Chimney Sweep:

 In our cabin in Colorado I cleaned the chimney myself  but we decided here in N. Carolina to have someone else do it. We hired a sweep (Jake) who did a wonderful job and our chimney is now far more functional. From the look of it the chimney had never been cleaned. We knew the chimney needed cleaning because the draft was very poor and when we opened the stove door smoke came out. 

It was no wonder as the chimney was extremely full of soot and creosote as were the pipes to the chimney. It was a wonder that any smoke at all made its way up the chimney. 

I showed Jake the photos of myself cleaning our chimney in Colorado and he said he would have had to decline that job. It does look dangerous but I did it for 26 years and never considered it that dangerous. the view was sensational from up there.