How good are chimney sweep inspections?

[Michael6268]

Im fairly lucky, I sweep my three chimneys, and can get a pretty good look at them all from the top and bottom. But I was wondering how sweeps inspect a chimney? After they sweep it, how do they inspect for damage or problems? I know these days, more are using video cameras to lower down the chimney to do a thorough inspection, but what about all the sweeps that don't have cameras? I could be wrong, but I would think more "don't" have cameras than do. What did they do years ago? If you have a relatively short chimney, its not that hard to lower a drop light down and inspect it. But what about 30' 8x8 chimneys with a jog in the middle or something like that? Just how thorough are today's inspections?

 

[webbie]

You are correct that video is needed for the ultimate job - BUT, as with any such inspection a lot can be determined by the parts you can see. Cracked tiles can be seen from the top and bottom, as would missing mortar joints. Also, the general workmanship and age related wear can easily be determined. Most top sweeps will give the video options.

 

[elkimmeg]

all the mordern gagats s do not make up for experience knowing what to look for tell tale signs I'm not a chimney sweep but long ago I know how to build them and know where they fail Cameras are great but still one has to know where to point them and determine what they are looking at

 

[Bones]

Last August I moved into an old log cabin with a wood stove in the fireplace. I had a pro come out for the inital cleaning and inspection.
It seems he was here about 10 years ago and found several cracked tiles, so a stainless liner was installed.

 

[johnsopi]

As other have said, a chimney sweep that has been around a while has seen hundred's of chimneys.

 

[Bones]

I wanted my old wood stove and chimney to be in a safe operation mode. When he was finished, ( 2 1/2 hours),he wrote out
an inspection report with no problems, which I'll keep for insurance. Now I sweep every 2 months JIC.

 

[pulldownclaw]

When we moved in to our new (to us) home almost 2 years ago, we had a chimney inspection done to make sure everything was kosher. He took a look from the top and bottom (no video) and said that the chimney was fine, except the crown had a small crack and it needed to be re-layed at some point. The sweep was a retired fireman who seemed okay to us, what did we know? Well, fast forward to this Fall, when we started to consider replacing the gas logs the former owners had installed in our fireplace, and we hired another company to come out. They said that we had a chimney fire at some point, and that there were damaged tiles/etc. and that we needed to get it relined. We paid to have them do a level 2 (video) inspection, so we could file an insurance claim if needed. This company turned out to be shady, it took us forever just to get the report from them, so we could file it with insurance. Finally, we got the report, plus the pics, and sent it off to the insurance company. Well, the insurance company says "Oh, we've had problems with this sweep before, they're not trustworthy", I am assuming they try to get homeowners to file claims and get paid to do the relines...

So, the insurance co. says they're going to send out their own sweep that they know and trust, and we're saying "Uh oh, there goes our claim". You know what? This company says there was no chimney fire, it was a lightning strike that caused the damage, and the insurance co. looks at their report and strokes us a check for $6k to get a poured masonry liner done! Yes, we did luck out, but the most important thing is that I think we have found a very good chimney company to work with for the future, who does good work and is very knowledgeable. Also, they are looking into getting our stove for us (Hampton HI300) and installing it when they are done with the reline, saving us some bucks.

Sorry for the long story, just wanted to let other newbies know what my limited experience has been, and to try to find the best chimney co./sweep they can. Is there a place on Hearth.com that has a place to recommend companies? That would be a valuable tool for people looking for quality work from contractors.

 

[Bones]

Sorry for the long story, just wanted to let other newbies know what my limited experience has been, and to try to find the best chimney co./sweep they can. Is there a place on Hearth.com that has a place to recommend companies? That would be a valuable tool for people looking for quality work from contractors.

Great idea !