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 Norcross
A chimney inspection in Norcross typically costs $189 – $549 depending on the level, with most homeowners paying around $250 for a Level 2 camera inspection. Ashby Chimney Marietta serves all of Norcross, from the historic downtown district to newer subdivisions off Beaver Ruin Road, with written pricing before any work starts and a live person answering the phone 24/7 at (478) 796-8742.
Norcross isn’t a copy-paste market for chimney work. The housing stock ranges from Victorian brick homes on South Peachtree Street to 1980s split-levels near Pinckneyville Park, and each presents different inspection challenges. Our crews know which streets have shared flues, which subdivisions have prefabricated pipe systems, and which older homes still vent through unlined masonry. That local knowledge means we’re not guessing when we walk in the door. We’re looking for what Norcross chimneys actually do.
We schedule inspections across Gwinnett County with realistic arrival windows, not vague “sometime between 8 and 5” promises. When a homeowner on Holcomb Bridge Road needs a real estate inspection before closing or a homeowner near Historic Downtown Norcross has smoke backing into the living room, we show up when we said we would, we write the price down, and we hand you a written guarantee before we leave.
Why Ashby Chimney Marietta Is Norcross’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Nathan Corliss runs Ashby Chimney Marietta the way a sweep should run: with the price on paper before the first ladder comes off the truck. Homeowners in Norcross call us because they’ve dealt with the other kind of contractor. The one who quotes $149 on the phone, then finds $2,700 in “necessary repairs” after ten minutes of poking around. That doesn’t happen with us. The number we quote at the door is the number on the invoice.
Our Chimney Inspection team has walked hundreds of Norcross rooftops, from the steep-pitched Craftsman bungalows near Thrasher Park to newer construction off Spalding Drive. We know the difference between a chimney that needs a liner and one that needs a repointing, and we’ll tell you plainly which is which. If a repair can wait, we say so. If it can’t, we show you the camera footage that proves it.
Every technician arrives background-checked and in uniform. Every job comes with the written price before work starts, the written guarantee when it’s done, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise behind it. If a covered repair fails within the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. That’s the Kingswell Way: say the price, show up in the window, leave it cleaner, put the guarantee in writing, come back if it fails.
Styles & brands we work with
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Norcross
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Norcross is the standard we recommend for most older homes in this area, and it runs $249 – $449 depending on chimney height and access. A Level 1 is a visual check of the accessible parts of the fireplace and flue. A Level 2 adds a camera scan of the entire flue interior, the smoke chamber, and the exterior crown and flashing. In Norcross, where historic downtown brick chimneys often lack modern liners and share flue space between attached dwellings, a Level 2 is usually the inspection that actually finds the problem.
You need a Level 2 when you’re buying or selling a home in Norcross, when you’ve had a chimney fire, when you’re changing fuel type, or when something has changed since the last inspection. Most real estate transactions in Georgia trigger a Level 2 as part of the buyer’s due diligence. But even without a sale, we recommend a Level 2 every few years for older Norcross homes, because visual-only checks miss what’s happening inside the flue throat and smoke chamber.
Camera Scan That Shows You the Evidence
Our Level 2 uses a high-definition camera fed up through the flue, and we show you the footage before we recommend anything. You’re not taking our word for a deteriorated flue liner. You’re looking at the cracks, the missing mortar, the creosote glazing. If a chimney on a Norcross home has a problem, the camera proves it.
When a Level 2 Leads to a Liner Recommendation
In Norcross’s older masonry chimneys, a Level 2 often reveals unlined flues or liner damage that a Level 1 can’t see. If we find this, we’ll recommend a stainless liner from HeatShield or DuraFlex, installed by our own team. We don’t subcontract. We don’t hand you a number and walk away. We walk you through what the camera showed and why the liner matters.
Chimney Leak in Norcross
Chimney Leak in Norcross is one of the most common calls we get after heavy summer thunderstorms or winter freeze-thaw cycles, and diagnosing the source runs $189 – $249 as part of a Level 2 inspection. A leak isn’t always from the chimney cap. In Norcross, where 100-year-old crowns and flashing on historic brick chimneys crack with age, water often finds its way in through the masonry itself, the crown, or the flashing where the chimney meets the roofline.
Homeowners usually notice the leak after a ceiling stain appears in an upstairs bedroom or a damp smell settles into the living room near the fireplace. By the time that stain shows, the damper is often rusted, the firebox has water damage, and the flue liner has started to spall. Waiting makes the repair bigger. Calling when you first notice the smell or the stain keeps the scope narrow.
Freeze-Thaw Cracks in Original Masonry
Norcross winters are mild, but overnight freezes between December and February do real damage to old brick and mortar. Water soaks into the porous masonry during the day, freezes and expands at night, and the cycle repeats until the crown cracks or the flashing pulls away. Homes in the historic district are especially vulnerable because the original masonry wasn’t built with modern waterproofing standards.
Flashing and Crown Repairs
If the leak is at the roofline, it’s usually flashing. If it’s coming through the top of the chimney, it’s usually the crown. Both are repairable, and we do the work with professional-grade materials from brands like Olympia Chimney and Gelco. The repair gets a written guarantee, and if it fails inside the guarantee period, we return at no charge.
Trusted Brands We Service in Norcross
We don’t stock whatever happened to be in the van. We keep our Norcross service trucks loaded with components from chimney-trade brands we trust: HeatShield for liner repair, Gelco for crown sealants, and Olympia Chimney for caps and chase covers. When a Norcross homeowner needs a part, we usually have it on the truck the first visit, which means the fix happens faster. If we’re installing a liner, we use DuraFlex stainless steel. If we’re repairing a crown, we use Gelco products rated for decades of exposure. The brand matters because the materials are sitting inside a structure that carries fire and exhaust out of your home. This is ash in the name, and it’s the part of the house we take seriously.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Norcross Homes
- Shared flues in the historic district. Many early-20th-century homes in downtown Norcross were built with attached or shared chimney stacks serving multiple dwellings or multiple appliances. A neighbor’s water heater vent can bleed exhaust through spalled mortar joints into your flue, and a Level 1 visual check from the firebox misses this completely.
- Unlined flues in older brick chimneys. Plenty of Norcross chimneys built before the 1940s never had a clay liner installed, and the brick itself was the flue. After decades of Georgia humidity and wood burning, that brick is saturated with creosote and spalling. An unlined flue is a fire risk, and the only way to confirm it is with a camera.
- Sticky, acidic creosote from humid summers. Norcross’s hot, humid climate changes how creosote behaves. It doesn’t dry into flaky powder the way it does in drier climates. It gets sticky and acidic, and that acid eats unlined brick faster. By the time a homeowner sees smoke staining upstairs, the creosote has often become a third-degree tar glaze that needs mechanical removal.
- Freeze-thaw damage to crowns and flashing. The same freeze-thaw cycle that potholes Norcross roads in January cracks the original crowns and flashing on older chimneys. Water gets in, the firebox gets wet, the damper rusts shut, and the homeowner only finds out when a ceiling stain appears in the room below.
See the difference
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After
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AfterPricing for Chimney Inspection in Norcross, GA
Here’s the straight pricing for Chimney Inspection in Norcross:
- Level 1 visual inspection: $189 – $249
- Level 2 camera inspection: $249 – $449
- Level 3 inspection (involving removal of masonry or liner components): $500 – $1,500 or more depending on scope
- Real estate inspection (typically Level 2 with documentation for closing): $275 – $449
- Flue-only camera scan add-on: $99 – $149 when combined with a Level 1
What changes the price is chimney height, roof pitch, access difficulty, and whether the flue needs cleaning before the camera can see clearly. Homes in Historic Downtown Norcross with steep roofs and tight street parking sometimes require special ladder setup, which can push the price to the upper end of the range. We’ll give you the exact written price before any work starts, and that number doesn’t change. Estimates are free, and the phone is answered by a live person around the clock.
We Also Serve Cities Near Norcross
Our chimney inspection crews cover Norcross and the surrounding Gwinnett, Cobb, and Cherokee County communities. We regularly schedule inspections in Smyrna, Woodstock, Marietta, and Kennesaw. If you’re just outside Norcross and need a chimney looked at, call us and we’ll give you a straight answer on scheduling and pricing.
Serving Norcross, GA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Norcross 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 Norcross
Yes, a Level 2 camera inspection specifically checks for cross-contamination between shared or adjacent flues, and this is exactly the kind of problem we find in Norcross’s historic downtown attached homes. The camera scans the flue interior and smoke chamber for spalled mortar joints, cracked flue tiles, or bypass paths where a neighbor’s appliance exhaust could bleed into your stack. We document what we find, show you the footage, and recommend the fix, often a HeatShield liner or flue sealing. Call (478) 796-8742 to schedule a Level 2 with camera.
Yes, and it comes down to flue construction, age, and shared walls. A newer Norcross home off Beaver Ruin Road typically has a prefabricated metal chimney or a clay-lined masonry flue that a Level 1 visual check covers adequately. A 100-year-old brick chimney on College Street likely has no liner at all, deteriorated mortar joints, and possibly a shared stack with an attached dwelling. That requires a Level 2 camera inspection to evaluate what’s actually inside. If you own an older Norcross home, plan on a Level 2 at least every two to three years.
The biggest reason is using a Level 1 visual-only inspection on a chimney that needs a Level 2 camera scan. In Norcross’s older homes, smoke-chamber bypass paths, hidden creosote glazing, and cross-contamination between attached dwellings are all invisible from the firebox. A visual check says everything looks fine. A camera shows what’s actually there. If you have an older chimney, a shared flue, or you’ve never had a camera inspection, don’t settle for visual-only.
Once a year, regardless of how often you burn. Norcross’s humid climate keeps creosote sticky and acidic even when the fireplace sits unused for months, and that acid continues attacking the flue liner. A Level 1 inspection every year catches minor issues early. A Level 2 every two to three years gives you the camera scan that catches what a visual check misses. If it’s been more than two years since your last inspection, call (478) 796-8742 and we’ll get you scheduled.
Yes, a Level 2 camera inspection shows definitively whether your flue has a clay liner, a stainless liner, or no liner at all. Many Norcross chimneys built before the 1940s are unlined, and the camera footage makes that obvious. If we find an unlined flue, we’ll explain the fire risk, show you the footage, and recommend a stainless liner if it’s needed. The inspection itself is non-invasive, and you’ll have a written report with photo documentation when we’re done.
Schedule Your Norcross Chimney Inspection Today
If you’re in Norcross and you haven’t had your chimney inspected in the last year, now is the right time. Nathan Corliss and the Ashby Chimney Marietta team will give you a written price before any work starts, show up in the window we promise, and put the guarantee in writing. No no-shows, no price-switching, no scare tactics. Just a straight answer about what’s going on inside your flue and what it costs to fix. Call (478) 796-8742 for a free estimate. A live person answers, any hour, any day.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Marietta, serving Norcross and the surrounding metro Atlanta communities since 2002.