From a chair by the fire, a chimney keeps almost all of its real condition to itself, which is precisely why a camera inspection earns its place on a North Side home. It swaps a hunch for footage you can actually watch. RedLeaf Chimney Crew inspects chimneys across Chicago's North Side, IL whether you are closing on a house, lighting a new home's fireplace for the first time, troubled by a draft or an odor, or simply want a clear answer on whether the chimney is safe to burn. You get a camera run of the full flue, photographs of the crown, cap, and flashing, and a plainspoken written report, with nobody leaning on you to buy anything afterward.
- Camera run the full length of the flue
- Crown, cap, and roofline flashing photographed
- Liner, damper, and smoke chamber assessed
- Firebox and masonry checked for cracking
- Plain written report sorted into fix-now and watch-this
- No obligation and nothing upsold
Everything we actually put a camera and an eye on
An inspection worth what you pay for it takes in the whole chimney, not a flashlight aimed up the firebox. We run a camera the full length of the flue, looking for cracked or shifted liner tiles, gaps where the joints have opened, and the creosote that builds up over a season, and we study the smoke chamber and the smoke shelf, where the smoke first turns the corner and where wear tends to start. From above, we read the crown, the masonry slab that caps the top and is supposed to throw water clear of the flue, because a split crown is one of the most common reasons a North Side chimney begins to leak. We check the cap that is meant to keep out rain, snow, and animals, and we look hard at the flashing where the stack passes through the roof, since flashing that has failed pours water straight into the house alongside the chimney.
Up here we pay particular attention to the points this climate breaks first. The crown and the upper joints that freeze-and-thaw works on every winter, the brick faces that spall and flake once water has soaked in, and the liner tiles that crack under a hard burning season or an old flue fire. A chimney can present beautifully from the parkway while a hairline crack in the crown or a single split tile is already letting water or combustion gases go somewhere they should not. An inspection that understands the order in which these stacks tend to give out catches those faults while they are still cheap to put right.
Inspections for closings, first fires, and plain reassurance
If you are buying a North Side home, the chimney is one of those systems a general home inspector glances at and rarely scans, and on an older greystone or bungalow it can hide a costly liner or masonry problem behind brick that looks perfectly solid. A camera inspection before you close tells you whether you are inheriting a chimney that is ready to burn or one that needs real work, which is exactly the sort of thing that ought to shape an offer. If you are selling, a documented inspection lets you handle the small items ahead of time and hand a buyer footage proving the chimney is sound, instead of letting it become a snag late in the deal.
And if you only want to know where you stand, a scan turns the low hum of worry about an old chimney into a clear picture. Rather than wondering whether the first fire of the season is safe to light, you hold camera footage, a written assessment, and an honest read on what the chimney needs now and what can wait. That is the information you need either to burn with confidence or to budget for the work, and it is the whole reason to look before there is a problem instead of after one.
A report we are willing to put our name on
An inspection is worth only as much as the candor behind it. We record the chimney's condition on camera and in photos and walk you through all of it, and our report says plainly what needs doing now, what can hold a season, and what is perfectly fine left alone. If the chimney is in good shape, that is what you will hear, because telling a homeowner their flue is safe to burn is how we earn the call when real work finally comes due. We do not invent urgency or recommend anything the footage cannot support.
Nothing is attached to the inspection in the way of obligation, and there is no closing pitch waiting at the end. The report and the images are yours to keep whatever you decide, and you are welcome to hold our findings up next to anyone else's. That openness is the whole point. A homeowner who can study the footage themselves arrives at a sounder decision, and a crew that invites that scrutiny is usually the one worth hiring. The best time to scan a chimney is late summer or early fall, ahead of the burning season and the deep cold, while there is still room to seal a crown or set a cap before the first hard freeze.
Every part of the stack, from the hearth to the chimney top
A chimney is a system, so chimney inspection rarely stands alone, it connects to chimney sweep, flashing repair, chimney cap installation, stainless liner installation, masonry restoration, and our crew handles all of it under one roof. We bring the same service to Chimney Inspection in Lincoln Park, Chimney Inspection in Lakeview, Logan Square chimney inspection, Chimney Inspection in Irving Park and everywhere else across the Chicago area.
If you searched for a local chimney crew near you, you have reached a local crew, call 447-212-3361 any time. For background, read Getting a North Side Chimney Ready Before the First Cold Snap on our blog, or head back to our Chicago home page to see everything we do.