“Allen provided exceptional service — friendly, professional and went above and beyond.”
Verified
Civic is not where you expect to find a working flue — and yet the heritage buildings, the reopened fireplaces in converted floors and a growing list of wood-fired kitchens all have one. FreshDuct sweeps, inspects and repairs them.
Reopened city fireplace or a restaurant wood oven flue? Get it swept and inspected before you light it.
Because Civic reads as a modern centre, people assume it has no chimneys at all. The heritage-listed Sydney and Melbourne Buildings that frame Northbourne Avenue say otherwise: they were built in an era when solid fuel was ordinary, and the flues are still inside those walls. So are the ones in the older civic and commercial fabric behind them. Every fit-out that goes through those tenancies has to make a decision about what to do with a flue nobody has looked up in decades.
The work divides cleanly in two. Conversions regularly reopen a bricked-up fireplace as a feature, and the flue above it has typically collected a century of neglect, a bird nest or two, and a top that was capped carelessly during a re-roof. The other half is hospitality: Civic and the arcades around it carry a real concentration of wood-fired ovens and charcoal grills, and those flues load with grease far faster than any domestic chimney and become a genuine fire risk once the cleaning schedule slips.
FreshDuct handles both. We camera the flue before anything is lit, sweep and degrease properly, repair crowns, caps and flashing at height, and issue a dated photo report — the kind of documentation a strata committee, a landlord or an insurer accepts without argument.
The things we look at first on a Canberra City chimney — based on the local housing and conditions.
The Sydney and Melbourne Buildings and their neighbours are heritage-listed, so visible chimney work has to match the original brick and mortar. We repair sympathetically rather than patching with modern grey cement.
Fireplaces get bricked up, rendered over and reopened again across successive fit-outs. Before a reopened city flue is used we camera the full run and check the termination, because what sits at the top is rarely what the plans show.
City kitchens running wood-fired ovens build grease in the flue far faster than a home fireplace does. We clean to a schedule that suits the volume you actually cook, and document each visit for insurance.
Real photos from FreshDuct chimney jobs. Every job we do is documented with before and after photos.



One team for the whole chimney — from a routine sweep to inspections, repairs and caps.

Contained, mess-free sweep for open fires and wood heaters.
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Visual, camera & drone checks with a full photo report.
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For heavy, baked-on or glazed creosote a sweep cannot shift.
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Leaks, cracks, flashing and masonry put right, with photos.
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Cracked, unlined or failing flues repaired or relined.
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Keep rain, birds and embers out and improve draught.
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A Civic chimney job is as much about access as it is about masonry. Terminations sit on parapets, above trafficked footpaths and alongside neighbouring tenancies. We plan the access first, work contained, and keep the disruption to the building predictable.
Where repointing, a new cap or a crown repair is needed on a heritage frontage, we match the original so the finished chimney still reads as part of the building rather than as a patch.
FreshDuct covers Canberra City and the immediate city fringe 7 days a week — heritage buildings, hotels, restaurants, converted tenancies and residential towers alike.
We are regularly just north in Braddon and Turner, west in O’Connor and across the lake in Kingston, so a city chimney booking can usually be fitted around nearby work and brought forward.
A safe, documented, end-to-end service — every job, every suburb.
Visual, camera or drone inspection of the chimney and flue.
We pinpoint the real cause and explain it clearly.
Only what is needed, done properly and safely.
We confirm clearances, draw and a safe result.
Before & after photos so you see the result.
Site left clean, with honest advice.
Verified 5-star reviews from FreshDuct customers across our duct, heating, cooling and chimney services. These are company-wide reviews, shown with the suburb each customer left them from.
“Allen provided exceptional service — friendly, professional and went above and beyond.”
Verified
“Highly impressed with the professionalism and efficiency. On time, and no mess left behind.”
Verified
“Exceeded my expectations. Knowledgeable, meticulous and respectful of our home.”
Verified
“So glad I chose FreshDuct. Knowledgeable team and the whole process was smooth from start to finish.”
Verified
“Quick, efficient and professional — we could immediately feel the difference.”
Verified
“The technician arrived on time and was incredibly thorough — the difference at home is obvious.”
Verified
We cover Canberra City and the surrounding Canberra suburbs. Explore nearby areas and related FreshDuct services.
Not until the flue above it has been checked. Sealed city flues commonly hide nests, debris, cracked parging and a termination that was capped or rendered over during a re-roof. We camera the full run and tell you honestly whether it is usable, needs a liner, or should stay decorative.
Yes. We degrease and sweep wood-fired oven and grill flues for city kitchens, work around your service hours, and provide a dated photo report for your insurer and food safety records.
Yes. FreshDuct provides chimney sweeping, safety inspections, deep cleaning, repairs, caps and cowls across Canberra City and the surrounding city centre of Canberra, 7 days a week. Call 04 3191 8137 or request a free quote.
A standard chimney sweep starts from $180 and a chimney safety inspection from $99, then quoted to your chimney, its condition and roof access. You get clear pricing up front — call 04 3191 8137.
We run Canberra City and the nearby suburbs 7 days a week and prioritise blockages and smoke problems where a fire cannot be used safely. Call 04 3191 8137 for the soonest available time.
Yes. Every FreshDuct chimney job in Canberra City comes with before and after photos and honest, plain-English advice — so you can see exactly what was done and why.
Sweeping, inspections, repairs and caps — a clean, documented job with photo proof. Available 7 days.
Tell us about your chimney — we respond fast, 7 days.