Gas fireplace service
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repairLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Why Wichita Falls Homeowners Choose Gelco Chimney Cleaning
We provide independent Gelco chimney cleaning service in Wichita Falls, built around the way Gelco liner systems are actually put together. That means we evaluate the liner, top plate, tee and appliance connection on their construction rather than on a brand badge, then sweep, repair or reseal exactly what the inspection shows. Lionheart Chimney Sweep is an independent service provider. We aren’t affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by Gelco, and we don’t sell their products.
Gelco built its name on stainless-steel flexible relining and insulated chimney systems, which is why an independent sweep who works on them regularly can spot the difference between a genuine Gelco component and a mismatched aftermarket substitute at the connector or the top plate. Homeowners across Wichita Falls, from the older pre-war blocks near downtown to the mid-century brick ranches out toward the edges of town, have Gelco-lined flues that need real evaluation rather than a quick brush-and-go. Our technicians have up to 15 years of experience with this kind of work.
One call covers the chimney and the dryer vent, and every visit starts with a Level 2 inspection when the system calls for it. Call (855) 705-9859. We answer 24/7, with fast dispatch from 7am to 7pm.
Why Trust Lionheart Chimney Sweep for Your Gelco Chimney Cleaning?
We know Gelco liner, tee, top-plate and cap assemblies well enough to tell you which part failed and why. On a masonry chimney with a Gelco stainless flexible liner kit, the answer is rarely “the whole liner is shot.” More often it’s a top plate that lost its seal, a tee snout that corroded where condensate pooled, or a cap that was never fitted with a storm collar. Those are component problems, and they get component fixes.
When a Gelco system needs parts, we use genuine Gelco liner, tee, top-plate and cap components wherever the existing system is being repaired. Mixing brands at the connector and the top plate is where most leaks and draft problems start, and it’s also where warranties tend to go sideways. So we keep the brand consistent through the repair and document what we found and what we changed with a camera inspection and photo report you can look at yourself.
We install and service these systems with quality parts that fit them. We aren’t a Gelco dealer and we don’t claim factory certification. What we bring is applicator-level familiarity with professional-grade materials, including DuraFlex flexible liner systems and HeatShield flue resurfacing, plus the willingness to say plainly when a component can safely wait. That’s the Lionheart standard on every Gelco job in Wichita Falls.
Styles & brands we work with
- Sweep & inspection
- Caps & crowns
- Flue relining
- Masonry repair
- Gas fireplace service
Common Gelco Chimney Cleaning Problems We Fix in Wichita Falls
Gelco systems fail in recognizable ways, and most of what we find in this part of Texas traces back to installation detail, sizing or our seasonal swing from idle summers to hard winter burning. Here are the five we see most.
- Compressed or sagging insulated liner wraps. Insulated Gelco liner wraps can compress or sag at offsets after years of heat cycling, and once the insulation thins out, clearance to combustibles drops below what the flue was designed for. It’s slow and invisible from the firebox, which is exactly why a camera inspection matters.
- Top plates and caps sealed with the wrong caulk, or no storm collar at all. A top plate is the liner’s only defense against rain and meltwater, and a marginal bead of the wrong caulk fails within a couple of seasons. Water then tracks down the liner, shows up as rust at the damper, and rots the crown from underneath.
- Loose or corroded connectors at the appliance. Insert boots and tee snouts pull loose or corrode where creosote and condensate collect. The symptom is smoke spillage on cold starts or a faint creosote smell in the room. A connector that isn’t sealed tight is also a path for carbon monoxide back into the house.
- Oversized liners that stall the draft. An improperly sized Gelco liner installed larger than the flue needs produces slow draft, heavy creosote glaze and smoke spillage. It looks like a cleaning problem and isn’t. Glazed creosote in a cold, slow flue builds faster than most homeowners expect.
- Freeze-thaw damage around the termination. Wichita Falls gets hard winter ice storms and freezes on top of hot, dry summers, and that swing works on masonry crowns and mortar joints. Once a crown cracks, water reaches the top plate and the whole assembly starts taking on moisture it wasn’t built to handle.
A blocked or cracked flue doesn’t warn you before it becomes dangerous. When we find one of these, we show you the camera footage and explain what it means for your next fire.
Gelco Parts & Our Repair-vs-Replace Approach
When a Gelco system needs work, we use genuine Gelco liner, tee, top-plate and cap components where the existing system is being repaired. Keeping the brand consistent at the connector and the top plate is where leaks and draft problems get avoided, and it’s how the repair stays warranty-safe. We don’t stock or warehouse parts, and we don’t claim to. We source the right components for your system through professional trade suppliers.
The repair-or-replace call comes down to the liner structure itself. Where a Gelco liner is sound but the appliance connection or cap is failing, we repair those components rather than push a reline. When the liner is corroded through or crushed at an offset, replacement is the honest answer, and we’ll tell you so with the camera evidence in front of you. Nothing gets recommended without it.
If you’re not sure which side of that line you’re on, call us and we’ll look. Call (855) 705-9859 for a free estimate.
Our Gelco Service Process – Step by Step
- 1
Diagnosis. We start with a Level 2 inspection and run a camera through the full flue, checking the Gelco liner for wrap compression at offsets, the top plate seal and storm collar, the tee or insert boot, and the size of the liner against the appliance. You see the footage as we go.
- 2
Cleaning or repair. If the system is sound, we remove creosote with poly or rotary tooling appropriate to a stainless liner. Glaze gets treated as glaze, not scrubbed and left. If a component has failed, we install the correct Gelco liner, tee, top-plate or cap part for that system.
- 3
Test. We reseal the top plate to the crown, fit the storm collar and cap, then test draft and check for smoke spillage and water entry points. A flue that drafts poorly after a cleaning has a real cause, and we don’t leave until we’ve identified it.
- 4
Documentation. You get a photo report of what we found and what we changed. If part of the system is fine and can wait, the report says so, and it names what to watch before the next burning season.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterGelco Products We Service & Install in Wichita Falls
We handle the Gelco system components that actually fail: stainless flexible liner kits, both single-wall and insulated, and the rigid relining sections and tees that make up the flue path. We service and install top-plate and multi-flue cap assemblies, and we look closely at fireplace insert liner connections, since that’s where smoke spillage and corrosion usually start.
Creosote removal, cap replacement and Level 2 inspection are the three services this page’s Gelco work leans on most. In Wichita Falls, chimneys sit idle through hot summers and then get burned hard in winter cold snaps, so the annual sweep-and-inspect rhythm matters more here than in a mild climate. We can also work with your insurer on documentation if a claim comes into it.
We Also Service These Brands
We’re deliberately not a single-brand shop. Alongside Gelco, we install DuraFlex stainless flexible liner systems and do HeatShield ceramic flue resurfacing for deteriorated tile liners, both professional-tier materials rather than hardware-store alternatives. Our technicians work on the full flue path, from the firebox cap to the exterior termination, using Olympia Chimney, Copperfield and Famco components. That means your Gelco system gets evaluated on its merits and the fix gets done with the right part, not the nearest one.
FAQs – Gelco Chimney Cleaning Service in Wichita Falls
Yes, it does. A Gelco stainless liner gets swept with poly or rotary tooling chosen for stainless, not the heavy chain some masons use on bare clay tile. The liner also has to be inspected for wrap compression at offsets and for a top-plate seal that’s still intact, so the sweep and the inspection are one visit, not two.
Smoke after a cleaning almost always points to a sizing or sealing problem, not leftover soot. An oversized Gelco liner gives slow draft that can’t carry smoke, and a top plate that lost its seal lets in moisture that cools the flue further. Glazed creosote on a slow-drafting liner makes it worse. A camera inspection shows which one it is.
Usually, yes. If the liner itself is sound, the top plate and cap can be resealed or replaced on their own, and that’s the honest fix. On inspection the usual finding is a Gelco top plate that was never sealed to the crown, plus glazed creosote on an undersized liner, so the draft stalls and moisture runs back down the flue. Resealing the top plate and cap, after a proper sweep with tooling appropriate to stainless, lets the liner draft and shed water as designed. It’s the component work, not a full reline.
Not automatically. Glaze is a sign the draft is slow or the wood is burning cool, and it can often be removed and the underlying cause corrected. It becomes serious when the liner is also corroded or crushed. We measure rather than guess, and we tell you when it can safely wait. Call (855) 705-9859 for an exact quote on a sweep and inspection, free estimates.
No. We’re an independent service provider, not a Gelco dealer and not affiliated with or authorized by the manufacturer. We service and install these systems with quality parts that fit them, and we use genuine Gelco components where a system is being repaired and brand consistency matters.
Cleaning is priced per job by written estimate, and the estimate is free. The number depends on creosote volume, whether the liner is easy to access, and whether a Level 2 camera inspection is needed because of a known problem. Glazed creosote on a stainless liner adds time. Call (855) 705-9859 for an exact quote, free estimates.
Book Your Gelco Service in Wichita Falls, TX
Wichita Falls is on the edge of the Texas Rolling Plains, where ice storms regularly take the power out and wood heat becomes the backup plan. That makes a Gelco system you trust a genuine storm-season safety issue. Call (855) 705-9859. We answer 24/7. Fast dispatch from 7am to 7pm, Sunday through Friday.
Written by the team at Lionheart Chimney Sweep.