Our chimney inspections put a camera up there. Then we tell you the truth.
Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 chimney inspections to the NFPA 211 standard — the national rulebook for chimneys, fireplaces, and vents. You get photos, video stills, and a report written in English. Not a shrug and an invoice.
A real person answers, 24/7 — holidays included. No hold music, no callback queue.
There are three chimney inspection levels. Most people need one of them.
NFPA 211 defines them, and the difference isn't how hard we look — it's how far we're allowed to go to see. Here's how to tell which one is yours.
The annual check
Nothing about your system has changed and you're using it the way you always have. This is the once-a-year look that pairs with a sweep.
- Readily accessible portions of the chimney, inside and out
- The firebox, damper, smoke chamber, and connector
- Basic soundness, clearances, and combustible buildup
- A sweep recommendation if soot hits 1/8 inch or glaze appears
It's your yearly appointment and nothing has gone wrong.
Something changed
Everything in a Level 1, plus video scanning of the entire flue interior — top to bottom, on camera, with you watching the monitor if you want to.
- Video scan of the full flue interior, joint by joint
- Accessible attics, crawl spaces, and basements the chimney passes through
- Liner condition, cracks, gaps, and shifted tiles
- Camera stills attached to your written report
The house is changing hands, the system changed, or the chimney had a bad day.
Opening it up
A hazard is suspected in a concealed area, and the only way to confirm it is to remove masonry or part of the structure to reach it.
- Only performed when a Level 1 or 2 turns up something serious
- Targeted removal of masonry, chase covers, or interior wall material
- Direct examination of concealed flue and chimney components
- Documented, discussed, and authorized before anything is touched
We've found a hazard we can't see well enough to responsibly sign off on.
Not sure which is yours? That's usually a two-minute phone call. Talk to a sweep — or read the long version in our full guide to chimney inspection levels.
Five things that put a camera in your flue.
A Level 1 looks at what a technician can see. When any of the following is true, that isn't good enough — and NFPA 211 says so.
New insert, new stove, new liner, a different fuel, a different appliance size. A flue sized for one thing rarely vents another correctly.
Any sale or property transfer. The buyer's home inspector doesn't scan flues — that's a different trade. See real-estate chimney inspections.
Even a small one. Flue fires crack tiles and open gaps you cannot see from the firebox — and the next fire finds them.
Seismic movement, straight-line winds, a lightning strike, a tree on the roof. Masonry shifts. Liners separate. Nothing about it is visible from the curb.
Smoke in the room, a draft that won't establish, a campfire smell in July. Symptoms mean something is wrong somewhere you can't see.
Then don't schedule a guess. Get the camera in the flue.
TALK TO A SWEEP
A flashlight and a good feeling is not a chimney inspection.
Most of a chimney is hidden. It runs through a wall, through an attic, through a chase — and the part that fails first is usually the part nobody can see from the hearth. That's why a hairline crack in a clay tile at twenty feet is worth more of your attention than everything you can reach with your hand.
So on a Level 2, we don't infer. A camera goes up the flue on a flexible rod, we watch the feed on a monitor, and you're welcome to watch it with us. If there's a cracked tile, a gap at a joint, a shifted liner, or glaze we don't like the look of, you see it on the screen before you read it in a report. And if the flue is clean and sound, you get to see that too — which is the answer most people are actually hoping to buy.
A written report, in your inbox, before the truck leaves.
Not a carbon-copy work order with three checkboxes. A document you can hand to a realtor, forward to a lender, or attach to an insurance claim — and that a person who has never met you can read and understand.
If an inspection didn't come with photos, you didn't get an inspection. You got an opinion.
Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 — named on the document, with the date and the technician who did the work.
Every finding has a picture attached to it. If we scanned the flue, the frames from that scan come with it.
Component by component. Creosote stage and depth where it matters, so the sweep decision isn't a coin flip.
A straight recommendation, ranked. Urgent, soon, or keep an eye on it. No mystery line items, no upsell theater.
Buying or selling? The same documentation, packaged for a closing timeline — real-estate chimney inspections.
Three offices. One phone call.
Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, holidays included. Tap a number and a real person picks up.
Somewhere else on the map? See all offices — or contact us and we'll point you the right way.
What usually comes next
An inspection tells you what the chimney needs. Usually, it's one of these.
The long version — what each level covers, who calls for it, and the situations where skipping to Level 2 saves you a second visit.
Inspection questions, answered.
Or skip the reading and ask a sweep — it's usually a two-minute call. (816) 919-3095, any hour.