Highland · Utah County
Inspecting Highland Chimneys, Old Build or New
The assumption we run into most in Highland is that a house from the nineties or two-thousands is too new to have a chimney problem. The build date tells you when the components were installed. It does not tell you how they have aged.
Most of this city went up from the 1980s onward, which means a great many of its fireplaces are factory-built metal units rather than brick. Those are good products with a service life, not permanent structures. A prefabricated firebox installed in 1996 is nearly thirty years old, and thirty years is long enough for refractory panels to crack, for a chase cover to rust through, and for a manufacturer to stop making the parts.
What a camera finds that eyes cannot
The interior of a metal flue looks fine from the bottom and from the top. The joints in the middle are the part that matters. We run a camera the full length and look for separated sections, damaged insulation, corrosion where water has been sitting, and any place the flue has been dented or crushed during another trade's work in the attic. On masonry we are looking at tile joints, the smoke chamber, and whether the liner is offset anywhere.
Which level of inspection you need
Level 1 is the annual visual check when nothing has changed and the appliance is being used the way it always has been. Level 2 adds camera and accessible concealed spaces, and it is the correct choice in three situations: you are buying or selling, the appliance or fuel is changing, or something happened, such as a chimney fire, an earthquake, or a serious wind event.
Real estate timing
Homes here move fast and inspection periods are short. If you have a deadline, say so when you call, because we schedule around hard dates. A written report with dated photographs is what a buyer's agent, a seller's disclosure and an insurer all want, and a verbal all-clear is worth nothing to any of them.
What we will not do
We will not use an inspection as a sales tool. If the chimney is in good order the report says so, in writing, and there is no list of recommended extras attached to it. Where we do find something, you get the image that shows it, an explanation of what it does if left alone, and a straight answer about how urgent it is.
Questions
Inspection in Highland — common questions
The house is only twenty years old. Is an inspection overkill?
No. Twenty years is about the point where original chase covers, storm collars and refractory panels start showing their age. Those are the parts that fail quietly, and none of them are visible from inside the house.
We are selling. Which inspection do buyers ask for?
A Level 2. It is the standard when a property changes hands because it includes camera footage of the full flue, and it is the one that stops a chimney becoming a renegotiation point late in the deal.
Can you inspect a fireplace that is boxed into a stone chase?
Yes, and those need it. We work from the appliance, the accessible attic run and the top of the chase. Where the concealed portion cannot be reached, the report says exactly what we could and could not see rather than implying full coverage.
Also in Highland
Our other services here
Chimney Sweep Chimney Repair Fireplace Repair Installation Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All Highland services
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