Hi everyone. I was hoping that someone more experienced than myself might be able to lend an opinion here. I recently bought a home with a fireplace, built about 15 years ago. If it's helpful for context, everything in the house is in tip top shape and is very well built, so I have no doubts about any of the general workmanship (it was owned by the contractor who built it).
We had an issue with squirrels getting into the house through the chimney (that was fun), so I wanted to sort that out ASAP in addition to having the chimney inspected before using it this winter. Our inspector came from a very established chimney company. He peeked in the bottom of the chimney, then he went to the top of the chimney and looked around. In addition to temporarily sealing off the opening until we can get a mason to put something up there to keep out rodents, he pointed out that there was a creosote buildup between the two pipes at the top of the chimney--in his opinion it was not safely usable. He showed me a photo of it in person, and there was definitely a black buildup between the two pipes, but this photo wasn't in his report so I don't have it to share unfortunately. He seemed to think it resulted from not having a proper cap/airflow at the top. The cap is not a traditional one, but a large flat piece of stone that sits a foot or so above the chimney pipe, resting on stone pillars (see photos). His general opinion was that you don't know how far down the chimney the creosote goes, and given the way it is built, it would be very difficult to clean and that he would recommend opening up the chimney or potentially just redoing the whole chimney. Either is obviously thousands or tens of thousands in cost. It seemed extreme to us, and our neighbors who also used them for an inspection mentioned having a very salesman/expensive brochure type experience with them so we wanted to get a second opinion.
That second opinion came today, from a smaller mom-and-pop type shop. He thought what the previous company told us and did was ridiculous and didn't bother to even go to the top of the chimney. He looked up from the bottom and said the chimney is clean as a whistle. He said he could even see brush marks and that it was likely cleaned not long before we bought the house.
So now I'm not really sure how to proceed here--how big of a deal would a creosote buildup at the top of a chimney be? Is there a way for them to clean down into it with the tight space you see in the photos? Anything that could help me gauge the situation would be most appreciated.
![[Hearth.com] Chimney Dilemma](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/269/269492-48e7b42315cf0a44e8bc7ee451732323.jpg?hash=EiBnThxYQc "[Hearth.com] Chimney Dilemma")
![[Hearth.com] Chimney Dilemma](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/269/269493-ed4126bc0cb21a1d6d8c1a3a49832635.jpg?hash=su5uO0qEPI "[Hearth.com] Chimney Dilemma")
We had an issue with squirrels getting into the house through the chimney (that was fun), so I wanted to sort that out ASAP in addition to having the chimney inspected before using it this winter. Our inspector came from a very established chimney company. He peeked in the bottom of the chimney, then he went to the top of the chimney and looked around. In addition to temporarily sealing off the opening until we can get a mason to put something up there to keep out rodents, he pointed out that there was a creosote buildup between the two pipes at the top of the chimney--in his opinion it was not safely usable. He showed me a photo of it in person, and there was definitely a black buildup between the two pipes, but this photo wasn't in his report so I don't have it to share unfortunately. He seemed to think it resulted from not having a proper cap/airflow at the top. The cap is not a traditional one, but a large flat piece of stone that sits a foot or so above the chimney pipe, resting on stone pillars (see photos). His general opinion was that you don't know how far down the chimney the creosote goes, and given the way it is built, it would be very difficult to clean and that he would recommend opening up the chimney or potentially just redoing the whole chimney. Either is obviously thousands or tens of thousands in cost. It seemed extreme to us, and our neighbors who also used them for an inspection mentioned having a very salesman/expensive brochure type experience with them so we wanted to get a second opinion.
That second opinion came today, from a smaller mom-and-pop type shop. He thought what the previous company told us and did was ridiculous and didn't bother to even go to the top of the chimney. He looked up from the bottom and said the chimney is clean as a whistle. He said he could even see brush marks and that it was likely cleaned not long before we bought the house.
So now I'm not really sure how to proceed here--how big of a deal would a creosote buildup at the top of a chimney be? Is there a way for them to clean down into it with the tight space you see in the photos? Anything that could help me gauge the situation would be most appreciated.
