Chimney sweep in Torņakalns - stoves in historic wooden and brick houses

There is a heating network, but heating is often individual

The Riga air quality action programme 2026–2030 names Torņakalns among the neighbourhoods where individual heating is mostly used, even though district heating is available across most of the area. The programme counted this by the number of buildings, not by the number of flats or residents. That matches the buildings: many small wooden and brick houses, each with its own chimney.

Wooden buildings in Pārdaugava go back a long way: already in 1819 there were about a thousand wooden houses here (apkaimes.lv). Some of the historic houses in Torņakalns still have tiled stoves and wood-burning cookers, in others a gas or pellet boiler has already replaced the stove, but the chimney is still the old one.

Tiled stoves and wood-burning cookers

A masonry stove that stores heat for a long time must be cleaned once a year, by 1 November. We clean not only the chimney from the roof but also the stove's internal flue channels: we open the cleaning doors, remove the soot and check whether the channels have collapsed. For a wood-burning cooker we also clean the channels under the hob, where soot builds up fastest.

In old houses one chimney often serves several stoves, each with its own channel. The price is per flue, so during the inspection we count the channels and describe each one separately in the certificate. About the work: tiled stove cleaning and stove and fireplace cleaning.

A wooden house and an old chimney

In a wooden house the condition of the chimney matters more than in a brick house, because wooden beams, ceilings and roof structures are right next to it. The building code requires combustible structures to be at least 300 mm from the flue. In the attic we check whether the beams touch the chimney, whether the mortar joints have crumbled and whether there are dark patches on the masonry showing that smoke is pushing through.

Using a damaged flue is forbidden. If we find a crack, we write in the certificate that no fires may be lit until it is fixed. We quote the repair separately and do it only after you agree: chimney repair.

A boiler instead of a stove: what must be checked

When a gas or pellet boiler replaces a stove, the old channel is often too wide and too cool. The smoke cools in it and condensation forms, which slowly damages the bricks and mortar. So before the new boiler is connected you need a certificate on whether the appliance may be connected to this flue, and quite often a liner has to be fitted in the channel.

1. Inspection and cleaning We clean the channel, measure the cross-section and height and, if needed, look at it with a camera.
2. Certificate on connection In the certificate we write whether the new boiler can be connected to the existing flue and on what conditions.
3. A liner, if needed For a condensing boiler or a pellet boiler we offer a suitable liner and, if needed, insulation.

More: chimney lining and camera inspection.

The Riga rules if you replace a heating appliance

The Riga rules divide the city into three heating zones. In zone I installing new solid-fuel and gas appliances is forbidden, in zone II new solid-fuel appliances are forbidden, wood-burning ones included. In all zones an existing appliance in a private house or flat may be replaced with a new ecodesign appliance of up to 50 kW, if the fuel does not change. From 1 January 2031 new fossil-fuel appliances may not be installed in any zone.

Check which zone your house is in on the zoning map on the page of the municipal Heat Supply Commission. When you change the type of heating, you need the commission's approval, and the new appliance must be registered with the Riga Energy Agency.

Access and price

Torņakalns has the railway and the Mārupīte stream, and there is construction work on the large development sites, so some houses can only be reached by a detour. The main roads are Vienības gatve and Jelgavas iela. In your request, tell us where a car can be parked and how to get onto the roof or into the attic.

Flue cleaning with a certificate costs from €100, usually €100–130, with the call-out included. Cleaning a stove's flue channels is also from €100. A certificate on connecting a boiler, chimney lining and repairs are priced for your situation: the price depends on the length and diameter of the channel, roof access and materials. All prices: prices.