In 1983, in the midst of the last major economic downturn,
Mark Keever found himself out of work.
He had just been laid off from his job at the railroad
and had only a few months’ severance pay to tide him
over while he searched for a new career.
“I thought, ‘What in the world am I going to do
now?’” he says. “And I looked around and I said, ‘Look
at all these fireplaces around town.’ It seemed like one in
every five houses had a fireplace.”
On that hunch, Keever decided to use what little
money he had to purchase equipment and launch a oneman
chimney cleaning business. Unfortunately, it didn’t
work out quite as planned.
“By the time I got everything geared up and raring to
go, I pretty much missed the first season. So the business
was going nowhere fast,” he says.
With just a few customers, Keever was forced to put
his business on the back burner and take a job in the City
of Glendale’s street maintenance division.
Still, for the next two decades, on nights, weekends
and holidays Keever cleaned chimneys.
That is until earlier this year, when Keever, now 56,
found himself facing another potential layoff as the City
of Glendale tackled its budget deficit.
Unlike 25 years ago, the current economic crisis may
help Keever finally accomplish his dream. He decided to
accept a buyout from the city and focus completely on
his business, which is now 2,100 customers strong.
And while chimney sweeping may be considered an
odd job, especially here in the Valley of the Sun, Keever is
truly an inspiring example of how hard work, persistence
and dedication can accomplish any goal.
“It started with a huge dream. When I started I had
nothing but dollar signs in my eyes and a vision of glory
to start a new business,” he says. “Instead, I just had to go
one customer at a time and build my clientele. And after
25 years, now I can finally do it full time.”
AGE: 56)
COMPANY:Adirondack Chimney Sweep
YEARS IN BUSINESS: 25
TRAINING: Keever learned the trade in
high school while living in upstate New
York. “In our high school shop class we
had an old wood-burning stove in the
shop, and each of us had to take that
thing apart and clean it with the intention
of learning how to clean your own
fireplace.”
EQUIPMENT: Truck”
EQUIPMENT: Truck, four ladders, brushes,
hand tools and a specially designed
vacuum that is used to control the soot
and dust from getting inside the house.”
PROCESS: First Keever seals the inside
of the fireplace with plastic. Then he
climbs onto the roof and proceeds to
scrub down the chimney from the top
down, using brushes and extendable
poles. Finally, he goes back inside the
house and vacuums out all the dirt
and soot.
WHY CLEAN REGULARLY: As the wood burns
in the fireplace, sparks will jump up and
stick to the inside of the chimney. A fireplace
that has build-up of creosote and
soot is dangerous and a major source of
chimney fires.
WHEN TO CLEAN: Spring is the best time to
clean your fireplace. In the winter there
is often a waiting list. “The best time to
do it is when you’re not thinking about
your fireplace. There are 600,000 fireplaces
in Maricopa County and only 10 to
15 chimney sweeps, maybe. And a good
chimney sweep can only do a couple a
day because it’s so time consuming.””
HOURS: It takes two to three hours to
clean a fireplace. With Arizona’s mild
burning season, fireplaces only need to
be cleaned every three to seven years.
DANGERS: “There is some risk involved.
The biggest thing for me would be climbing.”
Many of the fireplaces in the Valley
are built to be aesthetically pleasing, but
not easy to stand near while cleaning,
and there is a risk of falling.
DELIGHTS: “The work itself is hot, dirty
work; there’s no two ways around it. I’ll
go home at night and I’m filthy, filthy
dirty. But the most positive part would
be some of the homes I’m in. A lot of
people are not privy to be in these
multi-million dollar houses. I’m in the
most beautiful homes you can imagine,
and I meet the greatest people in the
world.”
