Chimney sweep, inspection and repair in Farmington Hills

Two kinds of chimneys

Colonials and ranches from the 1960s and early 1970s usually have a masonry chimney, often brick running up an outside wall. Houses from the late 1970s on are more likely to have a factory-built fireplace inside a framed chase: a wooden box on the side of the house, covered in siding to match, with a metal chase cover on top.

The two need different things, so the first thing an inspection tells you is which kind you have and what it's made of.

Chase covers

The chase covers on those houses were often galvanized steel, and many of them are thirty to forty-plus years old now. Rust stains running down the siding under the cover are the usual first sign.

We measure the chase and replace a rusted cover with one made to fit it, with the cap and the seal done at the same time.

Tri-levels and split-levels

Farmington Hills has plenty of tri-level houses, where the fireplace is often in a lower family room and the chimney runs up past two roof lines. Where a chimney passes a lower roof, the flashing at that roof line is one more place water can get in.

Getting to you

We work up and down Orchard Lake Road, 12 Mile, 14 Mile, Middlebelt and Halsted, and pair Farmington Hills visits with jobs in West Bloomfield, Livonia and Southfield. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window.

Buying a house here

If you're buying a Farmington Hills house with a fireplace, a Level 2 inspection covers the chimney areas in the attic and basement and puts a camera through the flue. That's where the differences between a masonry chimney and a factory-built one show up.