How this site is researched, written and corrected
Three rules produce nearly everything on this site. A page exists only if it owns a question somebody asks; that is why there are twelve guides, not fifty, and why several obvious-looking pages were not built. Where a fact changes, a permit threshold, an incentive amount, an insurer's practice, the page names the body that owns the current answer instead of reproducing a figure that will quietly expire. And nothing is asserted that we cannot support: no quotes for work performed by an independent company, no fabricated reviews or ratings, no invented certifications, no claims about a competitor beyond identifying them by name, and no photographs of jobs we did not do. Those constraints are what let the rest of the writing be direct instead of hedged, and they are enforced by checks that run on every build, not by good intentions.
What earns a page
A distinct question with real demand behind it. If a subject is a section of an existing page, it becomes a section. Pages that differ only by a swapped noun, the same text with a different town name, are the reason a great deal of local-service content reads as filler, and this site is built specifically to avoid producing them. Similarity between pages is measured on every build instead of assumed.
How facts are handled
Technical statements about how chimneys, deposits, draft and appliances behave describe established practice in the trade. Statements about authority, who issues a permit, which utility serves an area, what an inspection level covers, are checked against the body that owns them, and that body is linked so you can check it yourself. Where a number moves during a year, the page names the source, not the number.
What is intentionally absent
Prices, because the work is quoted by an independent company and any figure here would be invented. Reviews, ratings and testimonials, since we have none that are ours. Named authors and credentials we do not hold. Photographs of work we did not perform. An address or a phone number that does not correspond to something real. Each of those is a small fabrication that would undermine everything else on the site.
How competitors are treated
By name only, for identification. A competitor’s address, founding year, ownership, service menu or history is left to that company to state, because those are assertions about someone else’s business that we have no standing to make and no way to keep current. Naming a manufacturer or a company implies no affiliation or endorsement in either direction.
What a review date means
It says when someone last checked the page’s factual claims. It does not promise nothing has changed since. Sitemap dates come from a content hash of the page body, so a page that has not changed keeps its old date across any number of deployments. A sitemap where everything is dated today is ignored, and rightly.
Corrections
Report anything wrong through the contact form, naming the page and the issue. A safety-relevant error is fixed immediately. A factual error changes the page and its review date. Where an error turns out to be a class instead of an instance, it becomes a check that runs on every build, so the same mistake cannot return quietly on a different page.
How tools are used in writing
Research, drafting and quality checking may use software. A page ships only if it owns a distinct question, passes the duplication, similarity and link checks, and keeps its safety limits and source links intact. No tool output is treated as evidence about local conditions, about a specific chimney, or about work anybody has done.
What gets published, and what does not
The absences are intentional and each one has a reason. Publishing any of the right-hand column would undermine everything in the left.
| Published | Not published | Why |
|---|---|---|
| What changes a price | Prices | The work is quoted by an independent company; a figure here would be invented |
| How to verify a credential | Our own certifications | We hold none; a claimed credential nobody can check adds no trust |
| What to ask a contractor | Reviews, ratings, testimonials | We have none that are ours |
| Original diagrams | Photographs of completed work | It is not our work to photograph |
| A competitor's name, for identification | Facts about a competitor | We cannot verify or keep them current |
| The authority that owns an answer | Figures that change during a year | A stale number is worse than a pointer |
| A review date | A promise nothing has changed | The date says when someone looked, and no more |
| A contact form | An email address or phone number | There is no staffed line, and a published address invites abuse |
Common questions about editorial standards
What do chimney sweeping, inspection and repair cost?+
Published 2026 guides list sweeping near $254 on average, cap replacement at $200 to $850 and crown repair at $300 to $2,200. Your quote comes from the independent company that inspects the property.
Why are there no reviews or ratings?+
Because we have none that are ours. Fabricated or borrowed social proof is the most common trust defect on local-service sites, and the absence is intentional, not an oversight.
Who writes the content?+
Produced and maintained by the site's operator instead of attributed to an invented named expert with credentials nobody can verify. A byline that cannot be checked adds no trust.
How do you check what you publish?+
Statements about authority are checked against the organisation that owns them and linked. Duplication, page similarity and link integrity are measured mechanically on every build, not reviewed by eye.
What happens if I find an error?+
Report it through the form with the page and the issue. Safety-relevant errors are fixed immediately; factual errors change the page and its review date; recurring error classes become checks.
Why name a source instead of giving the figure?+
Because incentive amounts, permit thresholds and insurer practice change during a year, and a figure here would go stale with nothing on the page to say so. Naming the authority stays true.
Do you write about competitors?+
By name only, for identification. We publish no assertions about another company's address, history, ownership or services, since we have no standing to make them and no way to keep them current.
Is AI used to write this?+
Software may be used for research, drafting and checking. What decides whether a page ships is whether it owns a distinct question and passes the mechanical checks, and no tool output is treated as evidence about a specific chimney.
How current is the site?+
Each guide carries a review date, and sitemap dates come from a content hash so they only move when a page's body changes. A sitemap where everything is dated today gets ignored by search engines.
Why do some pages say 'we do not know'?+
Because sometimes that is the accurate answer. Whether a specific chimney is sound, what a job will cost, whether a model qualifies for a programme. Hedged confidence is worse than a plain statement of the limit.
Do you publish everything you find?+
No. A page has to help a real decision. Content that exists to occupy a keyword instead of to answer a question is the thing this standard was written to prevent.
Can I reuse this content?+
Read, print and share pages for your own use. Republishing them as your own or using them to populate a competing service needs permission: the terms page covers it.