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 Taylor
Chimney inspection in Taylor, TX typically runs between $189 and $549 depending on the level of inspection your home needs. Most Taylor homeowners schedule a Level 1 inspection for annual maintenance, while older homes with original clay tile flues usually need a Level 2 camera inspection. We serve Taylor from our Austin metro office, and our crews are in Taylor multiple times every week. If you’ve got a fireplace that hasn’t been looked at in years, call (254) 274-4486 and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Taylor’s housing stock is different from what you’ll find in newer suburbs. Homes here were built to last through cotton booms and railroad expansions, and many still have the original masonry chimneys to prove it. That’s good for character. It’s harder on flues. Our team knows what to look for in a 1950s brick veneer home near downtown, and we know what can safely wait versus what needs attention before you light the first fire of winter.
Key Takeaways:
- Chimney inspections in Taylor run $189 – $549 depending on level and home age
- Level 1 inspections cover basic annual checks; Level 2 adds camera work through the flue
- Older Taylor homes with original clay tile liners often need Level 2 to catch hidden cracks
- Every inspection includes a written report with photos, so you see what we see
- Call (254) 274-4486 for a written price before any work begins
Why Ashby Chimney Austin Is Taylor’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
We’ve been inspecting chimneys since 2002, and we’ve spent a lot of those years in Taylor. The homes here tell a story, and our job is to read it accurately. A 1920s craftsman near Robinson Park has different failure patterns than a 1960s ranch on the north side of town. We adjust what we look for based on how the home was built and what’s happened to it since.
Our Taylor customers keep calling us back because we do the same thing every visit: show up when we said we would, give a written price before touching anything, and hand over a report with photos of exactly what we found. Nathan Corliss built the company on that premise, and it hasn’t changed. If our tech says you need a liner, you’ll see the crack on camera before you spend a dollar on repairs.
We answer the phone. That’s not a slogan, it’s a fact of how we operate. Live person, 24/7, including weekends when Taylor homeowners finally get around to checking the fireplace before the cold snap hits. No voicemail loops.
Every tech who comes to your door is background-checked and in uniform. You’ll know the name of the person walking into your home, and they’ll be the one explaining what they see in your chimney, not a sales rep calling from an office.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Inspection Services in Taylor
Chimney Inspection Services in Taylor cover three levels of inspection defined by the National Fire Protection Association, and most older homes near downtown need more than the basic level. The first thing we do is look at what kind of flue your home actually has. In Taylor, that’s often an unlined brick flue or a clay tile liner that’s been cracking for decades. Knowing that changes what level of inspection is appropriate.
A Level 1 inspection in Taylor runs $189 – $279. It’s the right call when nothing has changed since your last sweep: same fireplace, same fuel, same usage. We check the accessible portions of the chimney, the firebox, the damper, and look for obvious blockages or creosote buildup. Most annual maintenance visits fall here, and we’ll tell you plainly if that’s all you need.
A Level 2 inspection runs $299 – $549 and includes everything in Level 1 plus camera scanning through the entire flue. This is the inspection we recommend for any Taylor home changing fuel type, buying or selling, or recovering from a chimney fire or weather event. It’s also what we reach for when a home hasn’t had its chimney looked at in a decade or more, which is common in older Taylor neighborhoods.
Camera Inspection
We run a camera through the flue and show you the screen as we go. You see the cracks, the spalling, the gaps in mortar joints. Nothing gets recommended without footage you’ve watched with your own eyes. That’s the Ashby way, and it’s why Taylor homeowners who’ve been burned by scare-tactic inspections end up calling us.
Real Estate Inspection
Selling a home in Taylor often triggers a chimney inspection as part of the transaction. We write reports that satisfy lenders and buyers without padding the repair list. If the chimney has issues, we document them with photos and give a straightforward assessment of what’s urgent, what’s advisable, and what can wait.
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.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Chimney Flue Inspection in Taylor
Chimney Flue Inspection in Taylor is the deepest look we give a chimney, and in this town it’s the inspection that catches the most expensive problems before they become dangerous ones. The flue is the clay or steel tube inside your chimney that vents combustion gases out of your home. In Taylor’s older homes, that tube is often clay tile from the 1950s, or there’s no liner at all.
We inspect the flue from top to bottom using a combination of visual checks and camera scanning. We look for cracked tiles, missing mortar joints, spalling surfaces, and gaps that let heat and carbon monoxide reach combustible framing. Homes over 70 years old in Taylor frequently show all four, and that’s before we even check the crown and flashing.
A flue inspection in Taylor runs $229 – $449 as a standalone service. It’s the inspection we recommend before you burn your first fire of the season, and it’s required before we quote any liner replacement. We won’t sell you a $3,000 stainless liner on the strength of a flashlight and a hunch. The camera goes in, the pictures come out, and you decide with full information.
Level 2 Flue Scan
This is the camera run through the entire flue path. We watch for hidden cracks, separated tile sections, and animal nests that don’t show up from the roof or the firebox. In Taylor’s humid climate, nesting isn’t rare. Raccoons and birds find dormant chimneys in the summer and build homes in them.
Draft and Ventilation Check
We check that combustion gases are actually leaving your home the way they should. A chimney that can’t draft properly pushes smoke and carbon monoxide back into the living space. This matters in Taylor because many older homes have had attic insulation added over the years, which changes air pressure and can reverse what used to be a reliable draft.
Trusted Brands We Service in Taylor
When a Taylor chimney needs more than a sweep, we repair it with materials we’re willing to put our name on. We stock parts from HeatShield for resurfacing deteriorated clay liners without demolition, DuraFlex for stainless steel relining jobs, and Gelco and Olympia Chimney products for caps, crowns, and flashing. We don’t show up with whatever was rolling around in the van. If your chimney needs a specific part, we order it, schedule the return visit, and tell you up front what it will cost. Most parts arrive within a week, and we’ll give you the exact price before we order anything. Famco and Copperfield products round out our regular supply chain for dampers and termination caps.
See the difference
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After
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After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Taylor Homes
- Cracked clay tile flues from Blackland Prairie soil movement. Taylor sits on expansive clay that shifts with moisture changes through the year. That movement transfers into chimney structures and cracks the tile liners inside. Homes built before 1960 are especially vulnerable because they rarely have the deeper footings modern code requires.
- Unlined brick flues in pre-1950 construction. Around Robinson Park and other older neighborhoods near downtown Taylor, many chimneys are raw brick with no liner at all. Mortar joints deteriorate, gases leak into wall cavities, and the only proper fix is a stainless steel liner or a full rebuild. We show you the camera footage before recommending either.
- Second-degree creosote glaze from seasonal burning. Taylor’s climate means fireplaces sit dormant through long stretches of hot weather, then get pressed into service when a freeze hits. Creosote that built up in a single season of occasional burning hardens into a glaze that camera inspection can identify but a basic sweep can’t fully remove.
- Animal nesting and debris in dormant chimneys. The months between March and November are prime nesting season. By December, we regularly pull out enough nesting material to fill a trash bag from chimneys in Taylor that looked fine from the outside. A cap is the long-term answer, and it’s one of the cheapest repairs we do.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Taylor, TX
You should know what a chimney inspection costs before you book one. In Taylor, a Level 1 inspection runs $189 – $279. A Level 2 inspection with full camera scanning runs $299 – $549. A standalone flue inspection falls between $229 and $449. If you’re buying or selling, the real estate inspection typically lands in the Level 2 range. The variables are home height, roof pitch, and how many flues you have. What you’ll never see is the price change between the door and the invoice. We write the number down before any work starts, and that’s the number you pay. Call (254) 274-4486 for a free estimate on your specific chimney.
We Also Serve Cities Near Taylor
Our Taylor customers often ask if we cover the surrounding communities. We do. You’ll find our crews in Taylor weekly, and we also serve Pflugerville, Round Rock, Georgetown, and Manor with the same written pricing and camera-first inspection standards. If you’re in one of those areas and need a Chimney Inspection, the process is identical: call, schedule, get a written price, and see the camera footage before any repair is recommended.
Serving Taylor, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Taylor 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 Taylor
A 1950s clay tile flue is only safe if the tiles are intact and the mortar joints are still holding. In Taylor’s Blackland Prairie soil, foundation movement has cracked a large percentage of those original liners. The only way to know is a Level 2 camera inspection. We run the camera, you watch the screen, and if there’s damage, we’ll show it to you and give you written repair options. Call (254) 274-4486 to schedule one.
The easiest check is to light a small piece of paper in the firebox and watch where the smoke goes. If it rolls into the room instead of up the flue, the draft is compromised. But draft problems have multiple causes, from animal nests to air pressure changes from added insulation. A flue inspection in Taylor runs $229 – $449 and tells you exactly what’s blocking or reversing your draft. We’ll show you on camera.
A chimney flue inspection includes a top-to-bottom visual review of the flue interior, a camera scan through the full length of the liner, an examination of the damper and firebox, and a written report with photos of anything we find. We check for cracked tiles, missing mortar, glazed creosote, and animal obstructions. You get the report the same day, and our price is written down before we start. That’s the same procedure whether you’re near Robinson Park or out toward Highway 79.
That’s actually when an inspection matters most. Long dormant chimneys in Taylor collect animal nests, suffer mortar deterioration from humidity, and develop hidden cracks that never get noticed because no one’s burning fires. The first fire after a long dormancy is when those problems show themselves, and not gently. A Level 2 inspection costs $299 – $549 and tells you whether the chimney is safe for that first fire. Skip it and you’re gambling with carbon monoxide.
Because the outside of a chimney rarely shows what’s happening inside the flue. Cracked tiles, missing mortar joints, and deteriorated brick inside the throat are invisible from the driveway, and that’s exactly why we don’t recommend a liner without camera footage. In fact, we won’t quote a liner until we’ve run the camera and shown you the damage. When we do recommend one, we use DuraFlex stainless steel, and the repair is covered by our written guarantee. If it fails inside the guarantee period, we come back at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every repair we make in Taylor.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Austin, serving Taylor since 2002.