Inspections & Repairs

A chimney that’s visibly tilting away from the house is one of the more alarming things a Waterman homeowner can notice, and for good reason.

When a Malta homeowner finds water stains on the ceiling near the chimney, flashing is usually the first suspect.

If you’ve noticed pieces of brick flaking off your chimney or bits of masonry on the ground, you’re seeing spalling.

A chimney cap is a small piece of hardware doing an outsized job. For Big Rock homes exposed to Illinois weather, a good cap is one of the cheapest ways to…

The smoke chamber is one of the least understood parts of a fireplace, yet it does critical work. Sitting just above the damper, it funnels smoke from the…

A chimney is easy to overlook during a home sale and expensive to inherit broken. A Level 2 inspection before closing protects both buyer and seller, and…

If you have a water stain on the ceiling near the chimney, the flashing is the first suspect. It is the most common source of a chimney-related roof leak…

Ask most homeowners about their chimney crown and you get a blank look. But the crown is doing one of the most important jobs on the whole structure, and a…

The mortar between your chimney’s bricks does more than hold them together — it seals out water. When it fails, tuckpointing restores both the strength and…

The liner is your chimney’s inner shield — it contains the heat and gases of every fire and gives smoke a smooth path out.