cox | Chimney Solutions | Alpharetta Charles Garrett | Chimney Solutions | Alpharetta Quinton Rielly | Chimney Solutions | Alpharetta Lance Godfrey | Chimney Solutions | Alpharetta

Virginia William Croom | Chimney USA | Chesapeake Michelle Leissler | Rooftop Chimney Sweeps | Alexandria James Cassell | Chimney Sweep | Rocky Mount Jean-David Lejeune | Rooftop Chimney Sweeps | Alexandria Washington Louis Lee | Portland Fireplace and Chimney | Vancouver

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CERTIFIED

TECHNICIAN

Idaho John Overton | Parani Pro Sweep | Emmett Iowa Thomas Hunkele | Top Notch Chimney Sweeps | Urbandale

www.CSIA.org

Kansas Michael Rees | Home Safe Hearth & Chimney | Wichita Louisiana Kevin Russell | New Buck Chimney Services | Frierson Massachusetts Jesse Andreson | Pilgrim Chimney Service | Kingston David Spurr | Sweepnman | North Reading Timothy Martinson, Jr. | Sweepnman | North Reading Dee Kelly | Sweepnman | North Reading Stan Baron | Sweepnman | North Reading Dave Bancroft | Sweepnman | North Reading Mark Swecker | Sweepnman | North Reading Michael Cilluffo | Sweepnman | North Reading

Timothy Martinson, Sr | Sweepnman | North Reading Tim Merriman | Merriman’s Chimney Service | Vineyard Haven

Pennsylvania Kevin Bourdeau | Clean Sweep Chimney Services | East Berlin

New Hampshire Michael Williams | Fireside Hearth & Leisure | Lisbon

South Carolina Michael Lilley | Chim Cheree, the Chimney Specialists | Greer

New Jersey Anthony Evans | Central Jersey Fireplace Co | Eatontown New York Kevin Fox | All Seasons Chimney Service | New Windsor North Carolina Scott Davis | Seaside Sweep | Wilmington

Vermont Arthur Lindgren | Clean Sweep Chimney Service | Lyndonville Wisconsin Joe Pollak | All Season Roofing & Chimney Service | Lake Geneva

Current CSIA Credential Holders as of 4/24/17 CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps: 1,838 CSIA Certified Dryer Exhaust Technicians: 406 CSIA Master Chimney Sweeps: 30

CSIA Education Roadshow Excellence in Education. Delivered.

Contact Us: Mailing Address 2155 Commercial Drive Plainfield, IN 46168 Telephone

To-your-door expertise.

Grow your business.

CSIA Education Roadshow allows you to experience the industry standard in chimney sweep education and earn valuable CEUs through in-person courses provided by one of CSIA’s expert instructors at YOUR event.

Including CSIA Roadshow as part of your event will provide you with several opportunities for promoting your company or product, both on-site during the session, as well as through CSIA’s social networks and e-newsletter.

Get started.

Literally anyone who wants to include a CSIA Roadshow session and has access to a suitable location can submit a request.

(317) 837-5362 Email: Office@CSIA.org

Questions? Contact CSIA Program Coordinator, Claire Rutledge, at (317) 837-5362.

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May 2017 Report

Upcoming CSIA CEU Opportunities Masonry Repair for Chimney Professionals June 7-8 | SaverSystems | Richmond, IN CSIA CEUs: 12-T An intensive class combining a short period of classroom theory followed by hands-on projects. Topics covered include: mortar mixing, brick laying, joint finishing, tools of the trade, and all aspects of chimney repair.

This class (or similar) is required for earning the CSIA Master Sweep Credential

Installing & Troubleshooting Gas Hearth Appliances June 5-9 | CSIA Technology Center | Plainfield, IN CSIA CEUs: 4 -T, 4-CS, 4-HS, 4- CL NFI CEUs: 16-T Students will learn how to service and install gas appliances, including: appliance standards, combustion requirements, pipe sizing and installation, troubleshooting, carbon monoxide testing, and fuel conversion.

This class is required for earning the CSIA Master Sweep Credential (no substitutes)

2017 SWEEPS WEEK June 12-16 | CSIA Technology Center | Plainfield, IN Chimney professionals from all over the country (and sometimes other countries) gather at the CSIA Technology Center in Plainfield, Indiana for a full week of networking, service projects, learning opportunities, live music, and some absolutely incredible wood-fired food. CSIA CEUs awarded for each day of attendance!

NFI 2-Day Workshops & Exams July 11-15 | CSIA Technology Center | Plainfield, IN CSIA is proud to offer you a FULL WEEK of National Fireplace Institution education! The week will be broken into three certification workshop reviews & exams.

July 10-11: NFI Gas Specialist July 12-13: NFI Woodburning Specialist July 14-15: NFI Pellet Specialist

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Around the

Tech O Center.

Frances Kelly

Executive Director

42 S W E E P I N G May 2017

nce a year our whole office moves from the Tech Center to convention. That includes computers, registration paperwork, convention giveaways, AV equipment, and of course our dedicated staff!

A big thank you to our staff and wonderful volunteers who make convention a success each year. We hope to see many of you throughout the summer at the Tech Center for Sweeps Week and CSIA education classes!

Classifieds GasVent Software for Sizing Chimneys only $195 Call 1-800-648-9523 for more info and visit www.elitesoft.com to download a free trial version.

Chimney Solutions, based in Atlanta, GA, is looking for Installers and Salespeople with the desire to move into management. Pay will be commensurate with experience.

Relocation is available for the individual that meets our needs and qualifications. Send resumes to dpace@chimneysolutions. com or visit our website www. chimneysolutions.com.

For Sale: Well established Complete Chimney Service (20 years) B.B.B. member, located in Placerville, CA- Tools and clientele included$250,000.00 OBOContact: (530)642-2862 CLASSIFIED ADS FREE FOR NCSG MEMBERS Members can run one 35-word classified free each year! Regular classified ads are $2/word or $1/ word for NCSG members. Classified ads are non-commissionable and must be pre-paid. To place a classified ad, please contact Sara Sichting at ssichting@ncsg.org or 317-837-1500.

43 S W E E P I N G

May 2017

Darwin

“Looks like they really want that extra 20% of heat you get off singlewall stovepipe.”

Picture taken in West Virginia by Ashby Shaver from Ash’s Chimney Sweep in Lewisburg, WV.

Award

Have you snapped a photo of a peculiar chimney in your area that made you shake your head in disbelief?

Send it to editor Darcy Marlett at dmarlett@ ncsg.org. for publication in Sweeping. Or, mail it to NCSG, 2155 Commercial Drive, Plainfield, IN 46168. Include a few words about the scene and location.

Ad Index 44

Ahrens Chimney Technique

800-843-4417

ahrenschimney@qwestoffice.net 19

A Step In Time

757-754-1388

Ray@ChimneySweep.com

Chim Cap Corp

800-262-9622

www.chimcapcorp.com 12

Back Cover

Copperfield 800-247-3305 www.copperfield.com 7 CVC Coaching

704-425-0217

www.cvccoaching.com 25

ENERVEX 770-587-3238 www.enervex.com 5

S W E E P I N G

Firesafe Industries, Inc.

800-545-6607

Gelco™, Lyemance™, and Lock-Top®

www.firesafeinc.com 14 www.gllchimneyproducts.com

21, 33

ICP 508-695-7000 www.chimneycaps.com 32 Lindemann Chimney Company

866-629-8006

www.lindemannsupply.com 13

Meyer Machine & Equipment

800-728-3828

www.meyermachine.com 29

National Chimney

800-897-8481

www.nationalchimney.com

New England Chimney Supply

888-900-8106

www.newenglandchimneysupply.com 15

Olympia Chimney Supply

800-569-1425

www.olympiachimney.com 11

Sand Hill Wholesale & Mfg., Inc

800-258-5496

www.sandhillwholesale.com 4

SaverSystems, Inc

800-860-6327

www.saversystems.com 28

Ventech Industries

207-439-0069

info@ventechindustries.com 9

Inside Front Cover

Z-Flex 800-654-5600 sales@z-flex.com 35

May 2017

If you’re a camper heading out for a trip — or just getting firewood for your wood stove — do the forests a favor. Don’t move firewood long distances — it can potentially transport invasive species.

Instead, buy it where you’ll burn it, buy heat-treated firewood or gather on site where permitted.

How to Help: 

Leave firewood at home — buy local firewood at or near your destination, or collect firewood on site when permitted.



Buy or collect only what you’ll need, and use it all up by the end of your stay.



If you have already moved firewood use it immediately.

Do not take it home with you, and do not leave excess firewood on site.