Chimney sweep, inspection and repair in Farmington

The historic district

The Farmington Historic District is the triangle bounded by Shiawassee, Warner Street and Grand River, listed on the National Register in 1976. It has the city's densest group of houses built before 1900, many of them Greek Revival farmhouses and Victorian houses, with the Governor Warner Mansion from 1867 among them.

Houses that old have usually had their chimneys worked on more than once. Some have been rebuilt above the roof in a different brick, and some have a fireplace that hasn't been used in decades. Before anyone lights a fire in one of these, we'd want to see the inside of the flue. A cleaning and inspection with the $75 camera add-on shows it to you.

Postwar ranches

Farmington grew fast after World War II, and a lot of the city is one-story ranches from the 1940s and 1950s. Warner Farm, south of Grand River and east of Farmington Road, is a whole subdivision of them, about 230 houses within walking distance of downtown. Many of these ranches have a chimney on the side or in the middle of the roof, and most are on their second or third roof by now, which means the flashing has been redone more than once.

These ranches usually have one brick chimney with the fireplace flue and a second flue for the furnace or water heater. After seventy years, the crown and the flashing take the most weather. If the brick near the top has white stains or is flaking, our guide to white stains and crumbling chimney brick explains what's going on.

Repairs on older brick

A patch in the wrong brick stands out on a house from the 1800s. When a chimney near downtown needs masonry repair, we match the brick and the mortar color to what's already there, and we tell you what can be repaired before we talk about rebuilding.

Buying an older house

A Farmington chimney that's been changed over a hundred years can hide a lot. A Level 2 inspection covers the chimney in the attic and basement and puts a camera through every flue, so you know what you're buying.

A cleaning before winter

If you use the fireplace, book a cleaning and inspection before the first cold weekend. We sweep the flue and look over the whole chimney on the same visit. In a house near downtown where nobody knows when the chimney was last swept, start there.

Getting to you

We work across Farmington on Grand River, Farmington Road, Orchard Lake Road, Shiawassee, Nine Mile and Ten Mile, and pair visits with Farmington Hills, which surrounds the city, and Livonia. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.