Huntington Woods, Oakland County
Chimney inspection in Huntington Woods
Almost every house in Huntington Woods is single-family brick built between 1920 and 1960, and many still have the chimney and clay flue tiles they were built with. Those tiles are what an inspection here is mostly about.
Brick houses, original flues
The city counts 2,364 homes, and nearly all of them are single-family brick houses built between 1920 and 1960. The original subdivision was laid out with curving streets given English names like York, Hereford and Dundee. On a house that age, the clay tile flue inside the chimney is often the original, and it's the part nobody can see from the yard or the roof.
Why people book an inspection
Buying is a common reason. Houses in Huntington Woods don't come up often, and a general home inspection doesn't get inside the flue. A Level 2 does. If the house has been in the same family's hands for decades, there may be no record of when the flue was last looked at.
Others call because something has changed. A new furnace or water heater can change how the chimney vents, and the flue it used to share may be left with a single appliance it wasn't sized for. Or the fireplace hasn't been used in years and the new owner wants to start. Or a storm brought a limb down near the chimney. After a chimney fire, our guide on what to do after a chimney fire explains the next steps.
Prices
A Level 1 inspection is $49. We look at the fireplace, the flue and the outside of the chimney wherever we can reach without tools. The $49 is credited toward any repair or service we do after it.
A Level 2 is $149. It adds the chimney areas in the attic, basement and crawl space, and a camera through the flue. It's what we recommend for a home sale, a change to the system, or after a fire or a storm. A camera added to a Level 1 is $75. Our guide to chimney inspection levels compares them.
What happens after
You get a walkthrough in plain language, with photos. On a chimney with more than one flue, we tell you what each flue serves and what condition it's in. If you're buying, the photos are easy to forward to your agent or the seller. If something needs work, we write it up and price it. If you're planning fires this winter, the chimney sweep and cleaning for $349 includes an inspection on the same visit.
Questions
We're buying a 1930s house in Huntington Woods. Which inspection should we get?
A Level 2, for $149. It covers the chimney where it runs through the basement and attic and puts a camera through the flue, which is the only way to see the condition of original clay tiles. Call us early in your inspection period with the address and your deadline, so there's time to price a repair if we find something.
Can you tell if our clay flue tiles are cracked without a camera?
Not reliably. From the top and the bottom we can see the first few feet of the flue. Cracks and gaps at the tile joints are usually higher up, out of sight. A camera through the flue, a $75 add-on to a Level 1 or included in a Level 2, shows the whole run, and you see the same pictures we do.
Chimney inspection near Huntington Woods
Chimney inspection in Huntington Woods
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.