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 Selma
Chimney inspection in Selma typically runs between $189 and $499 depending on the level of inspection your fireplace or flue requires. Most Selma homeowners with older brick chimneys should expect to pay around $249 to $389 for a Level 2 camera inspection, which is the standard recommendation for homes built before World War II. We schedule inspections across Selma six days a week, including neighborhoods off Rose Avenue, Floral Avenue, and McCall Avenue. Call (559) 215-1714 and a live person answers, not a voicemail tree.
Ruben Castellano leads our Selma inspection work, and every technician who shows up at your door arrives with a name-and-photo preview sent to you before the visit. That matters in a town where people still look out for their neighbors and like to know who’s coming down the driveway.
Why Alcott Chimney Fresno Is Selma’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
We’ve inspected hundreds of chimneys in Selma, and the housing stock here tells a story. The bungalows and ranch homes built between 1920 and 1945 often have original unreinforced brick chimneys that were never designed for modern heating appliances. We know what those flues look like inside, and we know what Selma’s climate does to them.
Our Chimney Inspection team works throughout Selma on a regular weekly schedule, not as a far-off dispatch. That means when you call about a flue problem on a 1930s bungalow near Downtown Selma, we can usually get a technician to you within one to two business days, and our phone line is staffed around the clock for urgent questions.
Every Alcott technician passes a background check and identity verification under the Threshold Standard before ever setting foot on Selma property. You’ll get the technician’s name and photo before arrival, and they’ll show a photo ID badge at the door. No exceptions, on every visit. Written pricing comes before any work starts, and any repair we recommend carries a written guarantee. If a repair fails within the coverage period, the second visit is free. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every job we do in Selma.
Styles & brands we work with
Fireplace Inspection in Selma
Fireplace inspection in Selma is a visual, hands-on assessment of your firebox, damper, smoke chamber, and the accessible portions of your flue. For most Selma homes built in the 1920s through 1940s, a basic visual check simply isn’t enough. The shallow fireboxes and unlined flues common in this housing stock hide problems that only a camera can reveal. You’ll know your technician’s name and see their photo before we arrive, and you’ll see the camera footage yourself before any repair is suggested.
What We Check During a Selma Fireplace Inspection
We examine the firebox for cracked brick and deteriorated mortar, which Selma’s temperature swings accelerate. We check the damper for proper operation and rust. We look at the smoke chamber for creosote buildup, and in Selma’s east-side homes, we routinely find fine raisin dust mixed into that creosote, a combination that makes the tar-like residue stickier and more likely to ignite.
When Selma Homeowners Call Us
Most calls come from homeowners buying or selling a house, people who’ve just moved into an older Selma property and don’t know the chimney’s history, or folks who smell smoke backing into the living room on cold winter nights. A standard fireplace inspection in Selma runs $189 to $289. If you have an older home and have never seen the inside of your flue, we’ll recommend the camera option, and you’ll see exactly why.
Chimney Inspection Services in Selma
Chimney inspection services in Selma cover three levels defined by the National Fire Protection Association, and we perform all three. A Level 1 inspection is the basic visual check, right for chimneys that haven’t changed use and have no known problems. A Level 2 inspection adds interior camera scanning of the entire flue, and it’s what we recommend for Selma homes with original brick chimneys, for real estate transactions, or after any change in fuel type. A Level 3 inspection involves partial demolition to access concealed areas, and it’s rare.
Level 2 Camera Inspections for Selma’s Older Homes
Most of what we do in Selma is Level 2. The camera shows us what Selma’s climate has done to your flue liner, or whether you even have one. On a 1930s bungalow off Rose Avenue, our tech found first-degree creosote mixed with fine raisin dust coating the smoke chamber of an unlined brick chimney. We ran the camera, showed the homeowner the flaking mortar and the missing chimney cap, and documented that no liner was present before recommending a HeatShield resurfacing. Nothing was suggested until the video evidence was on the screen, and nothing is ever recommended without proof you can see for yourself.
Real Estate and Home Sale Inspections
If you’re buying or selling a home in Selma, a Level 2 camera inspection is the smart move and is often required by lenders and insurance companies. We document everything with photos and a written report you can hand to the other party. A real estate chimney inspection in Selma typically runs $299 to $399, and it’s cheap compared to discovering an unlined flue after escrow closes.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Selma
When a Selma inspection uncovers a damaged liner or a chimney that needs resurfacing, we don’t improvise with whatever’s on the truck. We carry and install HeatShield resurfacing systems and Olympia Chimney and Famco components because those are the brands chimney professionals specify. We keep common replacement parts stocked for fast turnaround on Selma jobs, which means less waiting between inspection and repair. If your Selma chimney needs work after inspection, you’ll get a written quote that names the exact materials and the exact price before anything is ordered.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Selma Homes
- Unlined flues in 1920s-1940s brick chimneys. These stacks were built for open fireplaces, not modern appliances, and the lack of a liner lets flue gases and heat penetrate the brick. In Selma’s older bungalows, this is the single most common finding on a Level 2 camera inspection.
- Cracked clay tile liners from temperature swings. Selma’s hot summers and damp winters force mortar and clay to expand and contract, cracking tiles in ways a visual check from the roof never shows. The camera finds the gaps where flue gas escapes.
- Vineyard dust and raisin debris in flues. East-side Selma homes back onto active vineyards, and the prevailing breeze carries agricultural dust into uncapped chimneys. That fine dust coats flue walls and makes creosote stick faster and burn hotter than it would in a cleaner environment.
- Missing or deteriorated chimney caps and crown mortar. Valley fog and winter rain work into cracked crown mortar, then freeze-thaw cycles widen the damage. A missing cap lets debris, birds, and rain straight into the flue, and we find this often on Selma chimneys that haven’t been inspected in years.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Selma, CA
A Level 1 visual chimney inspection in Selma runs $189 to $289. A Level 2 camera inspection, which we recommend for most Selma homes, runs $289 to $399 depending on chimney height, access, and whether you need real estate documentation. A Level 3 inspection, which involves opening up concealed portions of the chimney, starts around $499 and goes up from there. The price you’re quoted is the price you pay, in writing, before any work begins. If the inspection turns up a repair, you’ll get a separate written quote with the exact material brand and cost. Call (559) 215-1714 for a free estimate and we’ll tell you which inspection level fits your Selma home.
We Also Serve Cities Near Selma
If you’re outside Selma proper, we handle chimney inspections in Fowler, Parlier, Kingsburg, and Reedley on the same weekly routes. Wherever you are in the Selma area, the same Threshold Standard applies: background-checked technicians, name-and-photo preview, written pricing, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise. Learn more about Chimney Inspection in Selma or call (559) 215-1714 to schedule.
Serving Selma, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Selma 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 Selma
If your Selma home was built in the 1920s through 1940s and the chimney is original, you need a Level 2 camera inspection. Homes from that era were commonly built with unlined brick flues and shallow fireboxes, and Selma’s temperature swings have had 80 to 100 years to crack the mortar. A visual check can’t see inside the flue, and that’s where the danger hides. Call (559) 215-1714 and we’ll tell you straight whether a camera scan is warranted.
Raisin dust and vineyard debris are fine, dry, and highly combustible. When they settle inside an uncapped flue, they mix with creosote and create a stickier, faster-burning residue than creosote alone. East-side Selma homes backing onto vineyards get this more than anywhere else in town. A standard visual inspection can’t see it, but a Level 2 camera scan shows exactly how much has accumulated.
Yes. A Level 2 camera inspection will show whether your original brick chimney has a liner, whether that liner is intact, and whether the flue is sized correctly for a gas insert. Many Selma chimneys from the 1920s and 1930s were never designed for gas appliances, and the inspection report gives you the information you need before spending thousands on an insert that won’t vent safely. Call (559) 215-1714 to schedule.
First-degree creosote looks like a fine, dusty, black or dark brown coating on the flue walls, often mixed with agricultural dust in Selma’s east-side homes. It’s the earliest stage of creosote buildup and the easiest to remove, but it’s also the stage that tells you the chimney is actively accumulating flammable residue. If it’s left alone, it turns into the sticky, glazed third-degree creosote that’s far harder to remove and much more likely to fuel a chimney fire.
Once a year, even if the fireplace sits unused. Selma’s damp winters and hot summers continue working on your chimney masonry whether you burn fires or not, and an unused flue still collects dust, debris, and sometimes nesting animals. An annual inspection catches small problems before they become expensive repairs. Call (559) 215-1714 and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney Sweep, serving Selma since 2002.