Serving Berwyn Homes: Chimney, Fireplace & Dryer Vent Service

Chimney services Berwyn homeowners can book

We handle the whole chimney and fireplace system, plus dryer vents. That covers sweeping and creosote removal, camera and real estate inspections, and caps and crowns. It also covers mortar and brick work on older chimneys, liners, and wood-burning, gas and electric fireplaces. Owners of two-flats and small commercial buildings can book the same work, and commercial and property-manager jobs are part of what we do.

When something is wrong, we start by finding out why. A stained ceiling, a smoky room or loose bricks on the roof line can each have more than one cause. Once we know the cause, we explain what chimney repair would fix and what can wait.

What Berwyn's housing records mean for your chimney

In Berwyn, 60.5% of housing units were built before 1940 and 28.8% between 1940 and 1969. The median year built is 1938 (CMAP Community Data Snapshot, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates). Berwyn's annex to the 2024 Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan also states that the City of Berwyn was largely built in the 1920s. In practice, most chimneys here have been standing for many decades and have gone through many heating seasons. Many were built before today's flue liners and chimney caps were common.

Masonry chimneys that old tend to show the same kinds of wear:

• Mortar joints that have eroded and let water into the brick
• Cracked or crumbling crowns at the top of the stack
• Clay tile liners that are cracked, missing sections or absent altogether
• Flashing that no longer seals where the chimney meets the roof

A camera inspection shows the condition inside the flue, which you can't judge from the roof or the firebox. That lets us tell you whether a liner, joint repair or simple cleaning is the right next step.

Brick bungalows and two-flats

According to its National Register of Historic Places nomination, the Central Berwyn Bungalow Historic District covers 236 acres in 56 blocks of mostly single-family bungalows and two-flats. The district was largely constructed from the 1910s to the 1940s. The same nomination counts 1,507 principal buildings, of which 1,265 are single-family bungalows, including 1,109 masonry-constructed Chicago Bungalows. Brick chimneys on homes like these need regular care: repointing worn joints, sealing the crown and keeping water out.

Repointing early can often keep a brick chimney sound. Sometimes the upper courses have loosened or the stack has started to lean, and then partial or full rebuilding of the chimney stack is the safer fix. We'll show you what we found before recommending either one.

Adding or updating a fireplace in an older home

Some owners of older homes want a working fireplace back, or want a fireplace where there wasn't one. We do gas fireplace and gas appliance work, inserts and conversions, and new fireplace installs, and we work on all major brands. Before any install, we check the existing chimney to see whether it can safely serve the new unit.

We also work in neighboring communities, including Cicero and Oak Park.