Oakland County
Chimney sweep, inspection and repair in Clawson
Clawson has 1920s houses near Main Street, including catalog kit homes, and a lot of brick bungalows and ranches from the building boom after World War II.
Kit houses from the 1920s
Clawson became a village in 1920, and a lot of its oldest houses came from catalogs. The Clawson Historical Museum has identified kit houses from Aladdin and from Montgomery Ward's Wardway line on streets like Broadacre, Selfridge, John M and Fisher Court. The kits shipped the lumber and millwork, and a local mason built the chimney on site. On some of these houses the museum found the chimney isn't where the catalog drawing put it.
A chimney that's close to a hundred years old usually needs attention first at the crown and the top few courses of brick. Clay flue tiles from that era can also crack without anything showing outside.
After the war
Clawson became a city in 1940, and by 1949, 500 new homes had been built. Building kept going through the 1950s and 1960s. Most of those houses are brick bungalows and ranches, and the typical one has a single chimney carrying the fireplace flue and a flue for the furnace or water heater.
When the furnace gets replaced with one that vents out the side wall, the water heater can end up alone in a flue sized for both. Our guide to a water heater in an old chimney explains why that's worth checking.
Loose brick and cracked joints
On chimneys this age, we see corner bricks pushed out of line, cracked mortar joints and crowns that have split. We show you what we found and quote the smallest repair that will fix it, whether that's tuckpointing the joints or rebuilding the crown.
Seeing inside the flue
Most Clawson chimneys of this age were built with clay flue tiles, and you can't see a crack or an open joint from the roof. Add a camera to your inspection for $75 and you'll see the inside of the flue for yourself.
Buying a house in Clawson
A lot of Clawson houses sell with the original chimney, and a seller may not know what shape the flue is in. A Level 2 inspection covers the chimney in the attic and basement and puts a camera through every flue, so the buyer and the seller see the same thing. If the listing says it's a kit house, the chimney was still built by hand on site, and it gets inspected like any other brick chimney.
Getting to you
We work across Clawson on Main Street, 14 Mile, Crooks and Rochester Road, and pair visits with Royal Oak and Troy. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.
Clawson and the cities around it
We work across Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
Every area we serveServices in Clawson
Chimney cleaning
We sweep the chimney and inspect it on the same visit, then clean up before we leave.
$349
Chimney inspection
We inspect the chimney inside and out and walk you through what we found, in plain language.
$49
Level 2 chimney inspection
For home sales and system changes: the attic, basement and crawl spaces, and a camera through the flue.
$149
Questions
We think our Clawson house is a 1920s kit house. Does that change anything for the chimney?
Not much. The kits from Aladdin, Wardway and others shipped the lumber, and a local mason built the chimney on site, so it's a brick chimney like any other from that decade. At close to a hundred years old, we look hardest at the crown, the top courses of brick and the clay flue tiles, which can crack without anything showing outside.
Do you offer same-day service?
Same-Day Availability When Schedule Allows. Call (248) 266-9991 and we'll tell you what we can do today.
Book a chimney visit in Clawson
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.