630-553-5995


Valley Chimney Sweep & Restoration www.valleychimney.com


People who have seen Dick Van Dyke’s portrayal in Mary Poppins may envision a chimney sweep as someone who


climbs up on a roof with ropes and metal balls and brooms and maybe a small child to send down the chimney. But those days are long gone, according to Yorkville resident Derek Dearborn, owner of Valley Chimney Sweep & Restoration. “Now most chimneys are cleaned from the inside up. It’s


less physical,” Derek explains. “We use electronic drills and rods. You get a better clean.” Derek says home inspectors are supposed to look at fireplace


chimneys whenever a home changes ownership. Tere have been instances, he says, when they have saved people from having a fire because of a blocked chimney. Derek’s father Terry, with the help of his wife Wendy, began


Derek Dearborn checks out a fireplace stove for a local homeowner. Photo by Paul E. Burd Photography


the chimney sweep business in 1978 while Terry was still an engineer on the Chicago-Northwestern Railroad. “He read an article in Mother Earth News about an increase


in fires because people with wood-burning fireplaces weren’t cleaning them out,” Derek says.


Terry also helped start the Chimney Safety Institute of America and is now the longest certified sweep in America, and his wife Wendy is number 2. Te Institute certification includes a written test on procedures and codes. Derek says Terry quit the railroad in 1980, and Derek,


then age 10, would occasionally help out with the business on weekends. “So I grew up in it,” Derek says. Derek became the owner in 2014, with six employees, but his father, though somewhat retired, still does some work and his mother still answers the phone. Te business has expanded to include all of the


southwestern suburbs, including Yorkville, Naperville, Aurora, St. Charles, Wheaton and Morris. Derek says in addition to cleaning, they do a lot of masonry repairs, rebuilding and restoration. And they have met Dick Van Dyke. “He comes to our conventions,” Derek says.


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