Scraped to bare metal, spark arrestor serviced — by a crew that knows it's solid-fuel.
Wood, charcoal, and pizza-oven exhaust scraped to bare metal — the combined creosote-plus-grease glaze a degreaser won't dissolve — plus the NFPA 96 Chapter 14 spark arrestor and the separate ember-catching filter bank a grease-only crew skips. Chimney-sweep creosote tooling, not a pressure wand.
Who this is for
Wood-fired pizzeria, BBQ/smokehouse, charcoal grill house, wood-oven bakery, steakhouse with a live-fire hearth.
The liability
A solid-fuel exhaust fire is the highest-probability, highest-consequence event in your building, and it's the one your insurer scrutinizes hardest. Hiring a grease-only vendor for a wood-fired line is a documented gap a plaintiff's attorney will find — a charcoal or wood oven throws sparks up the flue and lays down a hard creosote-plus-grease glaze that ignites at lower thresholds than grease alone.
The documentation is the product.
Most commercial hood-cleaning companies are grease-only operations. A solid-fuel cooking flue carries a combined creosote-plus-grease glaze that standard degreasing chemistry does not dissolve, a higher fire load than a grease-only system, and its own NFPA 96 Chapter 14 requirements — including a spark arrestor and a separate ember-catching filter bank. PCE's chimney-sweep DNA is precisely what this work demands: we are creosote specialists who also do grease, which is the rare correct combination for a wood-fired kitchen.
Removing the carbonized creosote-and-grease glaze unique to a wood/charcoal oven exhaust takes the rotary and hand-scraping discipline of a heavy chimney clean, not a grease degreaser's pressure wand. We scrape to bare metal, then service the two components grease kitchens don't have: the spark arrestor that keeps embers off your roof and your neighbor's, and the separate ember-catching grease filter bank that NFPA 96 Chapter 14 requires on solid-fuel systems. Every job carries the same measured, photographed compliance packet, so the file shows the system was serviced by someone who understood it was solid-fuel.
Scope on a solid-fuel restaurant flue engagement
- Creosote-plus-grease glaze removal — rotary and hand-scrape to bare metal, the discipline of a heavy chimney clean, not a degreaser's pressure wand
- NFPA 96 Chapter 14 spark-arrestor service — clean and verify the arrestor that keeps embers off your roof and your neighbor's
- Separate ember-catching filter bank service — the dedicated solid-fuel filter bank grease-only crews skip or don't know exists
- Pizza-oven / wood-oven flue and spark arrestor — the same bare-metal scrape and arrestor service on the oven flue
- Full hood-to-fan grease path — the standard NFPA 96 plenum, duct, and rooftop fan clean on the same system
- Measured, photographed compliance packet — grease-depth baseline + after, before/after photos, signed report showing solid-fuel-correct service
This is a wedge, not a line item: it's the part a grease-only crew either skips or doesn't know exists — and it's the part that starts rooftop fires. PCE closes that gap with the right cleaning method for the right deposit, the Chapter 14 spark-arrestor and ember-screen service, and the same defensible record on every visit, so the file shows the system was serviced by someone who understood it was solid-fuel.
Solid-Fuel Restaurant Flue — commercial FAQ
Our regular hood company cleans our pizza-oven flue too — is that a problem?
Often, yes. Solid-fuel flues build a creosote-and-grease glaze that grease degreasers don't dissolve, and they require a spark arrestor and a separate ember-catch filter bank under NFPA 96 Chapter 14 that grease-only crews routinely skip. If your service report doesn't mention scraping to bare metal and servicing the spark arrestor, you have a documented gap. We close it.
Why is a wood-fired flue more dangerous than a standard grease hood?
Higher fire load and live embers. A charcoal or wood oven throws sparks up the flue and lays down a hard creosote-plus-grease glaze that ignites at lower thresholds than grease alone. That's why the code treats solid-fuel systems separately — and why we bring chimney-sweep creosote tooling to the job, not just a degreaser.
Why can't a standard hood-cleaning company handle our wood-fired line?
Most are grease-only operations — their chemistry and tooling are built for grease, and the combined creosote-plus-grease glaze a solid-fuel flue carries doesn't dissolve for them. They also routinely skip the Chapter 14 spark arrestor and the separate ember-catch filter bank. PCE's chimney-sweep DNA is exactly what this demands: creosote specialists who also do grease, the rare correct combination for a wood-fired kitchen.
One contract. One compliance standard. Every location.
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