Chimney sweep in Maskavas forštate - tiled stoves in 19th-century wooden houses

A historic suburb where people heat with wood

Maskavas forštate is a historical name; in the official division it is part of the Latgale neighbourhood. The neighbourhoods portal says that mostly wooden buildings built in the 19th century have survived here, and they are part of Riga's wooden building collection in the Latvian Cultural Canon. The south-eastern part of the neighbourhood also has Soviet-era apartment buildings.

The Riga air quality action programme 2026–2030 names Latgale among the residential neighbourhoods where individual heating solutions are used. The programme also says that district heating dominates in the Latgale neighbourhood as a whole, but attention must be paid to buildings with individual heating. Put simply: the apartment blocks have no chimney, but in the wooden houses with stoves it is the main part of the heating.

One chimney, several flues and several flats

In a typical two-storey wooden house with several flats, one masonry chimney may carry several flues: from the tiled stoves in the rooms and the wood-burning cookers in the kitchens. Each flue must be cleaned separately, and the certificate must state which flat and which appliance it comes from. If smoke from two appliances goes into one flue or a flue has been bricked up, we note it.

Because a house with two or more flats counts as an apartment building under the regulations, a certificate is needed after every cleaning, even if the flat has only one stove. In the certificate each flat's flue must be described separately. More: chimney sweep for apartment buildings.

Tiled stove and wood-burning cooker: how we clean

1. From the roof We clean the chimney flue with a brush and weight or with flexible rods. Before that we make sure there are no birds' nests or wedged bricks in the flue.
2. Stove doors A tiled stove has several turns where soot settles. We clean them through the cleaning doors and close them again so that the doors seal tightly.
3. Cooker In a wood-burning cooker we clean the flue channels under the hob and the connection to the chimney. This is where most soot builds up if the cooker is used every day.
4. Inspection and certificate We inspect the chimney in the attic: cracks, crumbled joints, timber beams too close. In the certificate we record what we found and whether the appliance may be used.

More about tiled stoves: tiled stove cleaning.

Gas or electric heating instead of a stove: what Riga requires

Riga binding regulations No. RD-24-260-sn on heat supply set out which heating may be chosen in each of the three zones. In the first zone, new solid-fuel and gas appliances are banned; in the second zone, new solid-fuel appliances. An existing appliance in a flat may be replaced with a new ecodesign appliance of up to 50 kW if the fuel stays the same. The zoning map on the page of the municipal Heat Supply Commission shows which zone your building is in.

If you plan to replace an appliance in a flat, a certificate on the technical condition of the existing appliance, the flues and the natural ventilation ducts must be submitted to the commission. We prepare this certificate. If a gas boiler goes in instead of a stove, the old brick channel almost always needs a liner: liner for a gas boiler.

Riga's air quality programme also plans a pilot project in which the municipality would pay for the servicing of heating appliances in zones I and II, with priority for low-income households. As of 04.11.2026 it has not been launched, and no amount has been named.

Courtyards, the market and the railway: access

In Maskavas forštate many houses stand deep inside courtyards, reached through a gate or a narrow yard. Maskavas iela and the Central Market, as well as the nearby railway, mean heavy traffic and few parking spaces. Write where a car can be parked and whether the gate has a code. If the roof has no hatch, write how the chimney has been reached until now: from the attic, by an external ladder or from the neighbour's roof.

What a chimney sweep costs in Maskavas forštate

Cleaning a tiled stove, wood-burning cooker or other flue with a certificate costs from €100, usually €100–130, and the call-out is included. If several flues in one building need cleaning, write that in the form. For a technical condition certificate for replacing an appliance, we quote the price based on the number of flues and access. All prices: prices.