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.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Inspection Across San Francisco
A San Francisco Chimney Sweep inspection typically runs $189 – $579 depending on level, with a Level 2 camera inspection most commonly falling between $329 and $479 for older brick chimneys. Most inspections can be scheduled within 3 to 5 business days across San Francisco neighborhoods. Call (336) 863-3889 and you’ll reach a live person who can get you on the schedule, day or night.
We know San Francisco’s chimneys the way you know your block. The Victorians on 24th Avenue, the Edwardians out in the Richmond, the stacked flats near Dolores Park. Our crews work these streets every week, and we understand what salt air, fog, and a century of settling do to a brick flue. When you book with Chimney Inspection through Alcott, you get a named technician with a verified background before a truck ever rolls toward your home.
Why Alcott Chimney Sweep Is San Francisco’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Homeowners here aren’t just worried about whether their chimney is clean. They’re worried about who’s walking through the door. We built our process around that. Every technician Alcott sends into San Francisco is background-checked and identity-verified to the Threshold Standard before they ever set foot on your property. You’ll see their name and photo before arrival. They’ll show a photo ID badge at your door. Every time, no exceptions. That’s not a courtesy. It’s how we’ve operated since 2002.
Ruben Castellano oversees the team here, and the standard he set from the start is simple: show your work, name your price, and stand behind it. Every inspection comes with a written price before we start. Every repair we recommend comes with a written guarantee, and if a repair fails, the follow-up visit is free. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s included on every job, not sold as an add-on.
San Francisco homeowners also tell us they appreciate that we answer the phone. Not a voicemail tree. A live person answers every call, even at 11 p.m. when you smell something odd and need to know if it can wait until morning. For a chimney concern in a 1912 building near Alamo Square or a fog-belt flat in the Sunset, that matters.
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in San Francisco
A Level 2 Chimney Inspection in San Francisco is the inspection most old-brick homeowners actually need, because it puts a camera into the flue and shows you what’s happening inside. Unlike a quick visual check, a Level 2 includes a full interior scan of the flue liner, the smoke chamber, and the connecting flue paths. On a pre-1920 San Francisco chimney, that camera work is where earthquake cracks, missing mortar, and rusted flashing finally show themselves. In San Francisco, a Level 2 inspection typically runs $329 – $479. If a property is changing hands, lenders often require one, and we perform real estate inspections as a standard Level 2 with a written report.
What the camera reveals on old brick flues
Bare brick flues were the norm here before modern clay liners. Moisture from the fog belt seeps through mortar joints for decades, and the damage is almost always interior. We regularly find spalled brick fragments resting in the smoke chamber, or a flue that’s open to an adjacent unit in a two-flat, which is a fire-code problem the homeowner never suspected.
When a Level 2 is the right call
If you’ve bought an older San Francisco home and have no record of a recent inspection, book a Level 2. If you’ve had a chimney fire, noticed damp staining on the wall beside the mantel, or felt grit falling when you open the damper, a camera check answers the question without guesswork. Our team will show you the images and explain exactly what we’re seeing. No recommendation gets made unless the camera gives us a reason.
Chimney Leak in San Francisco
A Chimney Leak in San Francisco is usually not a leak in the flue itself. It’s water getting in at the top, through a failed crown, a missing or rusted cap, or flashing that salt air has eaten through. In the Sunset and Richmond, this is the single most common finding on our inspection reports. A leak investigation and repair in San Francisco generally runs $249 – $680, depending on whether we’re replacing flashing, repairing a crown, or installing a new cap. The inspection itself tells us which one it is before we spend a dollar on parts.
Salt air and fast corrosion
Galvanised components near Ocean Beach or any fog-heavy corridor corrode far faster than manufacturers’ lifespan estimates suggest. A galvanised cap that would last fifteen years in a dry climate can fail in five here. The first sign is often a damp smell in an upstairs room, not a visible stain. By the time water reaches the ceiling, the path it took may have already damaged the interior brickwork.
Repairs that actually stop the water
We replace failed galvanised caps with stainless, and rusted flashing with copper or another corrosion-resistant material. We also repair crowns with proper overhang and a drip edge so water stops running down the brick face. On a three-flat on 24th Avenue in the Sunset, we found a badly spalled crown, a missing cap, and a galvanised flashing rusted through by salt air. The flue itself was intact, but an adjacent unit’s flue was mislabelled. We fixed the crown, installed a stainless cap and copper flashing, and relabelled both flues before the rainy season.
Trusted Brands We Service in San Francisco
We carry and install professional trade materials, including Gelco in San Francisco, not box-store substitutes. For San Francisco’s coastal conditions, that means DuraFlex flue liner systems specified for relining old brick chimneys, HeatShield resurfacing for repairing damaged flue interiors without a full rebuild, and Famco or Copperfield caps and dampers built to withstand marine air. We keep common components available for fast turnaround in the city, so a corroded cap replacement on a Richmond flat doesn’t wait two weeks for a part to ship. When you need a written recommendation, we’ll specify these brands by name so you know exactly what you’re paying for.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in San Francisco Homes
- Salt-corroded galvanised caps and flashing. Fog-belt moisture shortens galvanised lifespan dramatically, and we see rusted-through flashing on chimneys within a few blocks of the ocean all the time. Stainless and copper are the fix, and a pre-rainy-season check in September or October catches these before water gets inside.
- Damp-brick spalling on fog-corridor stacks. Chimneys in the Sunset, Richmond, and Twin Peaks get a near-constant moisture bath. Mortar erodes, brick faces flake, and water pathways open up that a fast visual check from the ground misses entirely.
- Undetected cracks from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Many pre-1920 brick chimneys still carry hidden flue-liner cracks from that day. They don’t show on a standard visual inspection. A Level 2 camera scan does.
- Shared or mislabelled flues in two- and three-flat Victorians. A single exterior stack often contains side-by-side flues serving different units. We routinely find flue-to-unit assignments that were never marked correctly after decades of renovations, and connected flues between units are a fire-code violation that must be corrected before you burn again.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in San Francisco, CA
A standard Level 1 visual inspection in San Francisco runs $189 – $249. A Level 2 inspection with a camera typically costs $329 – $479, and a Level 3 inspection, which involves opening part of the structure, ranges from $1,200 to $3,500 depending on what we’re accessing. Real estate inspections for a property sale are priced as a Level 2 and include a written report suitable for the closing file. What changes the price on older brick chimneys is mostly access: roof pitch, the number of flues, and whether the stack is shared with another unit. The estimate we give before we start is the price you pay. Call (336) 863-3889 for a free estimate, and we’ll give you a written number before any work begins.
We Also Serve Cities Near San Francisco
Our crews work throughout the immediate Bay Area, and we regularly handle Chimney Inspection in San Francisco as well as the neighboring communities. That includes Daly City, Brisbane, Sausalito, and South San Francisco. If you’re on the southern edge of the city or up in the Marin Headlands, the same team, the same written pricing, and the same named-technician standard apply. Call us and we’ll tell you which crew covers your street.
Serving San Francisco, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the San Francisco 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 San Francisco
Because in the Sunset, the threat isn’t creosote from burning. It’s moisture. The fog keeps your chimney damp year-round, and a camera inspection is the only way to see whether the crown has been breached and whether mortar joints are opening up inside the flue. You can go years without burning a single fire and still have serious water damage hiding above the damper. If you haven’t had a camera check in five years or more, call (336) 863-3889 and we’ll walk you through what a Level 2 covers.
In San Francisco’s coastal zone, yes. Salt-laden fog corrodes galvanised steel quickly, and caps that fail in five or six years near the beach are common. The fix is a stainless cap, which costs more up front but holds up far longer within the fog belt’s salt exposure. We’ll show you the corrosion on the old cap during the inspection so you can see exactly why it failed.
You verify it with a Level 2 inspection that traces each flue from the fireplace opening to the top of the stack. In San Francisco’s stacked Victorians and Edwardians, mislabelled or even inadvertently connected flues between units are surprisingly common, and they’re a fire-code violation that needs correcting before anyone burns. Our report will map each flue to its unit in writing, and if we find a problem, we’ll explain the fix and the exact cost before any repair starts.
A Level 2 inspection includes a camera scan of the entire flue interior, the smoke chamber, the damper area, the crown, the cap, and the flashing, plus verification of flue-to-unit assignment in multi-unit buildings. On a pre-1920 brick chimney, that means checking for earthquake cracks, eroded mortar, missing liners, and water intrusion paths from the top. You’ll get a written report with images, and we’ll sit down with you to explain what needs attention now and what can safely wait. Estimates are free, and the price is set before any work begins.
For most San Francisco brick chimneys, an annual visual check is worth it, and a full Level 2 every two to three years is a sensible interval in the fog belt. You may not burn often, but the moisture exposure never pauses. A yearly check catches failing flashing or a cracked crown early, when the repair is hundreds of dollars instead of thousands. If you’d rather not guess, call (336) 863-3889 and we’ll give you a straight answer on how often your specific chimney should be inspected.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney Sweep, serving San Francisco since 2002.