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 Inwood
A chimney inspection in Inwood typically runs $189 – $489 depending on the level of scrutiny required, with camera inspections landing between $349 and $489 for most pre-war homes. For routine maintenance, many homeowners also schedule our Chimney Sweep in Inwood to keep their flues clear and safe. We serve every block in Inwood, from the attached row houses on Payson Avenue to the apartment buildings along Broadway. If you’ve never had your flue scoped or your mortar joints examined, call (518) 719-4643 and we’ll give you a written price before any work starts.
Why Alcott Chimney Queens Is Inwood’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Ruben Castellano has built Alcott Chimney Queens on a simple idea: homeowners deserve to know exactly who’s walking through the door and exactly what’s happening inside their chimney. Every technician we send to Inwood is background-checked and identity-verified under the Threshold Standard. Before we arrive, you get the technician’s name and photo. At your door, they show a photo ID badge. No exceptions.
We’ve been servicing New York City’s chimneys since 2002, and Inwood’s housing stock is not like the rest of the city. Pre-war brick row houses with shared chimney stacks require a different kind of inspection than a detached suburban home. We know the difference. Our Chimney Inspection team has walked hundreds of Inwood rooftops, and we schedule our crews to reach Inwood locals without the long waits you’ll get from companies based out on the island.
What keeps Inwood homeowners calling us back is the guarantee: every repair we make carries a written 365-day guarantee. If the repair fails within that year, the second visit is free. Full stop.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Camera Inspection in Inwood
A Chimney Camera Inspection in Inwood is the single best way to see what’s actually happening inside your flue liner without tearing open a wall. We snake a high-resolution camera down the flue and record the whole trip, so you can watch the footage with us and see exactly what we see. No guessing, no vague “it might be cracked” language. You get a photo report you can hold onto.
In Inwood, this service matters more than in most neighborhoods because of the building stock. Our Chimney Inspection in Inwood calls frequently involve attached row houses where flue walls separate one home from the next. A camera inspection is the only way to spot a breach in that shared wall before combustion gases migrate somewhere they shouldn’t be.
What the Camera Sees
The scan documents creosote glaze, cracked terra cotta tiles, open mortar joints, water intrusion stains, and any obstruction blocking the flue. We look at the cap from inside, the crown from outside, and the full liner path from firebox to termination. In cold weather, freeze-thaw cycles near the Hudson River have a way of shifting old brick just enough to open hairline cracks that a Level 1 visual check can’t reach.
When to Book One
Any time you buy or sell an Inwood home, schedule a camera inspection as part of your real estate due diligence. If you’ve never had one and your chimney is original to a pre-1930 structure, that’s another reason to book one before the next burning season. If you smell smoke in a room with no fireplace, don’t wait. Call us.
Fireplace Inspection in Inwood
A Fireplace Inspection in Inwood checks the firebox, damper, smoke shelf, and the first section of flue liner to make sure the fireplace can be used safely. We test the damper’s movement, look for cracked firebrick, examine the hearth clearance, and confirm the smoke path is clear. In Inwood’s older homes, we pay special attention to signs of water damage behind the firebox wall, which is common when a crown or flashing has been leaking for years.
Most Inwood homeowners book this inspection before the first fire of the season or after moving into a new place. If your fireplace was used heavily in a rental unit before you bought the home, there may be creosote buildup above the damper that a basic sweep won’t reach. We find that often.
Firebox and Damper Check
A rusted damper on a ground-floor Inwood fireplace usually means rain water has been getting down the flue through a failed cap. We can tell you whether the damper just needs adjustment or a full replacement, and you’ll get a written price for either path before we touch anything.
For Landlords and Co-op Boards
Inwood apartment buildings with shared chimneys often need multiple fireplace inspections in a single visit. We work with co-op boards and property managers to inspect several units in one appointment and provide individual reports for each address.
Trusted Brands We Service in Inwood
We know Inwood homes don’t need box-store substitutes. That’s why we stock and install materials from manufacturers that chimney professionals specify: DuraFlex for stainless steel liner systems, HeatShield for flue resurfacing without a full rebuild, and Olympia Chimney for caps and dampers. We keep common Inwood replacement parts on our trucks, which means shorter turnarounds when a galvanized cap has rusted through or a liner section needs swapping. If your chimney was serviced before with one of these systems, we can inspect it and repair it to the original specification.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Inwood Homes
- Rusted galvanized caps near the river. Salt air off the Hudson eats galvanized steel in a few years. The mesh rusts out first, then birds and rain get in, and the flue starts taking on water that spalls the brick from the inside.
- Frozen, cracked crowns on pre-1930 stacks. Inwood’s freeze-thaw cycles push water into crown fissures all winter. By March, you see efflorescence streaking down the brick face and loose mortar at the top three courses. A Level 1 visual can miss this, but a close exam of the crown won’t.
- Smoky downdrafts on narrow streets. On blocks like Seaman Avenue, buildings of unequal height create negative pressure zones at chimney terminations. The fireplace backdrafts smoke into the living room even after a clean sweep report. The fix is usually a properly sized cap and a damper adjustment, not another cleaning.
- Shared flue breaches in attached row houses. When two Inwood homes share a chimney stack, a cracked liner in one unit can leak gases into the neighbor’s chase. We’ve found open mortar joints that would have gone undetected without a camera scan.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Inwood, NY
A Level 1 inspection in Inwood runs $189 – $249 for a single fireplace with an accessible roof. A Level 2 camera inspection, which we recommend for most pre-war homes and any real estate transaction, runs $349 – $489. Level 3 inspections, where we partially open a wall or crown to access a suspicious area, are quoted per job after the Level 2 findings. What changes the price: roof access difficulty, number of flues, whether the chimney is shared, and whether we need to bring in scaffolding for a tall stack on an attached row house. Every estimate includes the written price before work begins. Call (518) 719-4643 for a free inspection quote.
We Also Serve Cities Near Inwood
Our crews regularly handle Inwood inspections and often run routes through nearby Woodmere, Valley Stream, East Rockaway, and Lynbrook the same week. If you’re just outside Inwood, call us and we’ll tell you when we’re next on your block.
Serving Inwood, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Inwood 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 Inwood
Even if you never burn a fire, an Inwood chimney should be inspected every two years. The issue isn’t creosote. It’s moisture. Salt air corrodes caps, freeze-thaw cracks crowns, and an unused flue with no heat cycling traps dampness against the terra cotta liner all year. Call (518) 719-4643 and we’ll schedule a moisture-focused inspection.
Yes. Salt-laden air accelerates corrosion on galvanized caps, flashing, and any exposed metal component at the roof line. Within five years, a cheap galvanized cap can rust through and start letting rain into the flue. We recommend stainless steel components for any Inwood chimney, and an inspection every two years to catch the corrosion before it spreads to the brick.
The downdraft is a pressure problem, not a cleanliness problem. Narrow streets and unequal building heights along blocks like Seaman Avenue create negative pressure at certain chimney terminations. Wind hits the taller building, curls over, and pushes smoke back down the shorter stack. A correctly sized cap and a damper adjustment usually solve it. A sweep alone won’t.
A Level 1 checks the accessible parts only: firebox, damper, cap, and what you can see from the roof. A Level 2 adds a full camera scan of the entire flue liner, the smoke chamber, and the interior flue walls. In a pre-1930 Inwood home, a Level 2 is the standard we recommend, because the flaws that matter most in these old buildings are where you can’t see them: hidden cracks, shared flue breaches, and failed mortar joints.
Yes. A camera inspection documents the liner’s interior condition. Cracked terra cotta tiles, open joints, or sections of missing clay are all visible on the footage. If the liner has failed, we’ll show you the images and give you a written price for a replacement option, which could be a full stainless steel liner like DuraFlex or a resurfacing treatment like HeatShield if the structure allows. You’ll have the answer before winter and a plan that fits your budget.
We ran a Chimney Camera Inspection on Payson Avenue after a homeowner reported a persistent smoky smell in a second-floor bedroom. The scan showed a first-degree creosote glaze and a cracked terra cotta flue liner with open mortar joints into the adjoining property’s chase. We recommended a HeatShield resurfacing and a stainless steel cap, and the draft corrected immediately. That’s the kind of specific, verified finding we deliver on every Inwood inspection.
If you own a pre-war Inwood home, a shared chimney stack, or any fireplace near the river, get the inspection that actually matches this neighborhood’s failure patterns. Call (518) 719-4643 for a free estimate, and you’ll get a written price before any work begins. Ruben and the Alcott Chimney Queens team know exactly which failures to look for on your block.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney Queens, serving Inwood since 2002.