Level 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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Inspection Across Cibolo
A chimney inspection in Cibolo typically costs $189 – $425 depending on the level, with a Level 1 running $189 – $249 and a Level 2 camera inspection at $349 – $425. Most Cibolo homes need something closer to the Level 2 because nearly every fireplace here is a factory-built zero-clearance unit that requires the firebox opened, the refractory panels and gaskets checked, and the flue scoped by camera. Our team knows these subdivisions house by house. If you’re off FM 1103, in Falcon Ridge, or tucked into a cul-de-sac off Green Valley Road, we’ll get a background-checked, identity-verified technician to your door fast. Call (336) 863-3889 to book.
Why Alcott Chimney Sweep Is Cibolo’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Alcott Chimney Sweep has been running inspections on Cibolo’s post-2000 tract homes since the first big wave of subdivisions went in. Ruben Castellano built this company on a simple idea: a homeowner should know exactly who is walking up the driveway before the doorbell rings. Every technician we send to Cibolo passes a background check and identity verification through the Threshold Standard, and you’ll receive their name and photo before they arrive. That is not an upgrade. It is how we operate, every single visit.
We also put our pricing in writing before any work starts. No gray area on labor, no surprise line item for a part. You approve the number, then we work. If we complete a repair and it fails within the coverage period, the second visit is free. That is the 365-Day Done Right Promise, written on every repair ticket. For Cibolo homeowners with military rotations through JBSA, that means accountability that survives even if your next PCS takes you somewhere else.
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Cibolo
A Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Cibolo is the inspection you need when you bought a home without fireplace service records, when the previous owner was a rotating military family, or when anything about the system has changed. This is the camera-scoped inspection. We open the firebox, remove or peer past the panels, run a camera up the flue liner, check the termination cap from the roof, and photograph everything. In Cibolo, where the housing stock is almost entirely 2003-and-newer factory-built fireplaces from brands like Heat & Glo and Heatilator, the camera work matters more than most owners realize. A cracked refractory panel or a failing gasket does not leave the same visible tar residue a masonry chimney does. You will not see the problem from the living room. The camera sees it.
Camera Scoping and Refractory Panel Assessment
Our techs run a high-resolution push camera from the firebox floor to the termination cap on every Level 2 inspection. On a zero-clearance unit, the three things we are hunting for are hairline cracks in the refractory panels, gasket material around the damper and doors, and warping or rust at the metal cap. A 3-inch crack in a back panel is not cosmetic. It allows heat to radiate toward the combustible framing of the chase, and that is how a “new” prefab fireplace becomes a fire hazard.
We photograph all of it and show you the images before we recommend anything. If the panels look fine, we say so and document that they look fine. You keep the photos. You are not taking our word for it.
Real Estate and Pre-Purchase Inspections
Cibolo’s relocation economy means homes change hands often, and a pre-purchase chimney inspection here is different from one in a city with older masonry homes. The buyer needs to know whether the factory-built unit was ever serviced, whether the refractory panels are original, and whether the cap is intact enough to keep out the swifts and squirrels that use our wet, mild winters to nest. A Level 2 inspection with photo documentation gives the buyer real information before closing, and gives the seller the documentation they need to satisfy a savvy buyer’s inspector.
Chimney Leak in Cibolo
A Chimney Leak in Cibolo almost never shows up the way people expect it to. It is not water pouring down the brick in a July storm. It is a water stain on the ceiling near the chase, a musty smell around the firebox after a heavy rain, or rust streaks forming on the metal cap you never look at. We trace the leak from the top down. On a Cibolo prefab fireplace, the usual culprits are a cracked metal termination cap, failed caulking where the chase cover meets the roof penetration, or a chase cover that has rusted through from standing water after a South Texas downpour. The fireplace itself may be fine. The water is entering where the metal meets the roof.
Chase Cover and Termination Cap Leaks
The chase cover is the metal lid on top of the boxed-in chimney structure that most Cibolo builders framed with wood and wrapped in siding or stone veneer. When the chase cover seal fails or the cap itself cracks, water runs down the inside of the chase and presents as a ceiling stain two floors below. We inspect the chase cover for rust-through, re-seal the penetration, and replace caps that have been warped or knocked loose. We carry and install Famco and Copperfield caps, not generic big-box substitutes.
Flashing and Roof Penetration Leaks
On zero-clearance installations, the roof penetration is a metal pipe or a full chase, and the flashing around it is the same flashing used for any roof vent or pipe boot: vulnerable to sun rot in our climate. Cibolo’s long hot summers bake the sealant until it pulls away from the metal. Then the first real front rolls through and water follows the gap. We check the flashing as part of every leak investigation and document what we find so you can see whether the fix belongs at the chimney or at the roof.
Trusted Brands We Service in Cibolo
Your Cibolo fireplace was built by someone, and that someone specified specific parts. We work with the brands those manufacturers use. If your Heat & Glo or Heatilator unit needs a new refractory panel, gasket, or cap, we install direct-replacement materials from Famco, Copperfield, DuraFlex, and HeatShield. We keep common Cibolo-specific parts in our rotation, which means we are not waiting on a floor-sweep distributor to special-order a gasket while a blue norther is rolling toward the city. Ruben Castellano insist on it: professional trade materials, never a box-store substitute that a tech had to improvise to fit.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Cibolo Homes
- Cracked refractory panels in 12 – 20-year-old fireplaces. Cibolo’s 2003 – 2012 construction wave is exactly the age where builder-grade panels start to crack. The crack lets heat reach the combustible chase framing, but the owner sees nothing because the firebox still “looks new” from the sofa.
- Brittle gaskets that let air move where it should not. The gasket around the damper or glass door compresses and degrades from heat cycles and years of dormancy. It is invisible until you test it, and it affects draft, efficiency, and carbon monoxide movement.
- Pest and animal intrusion during the long dormant season. Cibolo’s fireplaces sit unused for eight-plus months a year. Chimney swifts, squirrels, and mud daubers move into the flue and cap, and the first cold snap has the homeowner lighting a fire against a partially blocked flue. We find nest debris or animal disturbance on a significant percentage of first-time inspections.
- Missing service history from a rotating homeowner base. So many Cibolo residents have PCS’d away and left the new owners with no record of whether the fireplace was ever inspected. The new homeowner defaults to “it probably doesn’t need anything,” and a problem that could have been caught early gets found late.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Cibolo, TX
A Level 1 chimney inspection in Cibolo runs $189 – $249 and is the right call for an annual check on a fireplace you use and know. A Level 2 camera inspection runs $349 – $425 and is what you want before buying a Cibolo home, after any repair, or when you have no service history. A Level 3 inspection, which involves partial tear-down to access concealed areas, starts around $500 – $900 and is rare unless there is structural concern. On a factory-built prefab unit, a refractory panel replacement typically adds $150 – $400 depending on brand. A replacement termination cap from Famco or Copperfield adds $95 – $220 installed. We give you a written price before work starts, every single time. Call (336) 863-3889 for a free estimate, and we’ll schedule a technician to Cibolo at a time that works for you.
We Also Serve Cities Near Cibolo
Our Cibolo crews also run inspections and sweeps in Schertz, Universal City, Converse, and New Braunfels. If you are just across the county line and wondering whether we cover your street, call us. The same written-price policy and the same identity-verified technicians apply everywhere we work. Need Chimney Inspection help across the region? We keep whole routes scheduled through the I-35 corridor so our response times stay tight.
Serving Cibolo, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Cibolo 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 Cibolo
Yes, and that is exactly the house we worry about most. A 2008 Cibolo home has a fireplace that is now 16 – 18 years old, and the refractory panels around the firebox are original. Panels in that age range develop hairline cracks that are not visible from the living room but absolutely allow heat to radiate toward the combustible chase framing behind the metal box. Cibolo’s homes are new enough that the fireplace still looks fine cosmetically, but the parts that matter are aging on schedule. A Level 2 camera inspection answers the question in about an hour. Call (336) 863-3889 to book one and we will show you the photos.
A factory-built zero-clearance fireplace inspection focuses on the refractory panels, the gasket around the damper and doors, the metal termination cap, and the condition of the chase cover where water can enter, plus a camera run up the internal flue pipe. There is no brick firebox to inspect and no tile liner to worry about. The failure modes are different: cracked panels, crumbling gaskets, rusted caps, and water leaking into the wood-framed chase. A traditional masonry inspection looks at mortar joints and clay tile liners instead. Cibolo needs the factory-built version, and that is the protocol our technicians run on every home here, not an abbreviated version of the masonry process.
Our hot, dry climate means fireplaces sit dormant for eight-plus months a year, and an unused flue is an open invitation to chimney swifts, squirrels, and mud dauber wasps. They build nests in the cap, line the flue, and block the draft. Creosote, by contrast, builds from wood-burning use, and Cibolo simply doesn’t get the same volume of burn days as a northern city. We find animal activity or nest debris on a large share of first-time inspections in Cibolo, even on fireplaces that have never been lit more than twice a winter. The fix is a sweep, a cap inspection, and often a replacement cap from Famco or Copperfield if the original has been chewed or pried loose.
Schedule a Level 2 chimney inspection and tell us you have no service history. That is the exact scenario Cibolo sees constantly because of the JBSA rotation cycle, and the Level 2 is designed for it. We camera-scope the flue, check the refractory panels and gaskets, inspect the cap and chase cover, and hand you a photo report you keep. If something shows up, we give you a written price for the fix before we touch anything. If nothing shows up, you have a clean documented baseline for your own records. Call (336) 863-3889 and we will get a technician scheduled to your neighborhood, whether you are off Green Valley Road, in Falcon Ridge, or near the creek through town.
Yes, and it usually does. On a zero-clearance prefab fireplace, water often enters through the metal chase cover on top of the chimney box or through the termination cap, not through the roof flashing. A rusted chase cover or a failed seal at the point where the cover meets the box lets water run down the inside of the chase and show up as a ceiling stain well away from the fireplace itself. We see this in Cibolo regularly because the intense sun accelerates sealant and metal breakdown. Our leak investigation starts at the top and works down through the chase, the cap, and the flashing, and we photograph the point of entry before recommending any fix.
If you own a fireplace in Cibolo and have not had it inspected since you bought the house, since the previous owner PCS’d, or ever, now is the time. Call Alcott Chimney Sweep at (336) 863-3889 for a free estimate. You’ll know your technician by name and photo before we arrive, and you’ll get a written price before any work starts.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney Sweep, serving Cibolo homeowners with factory-trained, identity-verified technicians since 2002.