Chimney inspection in Walled Lake

Reasons people book here

Most calls for an inspection in Walled Lake come down to one of these:

• You're buying or selling. With so many houses built in different decades, the chimney history rarely comes with the house.
• A furnace or water heater vents into the chimney, and nobody knows if the flue was ever lined.
• The fireplace hasn't been lit in years.
• There was a chimney fire, or a storm brought limbs down on the roof.

Ranches on Leon Road and Decker Road

The 1960s ranches along Leon Road and Decker Road, and the 1950s and 1960s subdivisions north of the old Michigan Air-Line railroad, usually have one brick chimney with two flues. That's where the inspection spends its time. A fireplace flue that has gone unused for decades can be blocked by nests or debris. An appliance flue can be unlined, or lined with clay tile that has cracked from the moisture in modern furnace exhaust. Our guide to a water heater in an old chimney explains why that matters.

Level 1, Level 2 and the camera

A Level 1 inspection is $49, credited toward any repair or service we do after it. We check the firebox, damper, the flue as far as we can see, and the outside of the chimney, including the crown, cap and flashing.

A Level 2 is $149. It covers the chimney in the attic, basement and crawl space too, with a camera through the flue. Book a Level 2 for a home sale, after a chimney fire or storm, or when you're changing what vents into the chimney. You can add the camera to a Level 1 for $75. The guide to chimney inspection levels goes through when each one fits.

After we look

You get a walkthrough in plain language: what's in good shape, what to keep an eye on, and anything that needs work, with photos. If the flue needs a cleaning, our chimney sweep in Walled Lake is $349 and includes an inspection on the same visit. And if we end up doing any work after the inspection, whether that's a sweep, a new cap or a liner for the water heater flue, the $49 comes off that price.