About Us

San Diego housing runs the range from 1920s Craftsman and Spanish Revival bungalows in North Park and Kensington to the stucco-and-tile tracts built out through the 70s, 80s and 90s in Mira Mesa, Poway and Santee, plus newer construction where the fireplace was a sealed gas unit from day one. That mix decides most of what we do. Older masonry fireplaces have mortar crowns that have taken decades of sun and seasonal rain and are usually cracked. The tract homes are largely factory-built prefab with metal chase covers and light-gauge caps. And San Diego County has one of the shortest and mildest heating seasons in the continental US, so wood burning here is occasional and recreational rather than a primary heat source. A chimney that runs six evenings a winter does not build much creosote. It still ages, rusts, leaks and fills with nesting material.

The calls we get most are not heavy soot. They are birds and rodents in a flue that sat unused eleven months, spark arrestor screens packed with leaves and needles, rusted-through caps and chase tops, water staining on the wall next to the firebox, and flashing that has failed where a chimney meets stucco or clay tile. Coastal and bay-adjacent zips make it worse — salt-laden marine air eats galvanized caps, dampers and chase covers far faster than inland Ramona or El Cajon. In the chaparral foothills an intact spark arrestor is a code and insurance matter, not optional, and we check it on every visit. The San Diego Air Pollution Control District regulates open burning, and the region's air-quality pressures along with state and local building rules have pushed most new and remodeled homes toward sealed gas log sets and direct-vent gas inserts. So a large share of our work is inspection-driven, including Level 1 and Level 2 and real-estate transaction inspections, and a lot of it is gas service on Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Majestic, Napoleon, Superior and Empire units.

On site the truck carries the rod-and-brush set sized to your flue, a HEPA vacuum, drop cloths for the hearth and floor, and a camera on a pole so we can look up the liner and show you what is actually there instead of describing it. For gas work we bring manometer, combustion tools, a spare set of common thermocouples and thermopiles, and log-set cleaning supplies. We work on open masonry fireplaces, sealed gas inserts and factory-built prefab. We sweep, inspect, and handle caps, chase covers, liners, flues, fireboxes and gas units. We do not do masonry or brickwork, so if a crown needs rebuilding or brick needs repointing we will tell you and hand you off. We also tell people when a chimney does not need sweeping yet, which happens often here, and charge for the inspection instead. On cost, the number moves with access more than anything: a steep tile roof, a two-story chase or a chimney tucked behind solar panels takes longer and needs more setup than a single-story shake. Animal removal, a custom-fabricated chase cover for an odd-sized prefab, or a gas valve that has to be ordered will move it too, and so will whether we find repair work once the camera is up the flue.