Chimney Inspection Cost, Explained

Two Prices, Two Different Jobs

When people in Woodland Hills ask what a chimney inspection costs, they are usually asking about one of two different jobs without knowing it. The answer depends on which one fits your house this year, so it helps to know what each one is before comparing numbers.

A Level 1 inspection is the visual check: the firebox, the damper, the smoke chamber as far as a light reaches, the outside masonry, the crown and the cap. With us it costs $53. A Level 2 inspection adds a camera run up the full flue, recorded, plus the attic, crawlspace and roof areas next to the chimney. Ours costs $380. Both levels come from NFPA 211, the national fire code standard for chimneys and vents, and both end with the same kind of report from us: scope on page one, photos for every finding, and a rating on each item.

The gap between $53 and $380 is not padding. It is the camera, the time on the roof, and the hours spent turning video into labeled stills. Whether you need that depends on why you are calling.

When $53 Is the Right Answer

A Level 1 fits a chimney you already use, when nothing about it has changed. Same fireplace, same fuel, no new appliance, no event since the last check. Most homeowners who book a yearly inspection before the cool months need exactly this. If your fireplace works, smells normal, and you burned a moderate number of fires last winter, a Level 1 is enough to tell you whether it is safe to keep using.

Level 1 is also often paired with a sweep. A sweep from us starts from $215 and includes before and after photos of the smoke chamber and lower liner, but a sweep is not an inspection. If you want the cap, crown and outside masonry rated in writing too, adding the Level 1 gives you one report covering both.

What a Level 1 cannot do is see the flue walls more than a few feet above the damper. Cracked tiles, open joints and gaps between liner sections higher up stay hidden. That is not a flaw in the inspection. It is the scope, and our report says so on page one.

When You Need the Camera

NFPA 211 points to a Level 2 in a few situations:

• - The home is being sold or transferred.
• There has been an earthquake, a chimney fire, a lightning strike or a hard windstorm.
• You are changing the fuel or the appliance, such as adding a gas insert or gas logs to a wood fireplace.
• A Level 1 found something that suggests a hidden problem, like water staining or a smoke smell that has no visible cause.

In the West Valley, the first two come up often. Homes change hands regularly, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake left a lot of chimneys with damage that was patched rather than fixed. A camera is the only way to see whether those old repairs still hold.

What Moves a Level 2 Within $380

Three things decide where a Level 2 lands in the range.

Number of flues. A single living room fireplace on one flue sits near the low end. A house with a second fireplace in a bedroom or a den, on its own flue, takes a second camera run and a second set of stills.

Height and access. A single-story ranch house north of Ventura Boulevard with a low-pitch roof is quick to work from above. A two-story house on a hillside lot south of the boulevard, with the chimney on the downhill side, takes more setup and more care.

What we find. A clean liner with a few minor notes makes for a short report. A liner with many offsets or cracks takes longer to document properly, because each one is marked by its height and described.

We fix the figure at booking, using your address and, if you can snap one, a chimney photo. If the price changes on site for any reason, you hear it before we start, not on the invoice.

If you already know which level you need, or want help choosing, send us your address and a photo of the chimney and say why you are calling. We will tell you the level and the price before you book.

What You Get for the Money

At either level, the deliverable is the report. Ours is a PDF sent the same day. Page one lists the address, date, level and any item marked fix before the next fire. The following pages walk the chimney from firebox to cap, one photo per finding, each with a short sentence saying what it shows and why it matters. Every finding gets one of three ratings: safe to use, watch it, or fix before the next fire. The last page lists next steps, each tied to the photo it came from.

A Level 2 adds the full video file, unedited, and stills pulled from it with heights marked. You can forward all of it to a buyer, an agent, an insurer or another contractor.

Costs That Come After the Report

An inspection report often leads to a repair quote, and that is where people worry about being upsold. Our next-step page gives a written price for each repair line where the photos and video show enough to price it, numbered to match the finding. Where they do not, it says what still needs to be seen. You can approve one line, all of them, or none, and you can take the same list to anyone else for a second bid.

A few figures that are fixed on our price list, so you can plan:

• - Sweep: from $215.
• Chimney cap, installed: $160 to $650, depending on size and number of flues.
• Gas insert in an existing fireplace, installed: $2,700 to $5,400.

Masonry, flashing, liner and rebuild work are quoted in writing after an inspection, because two chimneys with similar symptoms can need very different work.

Cheap Inspections and What They Leave Out

You will find chimney checks advertised for less than ours, sometimes bundled free with a sweep. Before comparing, ask what you will receive. A verbal "looks fine" leaves you nothing to check later. A one-line invoice with "inspection performed" tells a buyer or insurer nothing. If the person on your roof cannot show you a photo of your crown, your cap and your damper, you are paying for an opinion, not a record.

Booking an Inspection in Woodland Hills

We cover Woodland Hills and the nearby West Valley neighborhoods, from Warner Center to the hillside streets toward Mulholland, along with Canoga Park, Tarzana, Encino and beyond. Late summer and early fall are the busiest weeks, so a spring or early summer visit leaves time to fix anything marked before the first cold night.

To book, call us using the phone button on this page and tell us why you want the chimney looked at. We will match the level to the reason and give you the price on the call.