Chimney repair, inspection and sweep in Ypsilanti Township

The northern part of the township

Our service area takes in the northern part of Ypsilanti Township: the neighborhoods around Ypsilanti city and along the I-94 and Michigan Avenue corridor, on the 48198 side. The southern part, toward Willow Run and the south shore of Ford Lake, is mostly outside it. If you live down there, call and ask before you book, and we'll tell you whether we can get to you.

Houses from the Willow Run years

During World War II, Ford built the Willow Run bomber plant on the east side of the township, and thousands of workers came to build B-24s. The plant kept running after the war, first for Kaiser-Frazer and then for General Motors, and the township kept building houses for the people who worked there.

Gault Village, on the north shore of Ford Lake just south of I-94, went up mostly between 1952 and 1966. It's brick ranches, bungalows and split-levels, and that mix is typical of the post-war streets off Holmes Road and Ford Boulevard too. Most of those houses have one brick chimney. On a lot of them it carries a flue for the fireplace and a second flue for the furnace or water heater in the basement.

Liners for the furnace flue

Look at the chimney in the photo. The fireplace flue has a black mesh cap on its clay tile, and the flue behind it has a round stainless cap. A stainless cap like that usually means someone ran a stainless liner down the flue for the furnace or water heater.

A gas furnace or water heater puts out water vapor along with its exhaust. In an old clay flue, that moisture can soak into the tile and the mortar joints, and over the years the tile cracks or comes apart at the joints. A stainless liner gives the exhaust a sealed path to the top. If your water heater vents into the chimney, our guide to a water heater in an old chimney explains what we look for.

Crowns on sixty-year-old chimneys

The crown in the photo was redone in mortar, sloped down from the flue tiles to the edge so water runs off. On a lot of chimneys from the 1950s, the original crown has cracked all the way across by now, and water goes straight into the brick below it. We tell you whether a crown repair will hold or the crown needs to come off, and you see the photos before we quote either one.

Trees along the river and the lake

The streets near the Huron River and the Ford Lake shore have big old trees, and squirrels and raccoons use them to get onto roofs. An open flue is an easy way in for them, and for rain. If a flue in your chimney has nothing on top, we can fit a cap sized to it on the same visit as a cleaning.

Getting to you

We come into northern Ypsilanti Township on Michigan Avenue, Washtenaw, Clark Road, Holmes Road, Ford Boulevard and Grove Road, and pair visits with Ypsilanti and Superior Township. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.