Berkley, Oakland County
Chimney inspection in Berkley
In Berkley we inspect two very different kinds of chimney: brick ones on the original bungalows and ranches, and metal flues on the new two-story houses built where older ones came down.
Old house, new house, same street
Berkley's 2021 master plan notes that new houses are going up on existing lots, sometimes replacing older ones, more often than they used to. On plenty of side streets between Greenfield and Woodward you'll see one: a tall two-story house next to a bungalow from the 1940s.
Those two houses need different inspections. The bungalow has a masonry chimney with clay tile flues, and we're looking at the brick, the crown, the flashing and the condition of the tile. The new house usually has a factory-built fireplace with a metal flue inside a framed chase. There we check the cover on top of the chase, the cap, the pipe sections we can see and the fireplace against the maker's instructions.
The flue nobody thinks about
On the original houses, the chimney often carries more than fireplace smoke. The furnace or water heater may vent into a second clay flue. When a high-efficiency furnace goes in, it usually vents out a side wall through plastic pipe, and the water heater is left alone in a flue that was sized for both. We check every flue in the chimney. Our guide to a water heater in an old chimney explains what can go wrong.
Prices
A Level 1 inspection is $49. We check the parts of the chimney and fireplace we can reach without tools, inside and out, and the $49 is credited toward any repair or service we do after it.
A Level 2 is $149. It adds the chimney where it runs through the attic, basement and any crawl space, plus a camera through the flue. People book one when they're buying or selling, after a chimney fire or a storm, or when they change the system, like swapping a furnace. A camera added to a Level 1 is $75. Our guide to chimney inspection levels sets the two side by side.
Before you light the first fire
If you're planning fires this winter and nobody knows when the flue was last cleaned, skip the separate inspection. The chimney sweep and cleaning is $349 and includes an inspection on the same visit. If you're buying, call early in your inspection period. That leaves time to schedule us and, if something turns up, time to get a repair priced before you negotiate.
Questions
We bought a newer house in Berkley with a gas fireplace. Does it need an inspection?
It's worth a look, especially if the manual didn't come with the house. A factory-built gas fireplace vents through a metal pipe inside a framed chase, with a cover and a cap at the top. We check the vent connections we can reach, the top of the chase and whether the cap suits the unit. We don't service gas logs or burners, but we'll tell you if something there needs a gas technician.
Our home inspector wrote 'further evaluation by a chimney professional.' Which inspection do we need?
Usually a Level 2. A general home inspector looks at the fireplace from the room and the chimney from the ground or the edge of the roof. The Level 2 adds the chimney in the attic, basement and crawl space, and a camera through the flue, which is where most of the open questions are. It's $149, and you get photos you can pass to your agent.
Chimney inspection in Berkley
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.