Ventilation duct cleaning in Ķengarags - buildings of five housing estates

An honest look at Ķengarags: few flues, plenty of ventilation

The neighbourhoods portal describes Ķengarags as a distinctly multi-storey residential area: residential buildings take up 42.7% of the area, divided into five housing estates. In Riga more than 80% of households get their heat from an external supplier, and multi-storey buildings are usually connected to the heating network. So a chimney sweep usually has nothing to clean in a flat unless there are gas appliances. If someone tells you a chimney in your flat must be cleaned, ask which one exactly.

Ventilation ducts, however, are in every building, and the fire safety regulations set intervals for them. Natural ventilation ducts in an apartment building are cleaned and checked at least once every 10 years. In rooms with a gas heating appliance, gas cooker or gas water heater, the interval is once every five years.

Who is responsible for what

The Residential Property Management Law counts compliance with fire safety requirements among the compulsory management tasks. So ask the building manager about the ventilation check first; if it has not been done on time, you can raise it at the general meeting of flat owners.

What we find in the ducts of Soviet-era buildings

• A kitchen cooker hood with a fan connected to the natural ventilation duct, pushing air into the neighbours' flats.
• Grilles that have been painted over, taped up or hidden behind furniture.
• A duct partly built over or narrowed during a flat renovation.
• Dust, grease and building debris in the bends of the duct, birds' nests at the duct top on the roof.

We start the check by measuring the draught at each grille. If a duct does not draw, we use a camera to find where it is blocked and clean it from the roof. In the certificate we note the ducts where the problem cannot be fixed without the flat owner's involvement.

Gas appliances in flats

If a flat has a gas cooker or a gas water heater, the ventilation duct interval shortens to five years, and the water heater's flue must be checked and cleaned: brick once a year, metal once every two years. When you replace a gas appliance in a flat, Riga's regulations require an inspection certificate on the technical condition of the existing appliance, the flues and the natural ventilation ducts.

On the 2025 zoning map, Ķengarags is in heat supply zone III. Replacement with a new ecodesign appliance of up to 50 kW using the same fuel is allowed in all zones, and the appliance must be registered with the Riga Energy Agency.

Pre-war houses and private houses in Ķengarags

Between the housing estates, fragments of pre-war housing and a few private houses have survived. They may have wood stoves, boilers and brick chimneys with the usual deadlines: cleaning by 1 November, and once more in winter for boilers and metal stoves. Chimney cleaning for such flues costs from €100 with a certificate.

Services in Ķengarags

• Ventilation duct cleaning: price based on the number of ducts and roof access.
• Ventilation check in an apartment building with certificates for the building manager.
• Chimney check for a gas boiler or water heater before replacement: priced for your situation.
• Camera inspection for a blocked duct: priced for your situation.

Maskavas iela, the tram and the railway lead from Ķengarags to the centre, but between the promenade, the railway and the main road the route to a particular building can be longer than it looks on the map. In the request, give the house number and block.