Family Home Chimney Experts | New to the house

The disclosures are in. Now check the flue

You have just read a stack of disclosures, and somewhere in it is a fireplace. If kids and pets will live in that house, you want to know what the chimney is like before you light it. A Level 2 tells you, with photos.

Camera scan of the whole flue

Photos you can read at the table

Report ready on inspection day

Ask us about your house

Add the address and how to reach you. We will write back.

What the paperwork cannot tell you

Disclosures say what the seller knows. They do not say what is up the flue. An owner may never have looked, because there is no way to see it without a camera.

That is not a reason to worry. It is a reason to look.

A look, in two sizes

A Level 1 is a visual check. We look at the parts that are easy to reach and tell you what we see.

A Level 2 goes further. A camera travels the full length of the flue. We climb into any attic or crawlspace section we can reach, and onto the roof, and photograph what is there.

Why a purchase is the moment

The chimney standard, NFPA 211, asks for a Level 2 when a home is sold or transferred. Other times it names are after a flue fire, after a quake, and when the fireplace changes fuel.

So you are not being fussy. You are doing what the standard describes.

What happens with the report

We send the report and photos the same day as the visit. They can go to your agent, to you, to the seller, or to all three.

If something in the report is below NFPA 211 or local building code, your side may bring the seller a request: fix it, give a credit, or let us look again. Your agent guides that part. Contracts and the outcome are not ours to speak to.

Fees, plainly

A Level 2 costs $410. A Level 1 costs $57.

Level 1, accessible parts: $57
Video Level 2: $410

If repairs are needed, we quote them separately after the inspection.

Questions from buyers in the Valley

Is it safe to use the fireplace before the inspection?

We cannot say, because we have not looked. That is the reason for the inspection. Ask the seller what they know and hold off lighting a fire until you have the report.

Do I need to be at the house?

It helps to have your agent or the seller arrange access. Tell us who to contact when you fill in the form.

Will the report scare me?

It will list what we found, in plain sentences, with photos. Nothing is dressed up. Where nothing is wrong, it says so.

More on the Level 2 inspection For real estate agents Property managers and HOAs Repairs after a Level 2

Ready to look?

Send us the address. We will talk through what a Level 2 would cover at your house.

Call (747) 216-0432