We Provide Certified Chimney Inspections to Shenandoah Valley & Surrounding Areas
Need to book a chimney or fireplace inspection for your home in Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg, Lexington, or somewhere else nearby? Our team is here to help. This maintenance is affordable, quick, and can make a huge difference for your system, ensuring small issues are addressed early and bigger repairs (and the high costs that come with them) are ideally avoided.
For chimney inspections near you, there’s only one crew to call on – that’s us. Reach out today to book your appointment.
How Often Should I Schedule a Chimney Inspection?
Along with annual chimney sweeping, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) also stresses the need for a proper professional chimney inspection each year. During a chimney inspection, certified technicians will make sure that your system is functioning properly and safely. When conducted every year, inspections can allow us to find problems within the system while they’re still manageable…and address them with our extensive chimney services and repairs before they get the chance to turn into big, expensive headaches.
We don’t want our customers and neighbors to be left in the dark about the debris creating a fire hazard in their flue, the gaps in their flue liner letting in deadly carbon monoxide, or the small crack in their chimney crown developing into a chimney leak. We can’t overstate how important it is to schedule your annual inspection – get in on the books now.
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What Are the Three Levels of Chimney Inspections?
As certified chimney sweeps, we’re trained to perform all three levels of chimney inspections. Which do you need? Well, that depends – learn more about each below.
Level 1 Chimney Inspection
This is the basic chimney inspection. If you get your inspection done every year, and if there hasn’t been any big changes to your system since the last inspection (no changes in fuel type, no appliance upgrades, no new liner installs, no extreme damages, etc.), this level of inspection is all you should need.
Once scheduled, your certified Blue Ridge Chimney Services technician will thoroughly check all of the accessible parts of your system’s interior and exterior, as well as any connections, for damage, deposits, or obstructions. If nothing is amiss, we’ll deem your system safe for use, and you’ll be good to go.
Level 2 Chimney Inspection
You’ll need a Level 2 inspection if:
- there’s been a change to your system
- a new appliance has been installed
- you upgraded to a new flue liner
- you’ve undergone a fuel change
- you’ve had a major problem or repair
- you’ve had a chimney fire or experienced weather damage
- the property is changing hands
A Level 2 inspection includes the visual examination of a Level 1 inspection, and also includes the checking of anywhere the chimney goes through attics, basements, and crawl spaces.
This level also includes a thorough video scanning of the flue. For video scanning, we use the Chim-Scan® Series 450 camera system – and you won’t find a better system for examining chimneys. With it, we get a close and detailed look at the flue from top to bottom, and we can record video and take images of the interior. With the system’s large monitor, we can give you a thorough look at what we find, too. This high-tech system won’t let problems in your flue go undetected.
Level 3 Chimney Inspection
We always hope that a Level 3 inspection isn’t needed, but it will be necessary if major issues/problems are found. It includes everything in the Level 2 process, but also may require removing coverings or components (like drywall or doors) to more thoroughly examine the whole system.
These are always a last resort, completed when an issue can’t be undercovered in a level 2 inspection.
What Is a Chimney Video Scan Inspection?
For many years, chimney technicians relied on their instincts, a good flashlight, and a mirror to find flaws in a chimney system. While instincts and experience are still a big part of proper chimney inspections, we now have incredible tools that allow a closer look into any flue, finding issues well before they become catastrophic problems.
Think of it like this: If you had a hairline fracture in your toe, you wouldn’t notice it with your naked eye…but you’d definitely want to know about it before walking became a big, big pain. That’s why we get x-rays. And a chimney video scan inspection is a little like an x-ray for your chimney system. With a video scan, we’ll get a close look at the entire flue and have video footage that show us exactly what we’re working with. The scan catches even the tiniest detail, so that we can pinpoint small problems early on, and not allow these problems to get worse.
Video scanning can also help with insurance claims. If you’ve experienced damage due to a chimney fire or major weather incident, odds are your homeowners’ insurance policy will cover it – but you’ll need to have the damage professionally inspected and documented, and chimney video scan equipment is perfect for documentation purposes. Blue Ridge Chimney Services technicians can help you with the process, offering clear imagery of the damage and an explanation of probable cause.
If you need help with an insurance claim, call Blue Ridge Chimney Services – we specialize in the claim process and aim to make it as smooth and seamless as possible.
Schedule Your Annual Chimney Maintenance With Us
When it’s time for your annual chimney inspection, call Blue Ridge Chimney Services at 540-217-2030 or schedule an appointment online – we guarantee you’ll be impressed with our level of service.
Contact Blue Ridge Chimney
540-217-2030
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Did you know we also offer quality chimney repair services? Check out our full chimney service list!