Chimney sweep Michael Elliott monkeys around the Oval Office
For chimney sweeps to clean the fireplace flues at the White House, that’s like an athlete competing in the Olympics or a musician given the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Local soot man Michael Elliott of Central New England Chimney Sweeps likened it to “Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest.”
Last week, Elliott and seven other professional sweeps from around the country were selected to clean more than 30 fireplaces in the famous D.C. residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Elliott was selected for the job by the National Chimney Sweep Guild. But he nearly missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On Memorial Day weekend, while cycling around the Quabbin Reservoir in New Salem, he got into a really bad accident.
“I went over the handlebars,” he says. “I smashed my scapula in eight places. I have a bunch of screws and metal in there. It was a real downer. I thought I blew it. I didn’t think I was going to get it together in time to go to Washington.”
Doctors told him he would not be ready to go back to work until September. But Elliott was determined to climb this mountain and worked his tail off to get back into shape.
“The Wednesday before I was to go, my doctor said they had OK’d me to work,” he says.
The crew chosen to clean the White House doesn’t get paid for the work. It is all done voluntarily. 
“It was a great honor for me to be there,” Elliott says. “And to get to clean the Oval office, which I did, it’s the ultimate fireplace. Going into the Oval Office was like going into the principal’s office times 10. You could just feel the presence of many things in there.”
The cornerstone to the White House — then known as The Executive Mansion until after the Civil War — was laid by then-President George Washington in 1792. The residence was destroyed in a fire set by the invading British in the War of 1812, and the building was gutted — only the four walls remained standing — for a complete restoration during the Truman Administration in 1948. Still, the essence of the original James Hoban design was retained, reflecting a time when fireplaces provided a necessary heat source.
“We cleaned a total of 38 fireplaces,” Elliott says. “We started in the mansion and we did the second floor. I think there were half a dozen that we didn’t have access to because of meetings.”
The crew was allowed into The West Wing, The Cabinet Room, The Vice President’s Room and The Roosevelt Room, as well as The Oval Office. Elliott says members of the Administration were going about their official business while he worked on the chimneys on the second floor.
“We were in places that nobody has access to,” he says. “I was in George Bush’s bedroom and Laura’s office. To see something like that is incredible.”
The National Chimney Sweep Guild took over the job at the White House in 1988. Every other year prospective sweeps are chosen by referral from former team members.
“To get on the team you are basically referred from the guy before you,” Elliott says. “They want someone who is well known within the industry. I’ve been at this since 1989. I’ve been in more than 11,000 homes. They’re looking for someone competent to get in there. That’s how I got on the team.”
After getting his security clearance, Elliott headed to Washington. A chimney sweep from North Carolina brought his van and equipment. “I just brought things like hygiene equipment — tieback suits, gloves and respirators — stuff that I can put in a gym bag on a plane.”
Ellitott says all of the fireplaces in the White House are working ones. “They use them periodically. Some are used more than others. They are actually working on the chimneys now.”
To clean them, each flue is scanned with video equipment to check for cracks and to assess the structural integrity of the chimney.
“You don’t get in the chimney,” he says. “Brushes are slid down. Dampers are removed and then you scrub everything out.”
Elliott says, obviously, it is of the utmost importance to get the job done right.
“First of all, there can never be a chimney fire in the White House. We never want that to happen. That’s why we are there.” o
