A Chimney Finding, Documented Well Enough To Hand A Client.
Somewhere between the general inspection and the repair amendment, a chimney becomes your problem to manage. What resolves it quickly is not an opinion — it is photographs, a plainly written condition, and an itemized scope both sides can read. That is the whole of what we do here.
Findings are photographed, graded for whether the appliance is safe to use, and written so a client can read them without a translator.
Agent work is new ground for this company.
We are set up for transaction work and we do this inspection constantly for homeowners and for property clients. What we do not have is a history of working with agents, so you will not find a testimonial from one on this page, or a brokerage logo, or a claim about how many transactions we have supported. None of that exists yet.
What we are offering is the trade capability and a document you can check yourself: photographs behind every finding, named public standards, and an explicit note wherever something could not be verified. Judge the first report on its own merits. That is the only reasonable way for this to start.
Three points in a deal, three different jobs.
The inspection is the same work each time. What changes is who the document has to convince and how much runway is left.
Pre-listing, so the fireplace stops being an unknown
A general home inspector opens the damper, points a flashlight up, writes one line recommending evaluation by a specialist, and moves on. Two weeks later that line is a renegotiation. Having the evaluation already in hand means the seller picks what to fix, on their own schedule and with their own contractor, rather than under a deadline with a buyer's estimate sitting on the table.
You get: a documented condition report the seller can act on, or hand to a buyer as-is.
The follow-up evaluation the inspector asked for
When a report kicks the chimney to a specialist, the buyer needs an answer inside the option period, not after it. We scope the flue with a camera, examine the firebox, crown, cap and flashing, and write what is actually wrong, with photographs, alongside what it would take to correct it. If the answer is that it is fine, the report says that too — that outcome is just as useful to you.
You get: a specialist finding with photographs and a repair scope, inside the window.
A number both sides can look at
Most chimney arguments in a transaction are not about condition, they are about magnitude. One side has a horror story and the other has a flashlight. A line-item scope priced against photographed findings gives both agents the same document to work from, which is usually enough to end the argument without either client feeling handled.
You get: itemized pricing tied to specific photographed findings, not a lump sum.
What it contains, and what it refuses to.
A report that quietly strays into advice you did not ask for is a liability with your name on the email that forwarded it. The right-hand column is as deliberate as the left.
In the report
- Camera pass through the flue with stills of what the camera found
- Firebox, damper, smoke chamber and hearth condition, described in plain terms
- Crown, cap, flashing and exterior masonry, photographed from the roof
- Each finding graded by whether the appliance is safe to use as it stands
- A repair scope, itemized, so a credit can be discussed against real lines
- An explicit note on anything we could not access, and why
Not in the report
- Any opinion on what the property is worth, or on the price
- Any advice on what a seller is or is not required to disclose
- A recommended credit amount, or a position on who should pay
- A softened finding because a closing is near — the report does not move
- The general home inspection — we cover the hearth and venting system only
- A guess about a flue we could not scope; unverifiable is written as unverifiable
Tell us the deadline before you book, not after.
Every transaction runs against a date somebody else set. We would rather look at the calendar with you on the phone and turn the job down than take it and miss. When we do accept, you get a specific delivery date for that address, not a general promise.
The date that actually matters
Option-period expiry, amendment deadline, or closing — whichever one this report has to beat.
The address and who lets us in
Occupied, vacant, lockbox, or you meeting us there. It changes the slot we can offer.
Whether it has been used
A fireplace burned last winter and one dormant for a decade are different jobs on the roof.
Anything already written about it
Send the inspector's line about the chimney. It tells us what has to be answered.
One published figure. No deadline surcharge invented.
Our published starting figure for a documented inspection. It is the same price on a transaction as it is for a homeowner.
Itemized against the photographed finding, so a repair credit can be argued line by line instead of as a single number.
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.
For the buyer-and-seller version of this, with what a Level 2 inspection covers, see real estate inspections. Our standards and insurance are listed on standards and licensing.
Put the deadline in the notes. We will confirm it or decline it.
Book the address the same way a homeowner would and add the date this has to be delivered by. If the calendar cannot support it, someone will call and tell you rather than let it sit. Calling is faster if you are inside an option period.
Book your inspection
Agents — FAQ
Which agents do you already work with?
None, and we are not going to invent a list. This is a new line of work for us, and you are reading a page that says so on purpose. What we have is the trade side: certified technicians, camera equipment, the codes and standards our findings are written against, and years of doing exactly this inspection for homeowners and property clients. What we do not yet have is a roster of agents vouching for us, and pretending otherwise would be a strange way to start.
So why would I use you on a live transaction?
Because the deliverable is checkable. Every finding has a photograph attached, every standard we cite is public and named, and anything we could not verify is written as unverifiable rather than filled in with an assumption. You do not need to trust us in advance to read a report like that — you can look at the pictures. If it does not hold up, you do not send us the next one.
Can you work to my closing date?
Give us the deadline on the first call. You get a straight yes or no about that specific date before anything is booked, rather than a booking now and an apology later. If the schedule cannot absorb it, we say so and you go find someone who can. We are not going to publish a turnaround time we could not honor on every job — you get a real date for your address.
The buyer's inspector flagged something. Will you just confirm it?
We will look at it independently and report what we find, which sometimes agrees with the inspector and sometimes does not. If we disagree, the report says why and shows the photograph the disagreement turns on. That is more useful to you than either a rubber stamp or a reflexive contradiction, and it is the only version we will write.
My seller wants the report to read a certain way.
Then we are not the right choice, and we would rather be clear about that now than after we are on site. The report describes the condition of the system on the day we looked at it. We will explain any finding in as much detail as anyone wants, and we will happily note where a condition is cosmetic rather than functional, because that distinction is real. What we will not do is remove a finding.
What if the fireplace has been sealed off or converted?
That is common in older DFW housing stock and it is worth documenting properly, because a sealed flue can still be an active water path and a converted unit is frequently missing paperwork nobody thought about. We record what it is now, what it appears to have been, and what would be involved in returning it to service — which is often the exact question a buyer asks after closing.
Do you handle the repairs as well as the inspection?
Yes, and you should factor that in when you read us. We are a service company, not an independent inspection-only firm, so the same business that finds a problem can also quote it. Our answer to that is the photograph: every finding is documented well enough that you or your client can take it to a different contractor for a second price. Several people do. That is fine.
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.
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