Chimney repair, inspection and sweep in Allen Park

The west side of Allen Park

Our service area takes in the west side of Allen Park, roughly west of the Southfield Freeway and out to Pelham Road, where the city meets Taylor and Dearborn Heights. If you live east of the freeway, toward Melvindale, Lincoln Park or I-75, call and ask before you book, and we'll tell you whether we can get to you.

Built before 1960

Allen Park became a village in 1927 and a city in 1957. The city's master plan says most of its houses went up before 1960, and the population peaked in 1970 at about 40,700. The oldest subdivisions were platted before 1927. The newest were platted after 1957, the year the new city also took in the part of Ecorse Township north of the old village.

So most chimneys on the west side are somewhere between sixty-five and eighty years old. The usual house is a brick ranch or a Cape Cod, with one brick chimney. That chimney often carries a flue for the fireplace and a second one for the furnace or water heater. An inspection checks both and tells you what each one is connected to.

Cape Cods and the rooms upstairs

A Cape Cod has bedrooms tucked under the roof, and on a lot of them the chimney comes up through the roof right next to one of those rooms. When water gets in at the flashing or the crown, the first stain often shows on a sloped ceiling or a knee wall upstairs, a floor above the fireplace.

People call a roofer for that first, and sometimes the roofer is the right call. Our guide on whether a leak needs a roofer or a chimney company explains how to tell. If you have a stain upstairs near the chimney, mention which room it's in when you book.

Trees near Champaign Park

The city's own plan says Champaign Park is the only park in Allen Park with a real stand of woods. Houses on the streets around it, and anywhere a big maple hangs over the roof, get leaves and twigs on the chimney top every fall. Branches over the roof also give squirrels and raccoons a way up. If your flue has no cap, a stainless cap with a mesh screen keeps them out. If you hear scratching in the fireplace, call before you light a fire.

Crowns and loose corners

On a chimney this age, the crown is usually the first part to crack. Water gets under it, freezes in the top courses and pushes the corner bricks out of line, like the ones in the photo. If the brick under the crown is still tight, we repair or rebuild the crown. If the corners have moved, we take the loose courses down and relay them before the new crown goes on. You see the photos and a written quote before any of it.

Getting to you

We come into west Allen Park on Outer Drive, Allen Road, Ecorse Road, Pelham, Champaign and Southfield Road, and pair visits with jobs in Dearborn Heights, Taylor and west Dearborn. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.