From the hearth, a chimney keeps nearly all of its real condition hidden, and that is exactly why a proper inspection is worth so much. It trades a guess for hard evidence. Boston Chimney Sweep inspects chimneys across the city whether you are buying or selling a home, switching or adding an appliance, recovering from a chimney fire, or simply want to know that the flue is safe to burn in this winter. You get a careful look at the whole chimney system, a camera scan of the flue where access allows, photographs of whatever we turn up, and a plain written report graded to the NFPA 211 levels, with no one pressing you to buy a thing afterward.
- Inspection graded to the NFPA 211 levels
- Camera scan of the flue interior where access allows
- Liner, crown, cap, flashing, and firebox all reviewed
- Draft and clearances to combustibles checked
- Photographs paired with a clear written report
- No obligation and nothing tacked on
The three levels and which one your chimney needs
Chimney inspections come in three recognized levels, and matching the right one to your situation is the first job of an honest inspector. A Level 1 inspection is the routine annual check on a chimney that has not changed and is being used the same way as before. We examine the readily accessible parts, inside and out, confirm the flue is clear and the structure is sound, and verify there are no obvious hazards. For most Boston homeowners keeping up with yearly maintenance on an unchanged system, this is the right and sufficient inspection.
A Level 2 inspection goes further and is called for when something has changed or when more certainty is needed, such as a home sale, a new or different appliance, a switch in fuel, or after an event like a chimney fire or an earthquake. It adds a video scan of the full flue interior so we can see the condition of the liner along its entire length, the joints between tile sections, and any cracking or gaps that a Level 1 look from the ends cannot reveal. A Level 3 inspection, the most invasive, is reserved for cases where a serious hazard is suspected and confirming it requires opening up part of the structure. We tell you up front which level your situation genuinely calls for, and why, rather than defaulting to the most expensive one.
What the camera sees that the eye cannot
The single most valuable tool in a modern chimney inspection is the camera, because the part of the chimney most likely to be quietly failing is the part nobody can see. The clay-tile liners common in Boston's older homes were excellent in their day, but decades of heat cycling, the occasional chimney fire, and the slow movement of settling masonry crack them, and a cracked or gapped liner is a direct path for heat and combustion gases to reach the wood framing packed around the flue. From the firebox you might see a clean, ordinary-looking opening while a tile twenty feet up is split wide enough to be a genuine fire hazard. Running a camera the full length of the flue is the only way to know.
On Boston's many homes with shared chimney stacks and multiple flues in one structure, the camera earns its keep again, because it confirms which flue serves which appliance, whether one flue is venting into another where mortar has failed, and whether an old, abandoned flue is letting moisture or animals into the system. We record the scan, walk you through the footage, and put what it shows into the written report. You are not asked to take our word for a hidden crack. You see it on the screen, and you keep the evidence.
A report you can act on, and keep
An inspection is worth only as much as the honesty and clarity behind it. Our report states plainly what is safe to use as it is, what needs attention before the next fire, and what can reasonably wait and be watched. If the chimney is in good shape, you will hear exactly that, because telling a homeowner the flue is sound and the sweep is all it needs is how we earn the call when a real repair is finally due. We do not manufacture urgency, and we do not recommend anything the photographs and the camera footage cannot back up.
The report and the images are yours to keep regardless of what you decide, which matters most in a home sale, where a documented chimney inspection settles a question that both buyer and seller would otherwise be guessing at. You are welcome to hold our assessment up against anyone else's. That openness is the whole point. A homeowner who can study the evidence reaches a sounder decision, and a chimney company that invites that scrutiny is usually the one worth hiring. If your chimney has gone more than a year without a look, or you are about to start using a fireplace you inherited with the house, an inspection is the cheapest certainty available.
Every part of the chimney, handled
A chimney is a system, so chimney inspection rarely stands alone, it connects to creosote removal, chimney repair, a new chimney cap, chimney liner replacement, chimney repointing, and our crew handles all of it under one roof. We bring the same service to Cambridge chimney inspection, Somerville chimney inspection, Chimney Inspection in Brookline, Chimney Inspection in Quincy and everywhere else across the Boston area.
If you searched for local chimney service, you have reached a local crew, call 508-296-8030 any time. For background, read Fitting a Chimney Cap: A Boston Guide on our blog, or head back to our Boston home page to see everything we do.