Chimney Inspection in Arleta, With a Report You Can Follow

NFPA 211 is the fire code standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents, and the inspection industry splits its checks into three levels. Level 1 covers everything we can reach without tools beyond a light and a mirror: the firebox, damper, the visible part of the smoke chamber, the exterior masonry, the crown and the cap. It fits a chimney you already use, with no change in fuel, appliance or how it behaves. We charge $53 for it. Level 2 adds a video camera run the full height of the flue, plus the attic, crawlspace and roof areas next to the chimney. It is the level for a home sale, after an earthquake or chimney fire, or when you change what burns in the fireplace. Ours costs $380.

Level 3 means opening something up: removing a section of wall, a chase panel or masonry to look at a part that no camera can see. We only recommend it when a Level 2 report shows a problem that runs behind a finished surface, and we never start it without a written scope and a separate quote. The report tells you which level was done at the top of page one, so whoever reads it later, a buyer, an insurer, or you in three years, knows what the inspector could and could not see. A report that does not say what it covered is hard to rely on, which is why we put the scope first and the findings second.

The report you get has four parts. Page one is the summary: address, date, inspection level, the weather that day, and a short list of anything marked fix before the next fire. Page two walks the chimney from bottom to top, firebox to cap, with one photo per item and a sentence under it saying what the photo shows and why it matters. We write the sentence for a homeowner, so a crack is described by its width and where it runs, not just "deficiency noted". Page three lists every item marked watch it, with what to look for and when to check again. The last page is the next-step list, each step tied back to a numbered photo, with the service that fixes it and whether we can give a fixed price or need to quote after a closer look.

In Woodland Hills we see a few patterns often enough to call them out. Ranch houses from the 1950s and 1960s north of Ventura Boulevard often have clay tile liners with mortar joints that have opened since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Hillside homes toward Mulholland catch more wind and sun on the crown, and crowns crack first there. Summer heat that regularly passes 100 degrees bakes sealants and rubber gaskets on caps and doors. When one of these shows up, the report names it in those terms, so you can see your chimney against the houses around it. The report goes out by email the same day, as a PDF you can forward without needing an account or a login to open.