A Chimney Report Your Client Can Hand To The Other Side.
A camera-scanned inspection built around a closing deadline — pass or fail by system, a photo behind every finding, the standard it was measured against, and an itemized repair quote that a credit conversation can actually be negotiated from.
Tell us your option-period or closing date when you book — we schedule to it, and the written report follows within 48 hours of the visit.
It almost always shows up late, vague, and expensive.
A general home inspection stops at the damper
A general inspector examines what is readily accessible and says so in their own scope language. They are not running a camera up 22 feet of flue. That's not a knock on them — it's the boundary of the discipline, and it's why chimney findings so often read as "recommend evaluation by a qualified specialist."
NFPA 211 asks for more at a property transfer
The national standard calls for a Level 2 inspection when a property changes hands, when the appliance or fuel type changes, and after any chimney fire or operating malfunction. Property transfer is on that list explicitly. A Level 2 includes a video scan of the full flue interior.
The clock is the real constraint
Texas option periods are short and the specialist referral usually arrives late in them. If the evaluation can't be scheduled, performed and written before the deadline, the buyer is choosing between waiving something and walking — which is a bad menu.
"Recommend further evaluation" is not a number
Nobody can negotiate against a sentence. What moves a deal is a scope: this component, this defect, this fix, this cost. Until the finding has a dollar figure attached to it, both sides are arguing about an unknown.
Level 2 scope, on a transaction clock.
This is the inspection level NFPA 211 associates with a property transfer. Most homes take 60 to 120 minutes on site. What follows is what a technician is looking at during it.
- Video scan of the full flue interior — the tile gaps, cracked joints, spalled liner and misalignment a flashlight check cannot see or rule out
- Firebox, damper and smoke chamber — condition, operation, and construction defects that affect whether it can be used safely
- Attic, crawl space and any level the chimney passes through, where accessible — the concealed clearance-to-combustible conditions that a finished-room inspection misses
- Crown, cap, spark arrestor and flashing from the roof where access is safe, with the reason noted in the report when it isn't
- Masonry, mortar joints and the exterior stack for movement, separation and water entry
- Gas appliance venting where one is installed — connector, termination, clearances, and a CO check at the appliance
- Clearance to combustibles and hearth extension dimensions measured against the applicable code, not eyeballed
- Evidence of a previous chimney fire, unpermitted alteration, or an appliance that doesn't match the flue it's connected to
Evidence, not an opinion with a logo.
Pass or fail, by system
Each checkpoint returns a pass or a fail against written criteria. No adjectives standing in for a verdict, and no findings manufactured to justify the visit.
A photo behind every fail
Including stills captured from the flue scan. Neither side of a negotiation should have to take a hidden defect on faith, or take a hidden defect's absence on faith either.
The standard each finding is measured against
NFPA 211 or the applicable IRC section, cited on the finding. That's what turns "the liner is bad" into a statement the other side's contractor can check.
An itemized repair quote
Line by line, each line traceable to the finding that justifies it. This is the document a repair-credit conversation runs on, because it can be approved in parts.
A plain-English summary
One page a client can read without a trade dictionary: what's wrong, what it means for using the fireplace, and what happens if nothing is done.
Delivered against your deadline
Tell us the option-period or closing date when you book and we schedule to it. The written report follows within 48 hours of the visit.
Selling, buying, or standing between the two.
Selling
Get the chimney inspected before you list. Defects you find first are priced by you; defects the buyer finds are priced by them, under time pressure, with a walk-away threat attached. A clean report is also a disclosure asset.
If the report finds something expensive, that's information you were going to receive anyway — the only variable was whether you received it before or after you set the price.
Buying
Book during the option period, ideally the day the general inspection flags the chimney. You get a camera-scanned verdict and a repair cost, which is what you actually need to decide between asking for a credit, asking for repairs, or walking.
A chimney that has never been used is not the same as a chimney that is safe. Unused flues hide animal nests, deteriorated caps, and construction defects that were never exposed by a fire.
Representing a client
Hand your client a document that reads as evidence: findings, photos, code citations, and a cost per line. It answers the other agent's questions without you having to translate a technician's shorthand at 9pm.
We report what the chimney shows, favorable or not, on both sides of the table. A report that bends toward whoever paid for it is worth nothing in a negotiation, which is the entire reason it's worth something in this one.
A list can be negotiated. A lump sum can only be argued about.
Every defect gets its own line, its own photo, and its own cost. That structure is what lets a deal move: the seller repairs the two safety items, credits the liner, and both sides drop the cosmetic spalling once they can see it’s cosmetic. A camera-scanned transaction report starts at $189; repairs, if anyone wants them, are quoted separately and there is no obligation to have us do them.
We don’t pay referral fees, we don’t co-brand the report, and we don’t soften findings for the side that booked us. A document that can be suspected of any of those things is worth nothing at the table — which is the point of not doing them.
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.
Transaction report
The service page: scope, timing and what the deliverable includes.
OpenLevel 2 inspection
The camera-scanned standard NFPA 211 associates with a property transfer.
OpenLiner installation
The repair line that most often carries the weight in a credit negotiation.
OpenPricing
How inspection fees and repair quotes are structured before you book.
OpenBuying or selling one house? Book the inspection.
Give us the address and your deadline and we’ll schedule against the date, not around it.
Brokerage, team, or a portfolio of listings? Use the form instead. Standing turnaround windows and a single point of contact are worth setting up once rather than negotiating per deal.
Request a compliance quote
Single-site, multifamily, or national portfolio — tell us the system and the sites.
Chimneys at closing — FAQ
Our home inspector already looked at the chimney. Why pay for another inspection?
Because they looked at what was readily accessible, which is what their scope covers. They didn't run a camera up the flue, and the defects that cost real money — cracked or separated liner tiles, a breach into a wall cavity, clearance violations behind finished surfaces — live where a flashlight doesn't reach. If their report says "recommend evaluation by a qualified specialist," this is that evaluation.
Can you get out before our option period ends?
Tell us the deadline when you book and we schedule against it rather than into the next open slot. The written report follows within 48 hours of the visit. If your date genuinely can't be met, we'll say so on the phone instead of taking the booking and letting you find out later.
Do you write the report for the buyer or for the seller?
We write it for the chimney. The findings and the photos are the same regardless of who booked it, and we'll say what we found whether or not it helps the person paying. That's not a stance we take for its own sake — a report that leans toward its buyer is worthless the moment the other side's contractor looks at it.
The seller has a chimney report from eight months ago. Is it still good?
It depends on what happened in between. A report predating a hard winter of use, a roof replacement, a storm, or any work on the chimney is describing a different chimney than the one you're buying. Read it — a prior report is genuinely useful — but treat it as history rather than as a current condition statement, especially if it's from before the last heating season.
How does a finding turn into a repair credit?
Through the itemized quote. Each defect carries its own cost line traced to its own photo, so the two sides can negotiate the list rather than a lump sum: seller repairs items one and three, credits item two, and item four turns out to be cosmetic and is dropped. What kills these conversations is a single number with nothing behind it — that's what the itemization is for.
If repairs get done as part of the deal, will you re-inspect?
Yes, and it's worth doing. A re-inspection confirms the corrections were actually made and made correctly, with the same photo documentation, so the buyer isn't closing on a credit and a promise. If we performed the repairs, the re-inspection documents our own work to the same standard.
Can you certify the chimney for the closing?
We issue a written condition report describing what the chimney was on the date we inspected it, with the standards each finding was measured against. That's what a lender, a carrier, or a buyer's inspector is looking for. What no honest company will give you is a certificate guaranteeing future performance — a chimney is a system in use, and the report describes a condition, not a warranty.
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.
Emergency line