Superior Township, Washtenaw County
Chimney inspection in Superior Township
In Superior Township, the same inspection can mean a farmhouse chimney that has vented three different stoves over a century, or a factory-built fireplace in a house finished in the 2000s.
Farmhouses on the roads between
Much of Superior Township is still farmland. Plymouth Road has been a country road since the township's early days, and Frain Lake, along it, was settled in 1835. On an old farmhouse out here, the chimneys have usually been changed more than once. A chimney built for a wood stove may now vent an oil or gas furnace. Another may have been closed off in a wall when the stove came out.
A buyer needs to know which flue is live, what's connected to it and what shape the inside is in. A Level 2 inspection is built for that question.
Newer houses north of Ypsilanti
At the other end of the township's range is Brookside of Superior, built by Lombardo Homes between 2000 and 2009, about four and a half miles north of Ypsilanti. Houses from those years often have a factory-built fireplace with a metal flue in a framed chase, sometimes faced with brick or stone so it looks like masonry from the yard. We check the firebox, the flue, the chase cover and the cap. Prospect Pointe, at Prospect and Geddes, was built in stages from the early 2000s to 2019, so two houses on the same street can be fifteen years apart in the life of their chase covers.
Level 1 or Level 2
A Level 1 inspection is $49. We check what can be reached without special tools: the firebox, the flue, the outside of the chimney and the connection to any appliance. The $49 is credited toward any repair or service we do after it.
A Level 2 is $149. It adds the chimney sections in the attic, basement and crawl space, and a camera run through the flue. It's used for home sales, changes to the heating system, and after a chimney fire or storm. You can add a camera to a Level 1 for $75. Our guide to chimney inspection levels explains the difference.
After the inspection
You get photos and a plain report. If the flue needs cleaning, we can sweep it for $349, which includes an inspection. If something needs repair, you get a written price, and nothing starts until you approve it.
Questions
We're buying a farmhouse in Superior Township. What should we know about the chimney?
Start with what each chimney does now. Old farmhouses often have one chimney that once served a wood stove and now vents a furnace, and another that serves nothing. A Level 2 inspection at $149 checks the attic, basement and crawl space sections and runs a camera through each flue, so you know what's there before you close.
Our house in Brookside has a gas fireplace. Does it need an inspection?
A gas fireplace doesn't build creosote, but the vent, the cap on the roof and the chase cover still age. On a house from the 2000s, a rusted chase cover or a loose vent connection is common enough that a look every year or two makes sense. A $49 Level 1 covers it, and the $49 is credited toward any work we do after.
Chimney inspection near Superior Township
Chimney inspection in Superior Township
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.