Chimney Inspection in Palos Hills, IL

What a chimney inspection actually involves in Palos Hills

We start at the firebox, not the roof. Damper plate, throat, firebrick, mortar joints. Then a camera goes up the flue. Clay tiles get checked tile by tile for cracks, shifting, and open joints. Next the appliance connections. Many Palos Hills ranches now have a water heater alone venting into a flue sized for an old furnace. That orphaned flue condenses and eats tile from the inside. Last comes the exterior: crown, cap, brick face, and the roof-to-chimney flashing.

Flashing is where most of the water comes in. Step flashing and counter-flashing fail quietly after a wet Illinois spring. The stain shows up on a bedroom ceiling weeks later.

Prefab chimneys get a different pass. Heatilator, Majestic and Superior fireboxes in chase-framed chases. We look at the chase cover first. Galvanized sheet metal on a 30-to-45-year-old chase rusts through at the low point. Rust streaks down the siding are the tell you can see from the driveway.

Gas log retrofits get their own checks. Damper clamped open, clearances, and whether the old firebox was ever meant for that set.

Draft complaints in tight postwar houses are usually combustion air, not the chimney. We say so when that's the answer.