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 Bensonhurst
A chimney inspection in Bensonhurst typically runs between $189 and $489 depending on the level, and most inspections take less than 90 minutes. Salt air off Gravesend Bay eats galvanized chimney caps and flashing faster here than almost anywhere else in Brooklyn, which means what a homeowner in Bensonhurst needs checked isn’t the same as what a homeowner in, say, Dyker Heights or Midwood needs checked. If you own one of the brick row houses between 18th Avenue and Bay Parkway, your chimney sits in a shared party wall and shares a masonry stack with the house next door. That changes how we inspect it. Call (315) 644-2982 and we’ll give you a written price before anyone climbs a ladder.
Nathan Corliss built Ashby Chimney New York around a simple rule: show the homeowner what’s actually wrong before asking for a dollar of repair money. In Bensonhurst that rule matters more than most places, because the damage we find is often invisible from the street and only shows up on a camera pushed up the flue. We’ve been inspecting chimneys since 2002, and every visit ends with a written price, a written guarantee on any repair, and a live person on the phone if you call back.
Why Ashby Chimney New York Is Bensonhurst’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Bensonhurst homeowners call us because we answer the phone. A live person picks up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not a voicemail that ghosts you until Monday. When you book an inspection, you get a real arrival window, a uniformed technician whose background check already cleared, and a written price before any work starts. That’s the Kingswell Way, and it’s why the same calls come in from 86th Street, Cropsey Avenue, and the blocks around New Utrecht High School.
We know the housing stock here. The rows of attached two and three story brick houses built from the 1920s through the 1960s, the pre-war apartment buildings with original clay liners, the narrow side alleys under 30 inches wide that make rear flue access a chore. Our Chimney Inspection team has scoped flues off 20th Avenue and 71st Street enough times to know exactly what decades of salt air does to a clay tile liner, and we bring the right camera gear to show you the proof on screen before we recommend anything.
Nobody in Bensonhurst needs a scare pitch. They need a straight answer: here’s what’s wrong, here’s what it costs to fix, here’s what can wait. Nathan Corliss insists on that. And if a repair we make fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. That’s the 365 Day Done Right Promise, and it’s written on every job we do in Bensonhurst.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Inspection Services in Bensonhurst
Chimney Inspection Services in Bensonhurst cover three tiers: a Level 1 visual check of the accessible parts of the flue and firebox, a Level 2 camera inspection that runs a scope through the full liner and includes the attic and roof, and a Level 3 inspection that opens up masonry when a Level 2 finds something that needs a closer look. In Bensonhurst’s housing stock, the Level 2 is the one we recommend most often, because party wall chimneys hide problems in the shared chase where a visual check from the roof won’t reach.
Level 1 and Level 2
A Level 1 runs $189 to $249 in Bensonhurst and is the right call for a chimney you use regularly every season without issues. We check the cap, crown, flashing, damper, firebox, and the visible flue interior from the roof and hearth. A Level 2 runs $289 to $389 here, and it’s what we push for on any home changing hands, any chimney that hasn’t been inspected in five years, or any flue that’s venting a converted oil to gas furnace. The camera shows us what salt air and freeze thaw have done to the clay tiles.
Level 3 and Real Estate Inspections
A Level 3 inspection in Bensonhurst starts at $489 and up, depending on how much masonry we need to open to reach the damaged section. These are rare, but when a party wall liner has failed in a shared chase, you need to see exactly which tile cracked and how far the spalling runs before anyone quotes a liner job. Real estate inspections in Bensonhurst are almost always Level 2. If you’re buying one of the brick row houses near Seth Low Park, don’t skip the camera scope just because the seller hands you a sweep receipt from last fall. A sweep doesn’t prove the liner is sound.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Chimney Flue Inspection in Bensonhurst
A Chimney Flue Inspection in Bensonhurst is the camera work that a basic visual sweep can’t do. We send a high resolution scope up the full length of the flue, from the smoke chamber to the crown, and we look at every clay tile, every mortar joint, every offset. In Bensonhurst it’s the step that catches hairline cracks before carbon monoxide finds its way into the wall cavities of a shared row house. A flue inspection here costs $249 to $389 as part of a Level 2, and it’s the single best money you can spend on a home built before 1960.
What the Camera Catches
The scope reveals three things Bensonhurst homeowners rarely expect. First, spalled clay tile surfaces, where decades of freeze thaw cycles have popped the inner face of the liner off in flakes. Second, gaps at the offset joints where the flue bends, which is exactly where smoke leaks into the house framing. Third, third degree creosote glaze in converted coal chutes and old oil flues, the hardened tar like glaze that a chimney brush can’t remove but a camera will flag in seconds.
When the Flue Can’t Wait
If salt air has eaten through a galvanized cap on a Bensonhurst chimney, the open flue has been taking rain and snow for seasons. That moisture soaks into the clay, freezes in January, and cracks the liner from the inside. By the time a homeowner notices a draft problem, the flue is often already compromised. We’ll tell you plainly if a liner can be repaired with HeatShield resurfacing or if it needs a full DuraFlex stainless steel replacement. The camera doesn’t lie, and neither do we.
Trusted Brands We Service in Bensonhurst
When a Bensonhurst chimney needs repair rather than just inspection, we work with materials from chimney trade suppliers that have a track record in coastal conditions. DuraFlex stainless liners hold up to salt air far longer than galvanized, and HeatShield resurfacing buys years on a flue that’s not yet a total failure. Gelco and Olympia Chimney caps and chase covers stock well for the dimensions we see on Bensonhurst’s pre war stacks. We stock common parts for Bensonhurst jobs locally, so a cap replacement on a 1920s row house off 18th Avenue doesn’t wait two weeks for shipping. If it’s a brand we don’t carry on the truck, we tell you the lead time before you commit to anything.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Bensonhurst Homes
- Corroded galvanized caps and flashing. The marine air off Gravesend Bay strips the zinc coating on galvanized steel within five to seven years. Once the cap rusts through, rain, pigeons, and squirrels get into the flue, and that moisture feeds the next freeze thaw cycle.
- Cracked clay liners in party wall stacks. Attached row houses share a chimney chase with the neighbor. A cracked liner on one side doesn’t stay on one side, it lets carbon monoxide move through the shared masonry and into wall cavities. This is why Bensonhurst inspections have to account for both sides of the chase.
- Third degree creosote in converted oil to gas flues. Decades of oil burning left tar deposits in the flues of Bensonhurst’s older homes. When the boiler was swapped to gas, the lower flue temperatures let that tar glaze harden into a fire hazard that a standard sweep won’t remove.
- Skipped rear flue checks due to narrow side alleys. A 30 inch side alley on a row house off 79th Street makes it tempting for a sweep to check only the front of the chimney and call it done. We’ve scoped enough Bensonhurst rear flues to know that’s where the damage hides, especially on repurposed coal chutes.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Bensonhurst, NY
A Level 1 chimney inspection in Bensonhurst runs $189 to $249. A Level 2 inspection with full camera scope runs $289 to $389. A Level 3, which opens masonry to reach a suspected failure, starts at $489. Those are the numbers we quote at the door and the numbers on the invoice, because every Ashby job gets a written price before any work begins. What changes the price? Roof pitch and access, how many flues share the chase, whether the cap needs to come off to run the scope, and how much salt air damage has already accumulated. If the inspection finds a repair needed, you’ll get a separate written quote with the same rule: the number doesn’t change when the work starts.
Call (315) 644-2982 for a free estimate on any chimney inspection in Bensonhurst. No pressure, no upcharge, just a straight number.
We Also Serve Cities Near Bensonhurst
Along with Chimney Inspection in Bensonhurst, our crews cover the surrounding areas including New York, East New York, Manhattan, and Midtown Manhattan. If you’re a few blocks outside Bensonhurst or across the bridge, the same written price guarantee applies.
Serving Bensonhurst, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Bensonhurst 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 Bensonhurst
Every 12 months, no exceptions. The salt air off Gravesend Bay corrodes caps and flashing fast enough that waiting two years gives rain and snow a full cycle of freeze thaw to work into your liner. If you burn wood during Bensonhurst’s winter, or your chimney vents a boiler, a Level 1 every year plus a Level 2 camera scope every three years is the schedule we recommend. Call (315) 644-2982 and we’ll get you on the calendar.
The galvanized cap and the flashing at the roofline. Salt laden air strips the protective zinc coating within five to seven years, and once bare steel is exposed, rust eats through in a season or two. After that, the flue is open to water, which is what starts the liner cracks. If you can see rust staining on your chimney cap from the street or a bedroom window, that’s the part to replace now, not after the next nor’easter.
Because the flue you’re venting through shares masonry with the house next door. A cracked liner on your side can push carbon monoxide into the neighbor’s wall cavity, and a spalled crown on their side accelerates brick damage in your chase. Our inspections on party wall stacks always check both flue runs, the shared crown, and the condition of the masonry at the property line. If we find damage on the neighbor’s side that affects your flue, we’ll tell you and document it with photos.
Yes, and it regularly does. A camera scope shows third degree creosote as a shiny, tar like glaze coating the flue walls. It forms in old oil flues that were converted to gas because the lower gas temperatures let old oil residue harden rather than burn off. This glaze is a fuel source, and a hot ember from a fireplace or a boiler back draft can ignite it. A standard brush sweep can’t remove it. We’ll show you the scope images and give you a written plan to get the flue cleaned or lined before fire season.
They limit what a lazy inspection checks. A 30 inch side alley makes rear flue access tight, and some sweeps will skip the rear chimney face entirely and mark the inspection complete. We don’t. We bring compact gear and we check every accessible face of the chimney, front and rear, plus the flue interior by camera. If an alley genuinely blocks access, we’ll tell you that in writing rather than pretend we inspected what we couldn’t see. Call (315) 644-2982 and we’ll give you the straight answer on your specific block.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney New York, serving Bensonhurst since 2002.