Looked at from the hearth, a chimney keeps almost everything that matters to itself, which is exactly why a proper inspection earns what it costs. It swaps a guess about whether the fireplace is safe for a documented look at the parts no one can see. DraftWorks Chimney Sweep inspects chimneys across Brooklyn Heights, OH whether you are closing on a house, reopening a fireplace that has sat cold for years, or simply want to head into the burning season sure the flue is sound. We run a camera the whole length of the flue, check the crown and the masonry from up top, and leave you with a written report, photos and all, that puts an honest grade on every part.
- Camera run of the full flue length
- Liner, crown, cap, and flashing each checked
- Firebox, smoke chamber, and damper assessed
- Brick reviewed for spalling and failing joints
- NFPA 211 written report with photos
- Plain fix-now, watch-this, or sound grading
Matching the right depth of inspection to your situation
Chimney inspections come in tiers, and fitting the right tier to your case is part of doing the work honestly rather than charging for the heaviest version by reflex. A surface-level look suits a chimney in steady use with no known faults and nothing recently changed, where we confirm the readily reachable parts are sound and that nothing obvious has slipped since the last sweep. A deeper inspection is the right call when the home is changing hands, when the fireplace has gone unused long enough that its history is a blank, or when something has shifted, a new appliance hooked up, a chimney fire in the past, a storm that may have done damage out of sight up top.
We say which level fits before we begin. A house that has burned the same fireplace every winter and was swept last year does not need the same scrutiny as a flue nobody has looked inside in a decade. The whole point of an inspection is to answer the real question sitting in front of you, is this chimney safe to use and how much life is left in it, with the right amount of looking and not a dollar more. Charging for the deepest tier when the situation does not call for it is not how we run a visit.
What the camera and the view from the roof turn up
The center of a modern inspection is the camera. We run it the full length of the flue so the liner can be read wall by wall, hunting for cracked clay tiles, gaps where the mortar between tiles has opened, creosote glaze, and the kind of scarring a past chimney fire leaves behind. A cracked or gapped liner is the finding that outweighs the rest, because it lets heat and combustion gases reach the framing built around the chimney and can spill carbon monoxide into the house, and it simply cannot be judged from below without the camera. We record what it shows so you are watching the same footage we are.
From the roof we check the parts that take the worst of the Cleveland weather. The crown, the flat masonry slab that should shed water off the top of the chimney, is usually the first thing the freeze-thaw cycle cracks, and once it cracks it funnels water straight down into the structure. We look at the cap that should be keeping rain and wildlife out of the flue, the flashing that seals the joint where the chimney passes through the roof, and the exposed brick and mortar for the spalling and joint erosion this climate drives. Each of those gets photographed and graded on its own line.
The document you keep when we leave
An inspection is only worth what it leaves in your hands. Our report lists each part of the chimney, grades it in plain language, and pairs the grade with the photo that earns it. Fix-now flags a real safety or water problem that should be handled before the next burning season. Watch-this marks a condition that is developing and worth keeping an eye on but not yet urgent. Sound means just that. You do not get a vague verbal summary tossed off from the driveway. You get a document you can read, file, and hold up against anyone else's opinion.
That openness is the heart of how we work. A homeowner who can see the evidence reaches a better decision than one asked to take a contractor at his word, and a company that invites that kind of second-guessing is usually the one worth hiring. Nothing is tied to the inspection and no closing pitch is waiting at the end of it. The report and the photos are yours whether or not you ever hire us for the repair, because the honest assessment is the service we are selling, not a setup for one.
From this service to the whole chimney
A chimney is a system, so chimney inspection rarely stands alone, it connects to creosote removal, damper repair, chimney cap installation, chimney liner replacement, chimney repointing, and our crew handles all of it under one roof. We bring the same service to Independence chimney inspection, Chimney Inspection in Parma, Seven Hills chimney inspection, Chimney Inspection in Garfield Heights and everywhere else across the Brooklyn Heights area.
If you searched for local chimney service, you have reached a local crew, call 740-430-5762 any time. For background, read Why Creosote Builds Fast in Brooklyn Heights Fireplaces, and What to Do About It on our blog, or head back to our Brooklyn Heights home page to see everything we do.