Chimney sweep, inspection and repair in Keego Harbor

Cottages that became houses

In 1912 Joseph Sawyer started selling lots for homes and cottages here, and he dredged the canal that joins Dollar Lake to Cass Lake. Working families and, by the 1930s, social clubs built small weekend cottages on those lots. Over the years many were turned into year-round houses, added onto or replaced, so a Keego Harbor house can be a 1920s cottage, a 1950s house, or some of each.

That matters for the chimney. On a house that grew out of a cottage, the chimney may be older than the rooms around it, or it may have been added when the house was made year-round. An inspection tells you what it's built from and what's venting into it.

A lot of houses on half a square mile

Keego Harbor has about 2,700 people on half a square mile of land, and the houses sit close together. If we'll need to set a ladder in a narrow side yard, or the only parking is on the street, tell us when you book and we'll plan for it.

Lake air and shade

Between Cass Lake, Dollar Lake and the canal, a lot of houses here are close to water, and many are under big trees. A crown that stays damp and shaded grows moss and lichen, and flashing that stays wet rusts sooner. Water that gets in at the flashing often shows up as a stain on the ceiling next to the chimney. Our guide to chimney flashing leaks covers the signs and who fixes what.

Crown and flashing repair

On the older brick chimneys in Keego Harbor, the crown and the flashing are what we'd expect to repair most. We show you the damage first and tell you whether a smaller repair will do before we talk about rebuilding the top of the chimney. If the furnace or water heater vents into an old flue, we'll also tell you whether it needs a liner.

Leaves, branches and animals

The big trees along the lakeshore streets drop leaves and twigs straight onto chimney tops, and branches over the roof give squirrels and raccoons a way up. A flue without a cap fills with debris and makes an easy den. If you hear scratching in the fireplace, or the chimney has no cap at all, a stainless cap with a screen keeps them out. Call us before you light a fire in a flue that something may be living in.

Getting to you

We come into Keego Harbor on Orchard Lake Road and Cass Lake Road, and pair visits with jobs in West Bloomfield and Bloomfield Hills. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.