Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Fast, Reliable Chimney Inspection Across Houston
A chimney inspection in Houston typically runs $150 to $450 depending on the level, and most homes need a Level 2 camera inspection when buying, selling, or after the big storms Houston gets. We’re Flint Chimney Co Houston, part of the Garrison Partners family that’s done chimney work since 2002, and we show up with a written price before any tool comes off the truck. Call (325) 750-6259 and a live person answers. Not a voicemail tree. Not a callback form. A person who can book your inspection and tell you what to expect.
We work from our Houston office and run crews all over the metro, from the Heights down to Meyerland, out to Baytown and up past Humble. The thing about Houston chimneys is they don’t fail the way chimneys fail in Dallas or Austin. Here it’s the clay soil and the humidity that get you. More on that below.
Why Flint Chimney Co Houston Is Houston’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Houston homeowners deal with chimney companies that no-show, quote one price over the phone and a different one at the door, and push liner replacements nobody can verify. We run different. Every inspection gets a written scope and a written price before any work begins. The number on the invoice is the number you approved. That’s The Garrison Standard, the operating code every Garrison Partners location follows.
Our technicians are background-checked and uniformed. You know exactly who’s walking through your door in Houston, whether that door is in Braeswood Place, Spring Branch, or Kingwood. We don’t send subcontractors. We don’t rotate through random crews. The person who answers your call works for us, and the person who climbs on your roof works for us.
Every repair we recommend carries a written 365-Day Done Right Promise. If a covered repair fails within a year, we come back and fix it at no charge. No argument. No re-quote. That’s in writing on every repair ticket we hand a Houston customer. And we’ve been doing it since 2002 under Garrison Partners, so this isn’t a new company testing out a warranty on your dime.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Leak in Houston
A Chimney Leak in Houston usually isn’t the flashing failing on its own. It’s the house moving. Houston sits on expansive clay soil, and when that soil swells after rain and shrinks during dry spells, the chimney stack can move at a different rate than the rest of the structure. The seal at the roofline breaks. Water gets in. Then you see stains on the ceiling near the fireplace, or rust streaks down the brick exterior, and by then moisture has probably been working on the flue liner for months. Spotting a leak and assuming it’s just caulk is the expensive way to do it.
Where Houston Leaks Actually Start
Flashing, crown cracks, and spalling brick are the obvious entry points. But humidity in Houston means water vapor alone can condense inside an unlined flue and soak the masonry from the inside. We check moisture content in the mortar joints and run a camera up the flue to find the real path of water entry before recommending any fix.
What a Houston Chimney Leak Costs
Flashing repair in Houston runs $300 to $700 on a typical single-family home. Crown repair runs $400 to $800 if it’s cracked but structurally sound. If water has been moving through the flue liner and the clay tiles are cracked, a Stainless liner from DuraFlex or HeatShield resurfacing runs $2,800 to $6,500 depending on flue length and access. We show you the camera footage before we quote that work. You see what we see. If the camera shows a sound flue, we tell you that and we don’t sell you a liner. Plain and simple.
Chimney Camera Inspection in Houston
A Chimney Camera Inspection in Houston is the only way to see what clay soil movement has done inside the flue. Houston’s expansive clay, especially in Meyerland and Braeswood Place, shifts the chimney stack enough to crack clay tile liners and shear mortar joints in the smoke chamber. Those cracks are invisible from the roof or the firebox. The camera finds them. A visual-only inspection calls those chimneys clean when they’re not.
What the Camera Sees
We run a high-resolution camera head up the entire flue, from firebox to crown. The feed shows cracked tiles, separated mortar joints, rust on metal flues, creosote glaze, nests, and any offset in the stack. The photos go into your inspection report. If you’re selling a home in Houston, that report is what a buyer’s inspector wants to see. If you’re buying, it’s what keeps you from inheriting a $6,000 liner replacement someone papered over with paint.
When Houston Requires It
Level 2 camera inspections are the standard for real estate transactions anywhere in Harris County. We also recommend one after any storm that dropped heavy rain on your roof, after a chimney fire, or if you’ve lived in the home more than three years and don’t know the flue liner condition. A camera inspection in Houston runs $250 to $450 depending on chimney height and access. The photos are yours to keep.
In Meyerland, our crew inspected a 1970s masonry chimney with a clay tile flue that had pulled away from the house by nearly two inches at the roofline. The clay soil movement had sheared the flashing, and our camera showed cracked tiles and missing mortar in the smoke chamber. A brush-only cleaning was never going to address that. We recommended structural repair before any sweeping, showed the homeowner every photo, and gave a written quote with the scope spelled out. That’s how we operate in Houston.
Trusted Brands We Service in Houston
When repairs are actually needed, we don’t install whatever’s on the truck. We specify by job. For Houston’s humid climate, we stock and install DuraFlex stainless liners, HeatShield resurfacing systems, and Gelco waterproofing products. These hold up to Houston’s moisture and temperature swings better than bargain liners. If your chimney needs an Olympia Chimney cap or chase cover, we keep common Houston sizes in stock at our office, which means faster turnaround for Chimney Inspection in Houston. You can verify the product quality yourself before approving anything. We’d rather you do that than take our word for it.
See the difference
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AfterCommon Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Houston Homes
- Clay tile liner cracks from soil movement. Expansive clay under Meyerland and Braeswood Place shifts chimney stacks, and hairline cracks in the tile let heat and gases reach the masonry. Our Chimney Inspection camera picks this up before it becomes a hazard.
- Moisture intrusion in unlined flues. Older Heights bungalows and 1960s brick veneer homes often vent furnaces and water heaters into stacks that were never built for it. That condensation eats mortar from the inside and nobody sees it until the brick starts spalling and flaking off.
- Rust and deterioration on prefabricated chimneys. Houston’s humidity corrodes metal flues and chase tops faster than drier cities. We see rusted chase tops in subdivisions all over the metro, and when water gets past the chase cover, the firebox and surrounding framing rot from the top down.
- Creosote glaze from occasional burning. Houston winters are mild but damp, so homeowners might burn a fire a dozen times a year. The fires never get hot enough to burn off creosote, and it builds into a hard glaze that a standard brush can’t remove. That’s when a camera inspection separates a routine sweep from a real problem.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Houston, TX
A Level 1 visual inspection runs $99 to $175 in Houston. That’s the one where we check accessible areas, the firebox, and the flue with a flashlight. A Level 2 camera inspection runs $250 to $450 and is what Houston home sales, storm damage checks, and post-fire calls require. A Level 3 inspection, which involves opening up a wall or removing part of the chimney to access hidden areas, starts at $1,500 and goes up based on what has to come apart. Chimney leaks with camera diagnosis run $300 to $500 for the inspection and diagnosis, then repairs are quoted separately in writing. You get the written price before any work starts, and the estimate is free. Call (325) 750-6259 to book.
We Also Serve Cities Near Houston
Our crews run from the Houston office into Channelview, Humble, Deer Park, and Baytown regularly, so scheduling an inspection in those communities doesn’t mean waiting on a crew from across the state. Same written pricing, same 365-Day Done Right Promise, same live-person phone coverage. If you’re anywhere in the Houston metro, we’ll get a crew to your chimney.
Serving Houston, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Houston area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Inspection in Houston
Houston’s expansive clay soil swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and that movement can shift your chimney stack enough to crack the flue liner and break the flashing at the roofline. During a chimney inspection in Houston, we check the stack for lean, look for cracks at the roofline, and run a camera through the flue to find liner damage that soil movement caused. A chimney in Houston needs more than a visual once-over because the ground under it is actively working against the masonry. Call (325) 750-6259 and ask for a Level 2 camera inspection if your neighborhood sits on clay soil – most of Harris County does.
Yes, because Houston’s humidity does the damage even when the fireplace stays cold. Moisture in the air condenses inside unlined or cracked flues, rusts metal components, and soaks into mortar. Furnaces and water heaters venting into the same chimney add acidic condensation that eats the liner from the inside. A chimney inspection in Houston checks for water damage and appliance venting issues regardless of how often you burn. The inspection costs $99 to $450 depending on level, and the camera footage tells us exactly what’s going on without guessing.
A camera inspection travels the full length of the flue and shows cracked tiles, separated mortar joints, rust on metal liners, creosote glaze, and hidden offsets in the stack. From the roof or firebox with a flashlight, those conditions are invisible. In Houston homes especially, where clay soil movement creates hidden cracks at the roofline and inside the flue, the camera is the only way to document what’s actually wrong before recommending repairs. We don’t recommend a liner, and we don’t quote a single repair, without showing you the footage first.
If fires burn cool and the chimney doesn’t draft well, creosote builds into a hard, glassy glaze that a standard sweep brush can’t remove. That’s common in Houston where fires are infrequent and never burn hot enough to clear the residue. The only way to tell the difference between brushable creosote and hardened glaze is with a camera inspection. If the camera shows glaze, you need chemical treatment or mechanical removal, not just a sweep. Call (325) 750-6259 and we’ll schedule the inspection and give you a written price for whatever the camera actually shows.
It happens constantly, and yes, many older Houston homes have furnace and water heater flues running into masonry chimneys that were built for open fireplaces, not continuous appliance venting. That mismatch creates condensation, which soaks into the mortar, causes spalling brick on the exterior, and can allow carbon monoxide to backdraft into the home. A chimney inspection in Houston checks the venting setup, the flue size, and the liner condition using a camera. If the stack was never designed for appliances, we’ll tell you, show you the photos, and quote only what’s actually needed in writing.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Co Houston, serving Houston and the surrounding metro.