Madison Heights, Oakland County
Chimney inspection in Madison Heights
In Madison Heights, a chimney inspection is as often about the furnace and water heater as about a fireplace, because many of the 1950s ranches here have a chimney that only carries gas exhaust.
The older blocks south of 11 Mile
Before Madison Heights was a city, this was the east side of Royal Oak Township, and the blocks between 10 and 11 Mile were laid out first. A house there can have a chimney close to a hundred years old, tall and narrow like the one in the photo, running up the outside wall. At that age the top courses loosen, bricks get swapped or patched, and the clay tiles inside crack where you can't see them. An inspection on one of these houses usually includes a camera, $75 on top of the $49 Level 1.
The 1950s ranches
Most of Madison Heights was built in the 1950s, fast enough that the Lamphere district opened Edmonson Elementary in 1956 and Lessenger Elementary and John Page in 1957 to keep up. The houses from those years are mostly brick ranches, and their chimneys tend to carry a flue for the furnace and water heater, sometimes with a fireplace flue beside it and sometimes not.
When a ranch like that gets a new high-efficiency furnace vented through the side wall, the water heater can be left alone in a clay flue sized for both. Its exhaust cools before it reaches the top, and the water vapor in it condenses inside. Our guide to a water heater in an old chimney explains why that matters. An inspection tells you whether your flue is drafting and what shape the inside is in.
For a sale
If you're buying or selling, a Level 2 inspection is $149. It covers everything in a Level 1, plus the chimney in the attic, basement and crawl space and a camera through every flue. Our guide to chimney inspection levels explains when each one fits. People also book one after a storm or after a chimney fire.
What a Level 1 covers
For $49 we check the fireplace if there is one, the furnace and water heater connections at the chimney, the flue as far as we can see, and the crown, cap, brick and flashing outside. You hear what we found in plain language, and the $49 is credited toward any repair or service we do after it. If you burn wood, a chimney sweep in Madison Heights is $349 and includes the inspection.
Questions
We're buying a Madison Heights ranch with no fireplace. Does the chimney need a Level 2?
If the furnace or water heater vents into it, it's worth it. A Level 2 is $149 and puts a camera through the flue, which is the only way to see cracked tiles, missing mortar or debris at the bottom of a flue that only carries gas exhaust. It also covers the chimney in the attic and basement. Call early in your inspection period.
What do you look at on a 1920s chimney in the south end?
The crown, the top courses of brick, the flashing and the clay flue tiles, plus what the chimney is connected to now. A lot of these have been changed over the years, with furnaces swapped and flues closed off. Adding a camera for $75 shows you the inside of the flue, where the cracks you can't see from the roof usually are.
Chimney inspection near Madison Heights
Chimney inspection in Madison Heights
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.