We Document The Damage. Your Carrier Decides The Claim.
Photographed, measured, dated, and written against the standard each component has to meet — including a plain statement of what the evidence indicates about cause, whether or not that reading helps the claim.
We are not your representative and we do not negotiate with insurers. What we produce is evidence — and we will say when the evidence doesn't support the claim.
Read this part before you call anyone.
Chimney claims attract companies that promise things nobody in this trade is in a position to promise. Here is the boundary, drawn in both directions, so you can hold us to it and use it to measure whoever else you call.
- Inspect and camera-scan the chimney after storm, lightning, impact, or a flue fire, including the components that are only reachable from the roof
- Photograph every affected component with a date on the file, and measure what can be measured rather than describing it
- State the condition we found and, where the physical evidence supports a conclusion, what caused it
- Write the repair scope line by line with costs, so a scope reviewer can check any single item instead of accepting a total
- Cite the standard behind each finding — NFPA 211 or the applicable IRC section — so the file is checkable by someone who was not on site
- Meet your adjuster at the property and answer scope questions directly, including the ones we would rather not be asked
- Re-document the chimney after repairs so the file closes with proof the work was done
- Negotiate with your insurer, or act as your representative in a claim — that is not our role and we are not licensed for it
- Tell you a claim will be approved, or estimate what it will pay. Nobody outside your carrier can honestly do either
- Describe long-term weathering, freeze-thaw spalling, or ordinary age as storm damage, no matter how the request is phrased
- Pad a scope with items the damage does not justify, which is the fastest way to get a legitimate claim scrutinized line by line
- Interpret your policy. What is covered is between you and your insurer, and if you want an advocate on that side of it, a licensed public adjuster is the professional who does that work
- Work on a percentage of a claim. The documentation is a flat quoted fee whatever the settlement turns out to be
Four questions. Everything else is commentary.
An adjuster is not hostile, but they are working a file and the file has to stand without them. These are the four things it has to establish, and the four things the visit is organised around.
What failed?
Component by component: crown, cap, flashing, the masonry stack, the liner, the firebox, the appliance connection. Each one gets its own entry rather than a paragraph about "the chimney," because a carrier prices components and not adjectives.
When did it fail?
Dated photographs from the visit, plus whatever the physical evidence says about age — a fresh fracture face is a different colour and texture from one that has been weathering for six winters. Where the date of loss cannot be established from the chimney itself, the report says so rather than guessing at one that helps.
What caused it?
Impact, wind, lightning, a flue fire, and long-term water entry leave different signatures. We describe the signature we found and the conclusion it supports. When two causes are plausible and the evidence does not separate them, the finding reads undetermined — which is a real answer and is more defensible than the convenient one.
What does it cost to put back?
An itemized repair scope: the component, the correction, the code requirement it has to satisfy, and the price of that line. It is written to be read against an adjuster's own estimate, so the disagreements land on specific lines instead of on the bottom of the page.
Storm damage and old damage do not look the same.
Most chimney claims are not decided on whether something is broken. They are decided on why. A crown that fractured under hail has bright, sharp fracture faces and often a strike pattern across the same elevation. A crown that failed from ten years of freeze-thaw has rounded, soiled edges, staining that has had time to run, and cracking that follows the shrinkage pattern rather than an impact path. Displaced masonry from wind tends to be directional. Masonry that has crept from settlement is not.
We read those signatures and write what we read. If the damage is age, the report says age — that costs us the repair job as often as it costs you the claim, and it is still the only version of this service worth buying. If two mechanisms are both consistent with what is on the roof, the finding says undetermined instead of picking the useful one.
A chimney does not always preserve enough evidence to date a loss. Where a component has already been repaired, replaced, tarped for weeks, or cleaned up before we arrive, the honest report is narrower than the one you were hoping for. We would rather hand you a narrow report you can rely on than a confident one that falls apart when a second inspector looks at the same roof.
Four things worth doing in the first day or two.
Make it safe first, but photograph before you cover it
An open flue or a breached chase in a wet week does more damage every hour, so a tarp or a temporary cap should not wait for anybody's schedule. Take photographs from the ground before that covering goes on, though — once the damage is under a tarp, the only record of what it looked like is whatever somebody happened to capture first.
Keep what came off the roof
Displaced brick, a torn chase cover, a cap that ended up in the yard, fractured crown fragments. They are physical evidence of a mechanism, and they answer questions that photographs of the empty space cannot. Move them somewhere dry rather than into a dumpster.
Do not let anyone demolish ahead of the documentation
A contractor who tears out the damaged section before it is recorded has removed the proof the claim rests on. That is worth saying to whoever arrives first, because after a regional storm the first knock on the door is often someone eager to start immediately.
A temporary repair does not commit you to the permanent one
We will tarp, cap, or stabilize to stop active damage, and that is a separate quoted line. Taking it does not obligate you to use us for the rebuild, and the documentation packet is yours either way — including if you hand it to a different contractor.
A file that reads without us in the room.
Dated photo set, component by component
Exterior, roofline, firebox, and stills captured from the flue camera. Overview shots to establish location, close shots to establish condition — an adjuster reviewing remotely needs both to place a defect on the building.
Findings written against a standard
Each item names the requirement it fails: NFPA 211, the IRC section, or the appliance listing. A finding tied to a published standard survives a second opinion. One tied to a technician's judgement usually does not.
Itemized repair scope with costs
Line by line, each line traceable to the photograph that justifies it. Partial approvals become possible, and a scope reviewer can argue with one item without the whole estimate being reopened.
Safe-to-use or do-not-use verdict
When lightning or a flue fire is involved, the safety question outranks the money question. We issue a written verdict, and where the evidence supports one, a do-not-use notice you can act on the same day.
Cause-of-loss narrative
A short written account of what the physical evidence indicates and what it rules out — including, when that is the honest reading, that the damage predates the event being claimed.
Post-repair documentation
The same components photographed after the corrections, so the file closes with evidence rather than an invoice. Useful later, too: the next inspection has a dated baseline to compare against.
A flat fee. Never a percentage of a settlement.
Moves with access difficulty, stack height, and how many components are involved. Repairs are quoted separately, after the findings exist and never bundled into the documentation fee.
Whether your carrier reimburses this fee is their decision under your policy, and we have no influence over it — so plan on paying it and treat any reimbursement as a bonus. Tying our fee to a settlement would give us a stake in the size of the claim, which is precisely what makes a report unusable.
Prices shown are starting estimates and may change with the condition, access, and scope we find on site. Only a written quote from an on-site visit is a price we commit to.
Claim documentation
The service page: scope, duration, deliverables and starting price.
OpenPost-fire inspection
The Level 2 NFPA 211 calls for before a chimney is used again.
OpenEmergency response
Active water entry, an unstable stack, or damage that cannot wait.
OpenCrown & flashing repair
The two components that carry most storm and water claims.
OpenTell us the date of the event. Then tell us what has already been touched.
Both matter. The date sets what we are looking for; what has already been tarped, swept up, or repaired sets what is still there to find. If your adjuster has scheduled an inspection, say when — being on the roof at the same time is usually worth more than two separate visits.
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Chimney claims — FAQ
Is this going to be covered?
We cannot answer that, and neither can anyone else outside your carrier. Coverage turns on your policy language read against the loss, and we have neither the policy nor the authority. What is inside our control is whether the file in front of the adjuster is specific, dated, measured, and tied to published standards. A well-documented claim can still be denied. A poorly documented one hands the denial an easy reason.
Will you talk to my adjuster?
Yes — on site, walking the chimney, answering questions about scope and condition. That is a technical conversation and a useful one. What it is not is a negotiation: we are not going to argue coverage, push for a number, or represent your interests against the carrier. If you want someone doing that, a licensed public adjuster is the professional for it, and we will hand them the same documentation.
The adjuster called it wear and tear. Can you write it up as storm damage?
Not unless that is what the chimney shows. Sometimes the adjuster is right and the cracking has been progressing for years. Sometimes there is impact evidence at a specific elevation, a directional pattern, or fresh fracture faces that a ground-level look missed, and putting that in writing with photographs gives the adjuster a concrete reason to re-examine. Which of those it is gets decided on the roof, not in advance.
My claim was already denied. Is there any point?
Sometimes, and you should know which situation you are in before you spend anything. Where the denial rests on missing or thin documentation, a proper inspection can supply what was never gathered. Where it rests on a policy exclusion, no amount of photography moves it and you would be paying us to confirm a dead end. Read us the denial letter on the phone and we will say which one it sounds like.
You write the scope and you also do the repairs. Isn't that a conflict?
It is a fair thing to be suspicious of, and the honest answer is that the structure only works because of what it exposes. Every line in the scope names the component, the failure, and the standard it violates, with a photograph attached — which means an adjuster or a competing contractor can check any line and find the inflated one if it exists. You are also free to take the scope elsewhere; the packet is yours whether or not we do the work.
What does an insurer want after a chimney fire specifically?
A Level 2 inspection before the system is used again — that is what NFPA 211 calls for after any chimney fire, and carriers generally expect it. Practically, that means a full camera scan of the flue, examination of every accessible pass-through, and a written verdict on whether the chimney can be operated. Heat damage is frequently invisible from the firebox, which is exactly why the standard asks for the camera.
How fast can you get out after a big storm?
Slower than either of us would like, and it is better to hear that now. A regional hail or wind event floods every roof-access trade at once, and we are in that queue with everyone else. We triage: active water entering the house and structurally unsafe stacks go first, documentation-only visits go behind them. If your chimney is stable and dry, the honest expectation is days rather than hours.
What does the documentation cost, and can I claim it back?
It is a quoted flat fee, never a percentage of a settlement — the starting figure is on this page and the final number depends on access and how much of the structure is involved. Whether your carrier reimburses it is entirely their call under your policy, and we have no way to influence that, so do not treat the fee as recoverable until your insurer says it is.
Get it inspected. Get it in writing.
Flat fee confirmed when you book. Same-week scheduling. A pass/fail verdict within 48 hours.
24/7 Response
Chimney fire, storm hit, active leak, or a flue you're not sure about? We answer 7 AM to midnight and the assessment ends in a written safe-to-use verdict — including a do-not-use notice when the evidence supports one. After-hours dispatch runs subject to crew availability.
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