A Chimney Finding Your Client Can Actually Read.
Fireplaces sit outside what a general home inspection covers, and the report normally says so in writing. That sentence lands on your desk with a clock attached. We do the visit that answers it: camera up the flue where it can be scoped, photographs of what is there, findings sorted by whether they are a safety matter or wear, and a repair scope itemized enough to build an amendment from.
New to working with agents and saying so plainly — no partner roster, no referral fees, no testimonials we did not earn. Send one property and judge the report.
What this is not.
You are the one who has to stand behind whoever you put in front of a client. So the limits go first, where you can read them before you spend any more time on this page.
- We are not a general home inspector and do not write a whole-house report. Our scope is the chimney, the fireplace and the venting attached to them.
- We do not tell you whether to close, whether the price is fair, or how the repair should be split. That is your negotiation and your client's decision.
- We do not soften a finding because a contract is pending. If the flue is unsafe to burn, that is what the report says, whichever side asked us to come.
- We do not certify a chimney as good for a number of years. An inspection describes a condition on a date, and nothing more honest than that exists.
Three points on the calendar, one of them cheap.
The same finding costs a seller very little in week one of a listing and a great deal in the last week of an option period. Nothing about the chimney changed. The only variable is who is holding a clock when the information arrives.
Pre-listing look
A seller who knows what the flue looks like is a seller who can price it, repair it, or disclose it on purpose. The alternative is finding out during the option period, when the same information costs leverage instead of buying it.
Re-inspection of a flagged system
General home inspectors are explicit that a fireplace is outside a full flue evaluation, and the report usually says so. When it does, somebody has to actually look up the chimney with a camera and write down what is there. That is the visit we run.
A number instead of a guess
"The chimney needs work" is not a repair amendment. A scoped, itemized quote against a photographed condition is, and it gives both sides something specific to argue about instead of a range someone invented.
What the technician actually opens.
A driveway photo and a flashlight in the firebox is not an evaluation, and an agent who forwards one has forwarded nothing. This is the list the visit works through, and the last line on it is the one that matters most.
Occupied houses, staged housesSweeping and scoping a flue makes soot airborne. In a staged or occupied listing we seal and vacuum at the opening before anything moves, and we will say so to the seller before we start rather than after somebody sees the hearth rug.
- 01Exterior and roof-level look at the crown, cap, flashing and masonry, photographed from where the condition actually is rather than from the driveway
- 02Interior firebox, damper and smoke-chamber examination with the appliance cold, including refractory panels and hearth extension
- 03Camera pass up the flue where the flue is accessible and safe to scope, so a liner condition is recorded rather than assumed
- 04Gas appliances: connection, shutoff, venting path and clearances observed and photographed; regulated work is left to the licensed trade
- 05Clearance and termination check against the appliance listing and the venting code in force locally
- 06Anything we could not reach or scope is written down as not examined, with the reason — an unopened item is never reported as a passing one
A report you forward, never explain.
The test of a transaction report is whether you can send it to a client without a covering phone call. That is the standard the format is built to.
Plain-language findings
Written so a buyer reads it once and understands it. Trade terms are used where they matter and explained where they appear, because a report a client has to have translated does not help you.
Photos tied to each finding
Every condition we flag is shown, dated, and captioned with where in the system it sits. A photograph is what stops a repair discussion from becoming one party's word against the other's.
Separated: safety, condition, cosmetic
Items that make the appliance unsafe to burn are kept apart from wear that simply exists and from cosmetic notes. A seller should not be asked to fund all three as though they were the same category.
Itemized repair scope
Where a repair is warranted, the scope is written line by line with quantities, so the credit or the amendment can be built from the document instead of from a lump sum.
What was not examined, and why
Sealed chases, inaccessible roof pitches, a flue that was unsafe to scope, an appliance that could not be operated. The limits of the visit belong in the report, in writing.
A PDF that survives forwarding
One file, emailed to whoever you name — you, the client, the other side, the title file. No portal login, no expiring link, nothing your client has to create an account to read.
One inspection fee. Repairs quoted separately.
The visit is billed to whoever ordered it. Repair work found during that visit is a separate decision with a separate number, written line by line against the photographed condition — never rolled into the inspection so the two cannot be told apart.
Starting estimate. Scope, access and how much of the flue can be camera-scoped move the final number.
Itemized against the finding, priced from our published service rates, and approved in writing before anything begins.
Prices shown are starting estimates and may change with the condition, access, and scope we find on site. Only a written quote from an on-site visit is a price we commit to.
The transaction-specific inspection package, including the video scope and the report turnaround options, is set out on our real estate inspections page.
Where this connects
Real estate inspections
The transaction inspection package itself — scope, report, and scheduling options.
OpenChimney inspection
What the inspection covers outside a transaction, level by level.
OpenInsurance claim documentation
When storm or fire damage turns up mid-deal and a carrier becomes involved.
OpenStandards & insurance
The published standards our work is graded against, and a current COI on request.
OpenGive us the deadline first. We will tell you if we can hold it.
Send the property address, the date the option or contingency period ends, who is paying, and whether a general inspector already flagged the fireplace. If we can make the date we will say so and book it. If we cannot, you will hear that on the same call, while you still have time to send it elsewhere.
- Property address and the age of the fireplace, if the seller knows it
- The contract date the visit has to land before
- Who receives the report — client, both agents, title file
- Whether the appliance is wood-burning, gas, or has been converted
Fair warning on seasonality: the weeks after the first hard freeze are the busiest of our year, and a transaction visit competes with houses that have no heat. We will still quote you an honest date in those weeks — it just may not be tomorrow.
Request a compliance quote
Single-site, multifamily, or national portfolio — tell us the system and the sites.
Agents — questions before you send us one
Have you worked with agents before?
We are opening this segment deliberately rather than pretending to a roster we do not have, so you will not find agent testimonials or a brokerage list on this page. What we do have is the work itself: transaction inspections, camera scoping, written findings and repair scope are the same things we do every week for homeowners, insurers and property managers. The report format described here is what you would receive, and the fastest way to judge it is to send us one property and read the output before you send a second.
Can you get out inside an option period?
Tell us the date the option ends when you book, not after. We schedule against that date and will tell you plainly at booking whether we can hold it — including the weeks when a cold snap or a storm has the whole trade backed up and we cannot. A commitment we make on the phone is one we keep; a date we invent on a web page to look responsive is worth nothing to you at 4pm on the last day of the period.
Who is allowed to see the report?
Whoever the person paying for it names, and nobody else by default. Most often that is the buyer or seller plus their agent; we will also send it directly to the other side, to a title file, or to an adjuster if the client asks us to. We do not forward a report to a third party on our own initiative, and we do not reuse one client's report on the next transaction for the same address.
The general inspector wrote "recommend chimney evaluation." What changes when you come out?
The instrument and the depth. A general inspection looks at what is visible from the room and the roof; ours opens the appliance, examines the smoke chamber and damper directly, and puts a camera up the flue where the flue can be safely scoped. That turns a recommendation into a description: what the liner looks like, whether the crown is failing, whether the clearance is wrong, and what it costs to correct.
If you find a problem, are you also the one who fixes it?
Usually, yes, and you should treat that as a thing to keep an eye on rather than a convenience. We inspect and we repair, which means the person describing the defect works for the company that would sell the repair. Our defense against that is written scope, photographs of the condition, and a quote a competitor can price line by line. If your client wants a second opinion on our finding, that is a reasonable thing to want and we will hand over the photos to make it possible.
Do you do the repairs before closing or after?
Either, and the calendar usually decides. Small corrections done before closing keep the transaction clean. Larger work is often better handled as a credit, because a rushed repair scheduled against a funding date is how corners get cut. We will tell you which one the specific job actually is instead of pushing the version that gets us on site sooner.
What does an agent pay?
Nothing, unless you are the one commissioning the visit. The inspection is billed to whoever ordered it, buyer or seller, and there is no referral fee moving in either direction — not to you, and not from you. We would rather you send the next one because the report was useful.
Talk to a CSIA-certified expert today.
Free written quote. Same-week scheduling. 24/7 emergency response when you need it.
24/7 Response
Active leak, animal in flue, post-fire damage, or smoke event? Real humans on the line 7 AM to 12 AM every day — replies in under 2 minutes. Tech dispatch within 2 hours during business hours, subject to crew availability after-hours.
Emergency line