Chimney Inspection in Sherman Oaks: Find Out Whether It Is Safe to Light

NFPA 211, the standard most chimney inspectors work to, sets three levels. Level 1 is a look at the readily accessible parts: the firebox, damper, smoke chamber where it can be seen, the top of the chimney and the cap. It suits a chimney that has been used normally with no change and no event. Level 2 adds a camera run through the full flue, plus the attic, crawl space and roof where the chimney passes, and the standard calls for it after an operating malfunction or an outside event likely to have caused damage. A chimney fire is the plain example. So is a strong earthquake, a lightning strike, or a wildfire close enough to drop embers on the roof. Level 3 means opening up part of the structure, a wall or chase, and only follows a Level 2 that found a hidden problem it could not settle. Most calls we take in Sherman Oaks land on Level 1 or Level 2, and we tell you which one on the phone before we come out.

The difference matters for money and for time. A Level 1 is $55 and usually short. A Level 2 runs $325, and roof access. If you are calling because of a loud fire in the flue, smoke in the attic, or a crack that appeared after shaking, a Level 1 will not settle the question, and we would rather say so than sell you the cheaper visit twice. If your chimney is simply due for its yearly check and nothing has changed, the Level 1 is the right answer, and it can share the visit with a sweep.

Every inspection ends with a short written report and the photos behind it. The report opens with one line: use the fireplace, use it after a named repair, or do not use it until the chimney is repaired. Under that line each finding sits in order of urgency. Something that lets heat reach the framing, such as a split flue tile or a gap at the smoke chamber, comes first. Water problems come next, because they turn a small repair into a large one over a wet winter. Wear that can wait a season comes last, marked as such. We do not mix the quote into the findings. If repair is needed, the price comes on its own sheet so you can read the condition first and the cost second.

After a chimney fire or wildfire smoke, that report also serves as a record. It carries the date, the address, what we saw and the photos and video stills that show it, in plain words an adjuster or a buyer can follow. Keep it with your house papers. If the fireplace is cleared for use, the report says what to watch for, such as a damper that drags or a smell of smoke in hot weather, and when to have it looked at again. If it is not cleared, the report tells you exactly why, so the next conversation, with us or anyone else, starts from the same facts.