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Chimney Inspection in San Bruno, CA
Level 1 and Level 2 inspections to CSIA standard, with camera footage and a written report you can hand to an agent or an insurer.
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Chimney Inspection for San Bruno homes
San Bruno is a post-war city and the chimneys reflect that almost uniformly. Belle Air, Crestmoor and Rollingwood went up quickly in the 1940s and 1950s to house families working at the airport and the shipyards, and the fireplaces built into those homes were modest, standardised and, in a great many cases, built with a single wythe of brick and no liner at all. That is the defining local issue. It is not dramatic and it rarely announces itself, but a camera in the flue of a typical Crestmoor house frequently finds open mortar joints between the firebox and the roofline. Sitting in the gap in the hills that funnels wind off the ocean, San Bruno stacks also take more direct weather than their neighbors a mile east.
Almost entirely 1940s-1950s tract housing with modest standardised fireplaces, commonly single-wythe brick with no liner. Open interior mortar joints are the routine camera finding. The city sits in a wind gap off the Pacific, so stacks weather harder than in sheltered neighboring cities.
Included in every job
- You see what we see
- Written and defensible
- Escrow deadlines met
- Repairs quoted, not guessed
Warning signs
When San Bruno homes need this service
- You are buying or selling a house with a fireplace
- The chimney has been through an earthquake or a heavy storm
- There has been a chimney fire, even a small one
- You are switching fuels or fitting a new stove or insert
- The fireplace has been unused for several years
- You can see cracks, missing mortar or a leaning stack from outside
- Water is getting in, or there are damp patches on the wall around the chimney
Chimney Inspection in San Bruno
Call (209) 447-0752 for same-week availability.
Process
How the visit works
Confirm the right level
Level 1 for an annual check on a system in continued service. Level 2 for a sale, a fuel change, or after an event that could have damaged the flue.
Inspect the readily accessible
Firebox, damper, smoke chamber, hearth, the visible exterior structure and the clearances to combustible material.
Camera the full flue
A camera run of the whole liner, which is what turns a Level 1 into a Level 2 and what finds cracked tiles and open joints.
Check the exterior and roof
Crown, cap, flashing, mortar joints and the condition of the stack above the roofline.
Deliver the report
Findings, photographs, the standard applied and a clear statement of what is safe to use and what is not.
Questions
FAQs
What does an unlined chimney mean for a 1950s San Bruno house?
It means there is no continuous barrier between the fire and the masonry, and in a lot of these houses framing timbers sit close to or against the chimney breast. It does not mean the house is about to burn down, but it does mean a camera inspection is worth doing before you burn much more in it.
Is the wind why my fireplace smokes?
It can be. San Bruno sits in a gap that funnels ocean wind, and a downdraught in an exposed stack pushes smoke back into the room. The fix is usually a correctly specified cap rather than anything structural.
What is the difference between Level 1 and Level 2?
Level 1 covers the readily accessible parts of a system that is in continued service with no changes. Level 2 adds a camera scan of the full flue and is the standard required when a property is sold, when the fuel or appliance changes, or after an event such as an earthquake or a chimney fire.
I am selling my house and the buyer wants a chimney report.
That is a Level 2 inspection. We schedule around the escrow date, run the camera through the whole flue and send a written report with photographs, usually the same or next day.
Contact Alpine Chimney
Alpine Chimney Company
1080 Broadway
Millbrae, CA 94030
(209) 447-0752
info@alpinechimneycompany.com
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