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 Sweep Across North Hollywood
A chimney sweep in North Hollywood runs $150 to $280 for a standard fireplace cleaning, and most jobs are done the same visit. If your fireplace is in one of the older bungalows or Spanish Colonial Revival homes south of Sherman Way or along the NoHo arts district, expect the work to involve more than a brush through the flue. We’re talking liner checks, cap retrofits, and looking at what the 1994 Northridge earthquake may have left behind in your masonry. Corona Chimney Sweep has been working these streets long enough to know what hides behind the face of a 1920s fireplace. Call (855) 382-6159 and we’ll tell you honestly what your chimney needs and what it doesn’t.
Why Corona Chimney Sweep Is North Hollywood’s Preferred Chimney Sweep Company
There’s a specific set of problems we see over and over in North Hollywood, and most of them aren’t heavy creosote. The pre-war housing stock here, built between the 1920s and 1950s, went up with unlined brick fireplaces that were designed for look and light use, not decades of wood fires. Add the Northridge earthquake and a dry San Fernando Valley climate, and you get hairline cracks, separated flues, and draft problems that a sweep-only crew will miss. We find them on camera, and because our Chimney Sweep team does repair work in-house, we fix them. No handoff.
Our reputation here comes from that one thing: we do Gelco repair in North Hollywood and fix whatever we find. A homeowner near Lankershim and Magnolia doesn’t need a cleaner who tells them to call a mason. They need a flue liner installed, a cracked crown sealed, or a damper retrofit. We do that work with materials from HeatShield, DuraFlex, and Olympia Chimney, the same lines contractors stock. That’s the difference.
When you call from the 91601, 91615, 91616, or 91618 ZIP codes, you get a straight answer on timing. We book sweeps and inspections across North Hollywood within a few working days. No dispatch games, no four-hour windows.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Cleaning in North Hollywood
Chimney cleaning in North Hollywood often costs $160 to $250, depending on what’s inside the flue. A standard job here involves removing soot and creosote from the firebox, smoke chamber, and flue, then checking the draft. In the older NoHo bungalows, the bigger task is what comes after the brush: looking at mortar joints, the crown, and whether the flue tile is still intact.
Creosote Removal for Older Flues
Hot, dry summers mean chimneys here sit unused for months. Then the first winter fire hits months of accumulated creosote that has hardened. Glazed, third-degree creosote won’t come off with a standard brush. We remove it with rotary tools and recommend a follow-up sweep timeline based on how much came out.
Seasonal Off-Season Build-Up
Santa Ana wind season drives birds and rodents into uncapped flues. A chimney that hasn’t been used since February often has a squirrel midden or pigeon nesting blocking the draft. We pull it out, clean what’s left, and usually recommend a cap so it doesn’t happen again.
Fireplace Cleaning in North Hollywood
Fireplace cleaning in North Hollywood typically runs $150 to $260 for a standard open-hearth fireplace, and it’s the most common call we get from homeowners in the 1920s bungalows and mid-century tract homes off Vineland and Burbank Boulevard. The work is more than scraping the firebox. We clean the smoke chamber, check the damper, and look at the flue above it.
Firebox and Smoke Chamber Cleaning
Soot builds up in the smoke chamber behind the damper, and that’s where drafts usually fail first. We vacuum and brush that space clean, then check for gaps in the mortar. In older North Hollywood fireplaces, the smoke chamber is often unparged brick, which catches creosote heavily.
Gas Fireplace and Insert Cleaning
Many North Hollywood homes have converted the original wood-burning fireplace to a gas insert. These still need annual service. Dust, pet hair, and combustion byproducts clog the burner and venting, and we clean those thoroughly before the heating season.
Trusted Brands We Service in North Hollywood
We install and service components from HeatShield, Olympia Chimney, and Famco, which means the parts we put into a North Hollywood fireplace are the same ones a professional chimney contractor would specify, not big-box substitutes. If we open your 1940s firebox and find spalled brick or a deteriorated flue liner, we can often restore the interior with HeatShield resurfacing rather than dismantling the chimney. When the flue is too far gone or the home’s layout demands a code-compliant retrofit, we use DuraFlex flexible liner systems. We carry these materials because the older chimneys in North Hollywood weren’t built for modern use, and we’d rather fix the problem than refer it out.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Chimney Sweep Problems We See in North Hollywood Homes
- Shared-flue cross-contamination in attached bungalows. Many pre-war NoHo homes were built with side-by-side chimneys that share a stack. When the flue tile splits, a neighbor’s furnace or water heater exhaust can vent into your firebox. We catch this on camera inspection, not with a brush.
- Earthquake-related flue separation. The 1994 Northridge earthquake cracked and shifted thousands of masonry chimneys in the 91601 and 91615 ZIP codes. Owners often don’t know until gas odors or smoke backup shows up. A Level 2 inspection finds it.
- Uncapped flues collecting nests in tight setbacks. Bungalows here sit close together, and open chimneys are easy entry for pigeons. We’ve pulled squirrel middens and bird nests from flues on Landale, Hesby, and Magnolia.
- Dry-cracked crowns and spalling brick. North Hollywood gets little rain, but the dry heat and UV exposure crack mortar crowns over time. Water then seeps into the brick and pops the face off during the next winter’s freeze-thaw. We repair crowns with proper crown sealer, not just mortar.
Pricing for Chimney Sweep in North Hollywood, CA
A standard chimney sweep and fireplace cleaning in North Hollywood runs $150 to $280. A Level 1 inspection adds $80 to $150, and a Level 2 inspection with camera work runs $200 to $350. Liner work, cap installation, and crown repair are quoted separately once we see the condition of the flue. What affects the price in North Hollywood specifically: attached flues and shared stacks require more time to inspect, and older bungalows often need damper or crown work in addition to the sweep. We give a firm quote before any work starts, and the estimate is free. Call (855) 382-6159 and we’ll walk you through what your chimney needs.
We Also Serve Cities Near North Hollywood
Our Chimney Sweep in North Hollywood service area covers the surrounding San Fernando Valley communities, including Studio City, Universal City, Burbank, and Valley Glen. If you’re in one of those neighborhoods and need a sweep or liner work, the same team and pricing apply. Call (855) 382-6159 to schedule.
Serving North Hollywood, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the North Hollywood 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 Sweep in North Hollywood
That’s a shared-flue cross-contamination issue, and it’s common in attached pre-war bungalows throughout North Hollywood. Your chimney and your neighbor’s may share a stack with separate flue liners running side by side. If the masonry between them has cracked, often from the Northridge earthquake, the exhaust from their furnace or water heater can seep into your flue and down into your firebox. A standard sweep won’t find this because a brush only cleans, it doesn’t inspect. You need a Level 2 camera inspection to locate the separation, and in most cases, a DuraFlex or HeatShield liner to seal it. This isn’t a minor odor issue either. Combustion gases belong outside. Call (855) 382-6159 to schedule an inspection.
Yes, especially in an older North Hollywood home. A dormant chimney is often worse than a used one because no one notices when things go wrong. Crowns dry-crack, masonry spalls, dampers seize, and animals move in. An uncapped flue on a bungalow off Burbank Boulevard can sit collecting pigeon nests for two years, and you won’t know until you light a fire and smoke pours back into the living room. More than that, the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged a lot of chimneys in the 91615 and 91616 ZIP codes, and those hairline cracks may still be there. A Level 1 or Level 2 inspection costs $80 to $350 and tells you exactly what you’re dealing with. It’s cheap relative to a chimney fire or CO exposure.
First-degree creosote is loose soot that brushes off easily. Third-degree creosote is a hard, glossy, tar-like glaze that forms when first-degree deposits bake and re-bake over months of hot, dry San Fernando Valley summers. North Hollywood is particularly prone to third-degree creosote because chimneys sit idle from March through November in dry heat, then get hit with a heavy first fire on a cold winter night. That glazed creosote is concentrated fuel, and it can ignite at temperatures a normal chimney fire reaches easily. Rotary cleaning tools can remove it, but only a trained Chimney Sweep professional should do that work. If you have thick, shiny black build-up in your flue, call (855) 382-6159 before you light the next fire.
You’ve got an animal in the flue, and in North Hollywood it’s usually a squirrel or a pigeon. They enter through uncapped chimneys, especially in tight street setbacks where trees overhang the roof. Do not light a fire to smoke it out. That kills the animal or fills your house with its smell, and either way you’ve created a bigger problem. Don’t try to pull the nest out yourself either. A dead rodent or bird in a 1920s flue is a hazardous removal job. We extract the animal when possible, remove the nesting material, clean the flue (animal waste is corrosive to the liner), and install a proper chimney cap with spark arrestor mesh. This is one of the most common North Hollywood calls we get between March and October. Call (855) 382-6159.
Yes, in most cases. A cracked crown on a 1940s North Hollywood bungalow is usually a repair job, not a teardown. Crowns here fail from dry heat and UV exposure more than from freeze-thaw, and that means the cracking often stays near the surface. We cut out the deteriorated mortar, rebuild the crown with a proper crown mix that includes the right slope and edge profile, and finish it with a waterproof crown sealer. If the brick below the crown is spalling or the flue is separated from the earthquake, that’s different, and we’ll show you the camera footage before recommending any structural work. We also inspect for cross-contamination when we’re up there, because many 1940s and pre-war NoHo chimneys share stacks with the house next door. Get a quote by calling (855) 382-6159.
Written by Nolan Ferris, Owner at Corona Chimney Sweep, serving North Hollywood since the company’s first year in the San Fernando Valley.