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 Miami Shores
A chimney inspection in Miami Shores typically costs $189 – $389 for a Level 1 visual check and $289 – $589 for a Level 2 camera inspection, depending on roof access and flue condition. Most inspections take 45 – 90 minutes, and we schedule Miami Shores appointments within 3 – 5 business days. If you’re buying or selling a home in the village, or you haven’t had your flue looked at in years, call Ashby Chimney Miami at (850) 787-8597 and we’ll get you on the calendar with a written price before anyone climbs a ladder.
We work in Miami Shores every week. Our techs know the difference between a decorative 1920s stack on a Mediterranean Revival on NE 95th Street and a working fireplace on a canal-front lot off NE 105th Street. That matters when you’re deciding whether an inspection is worth the money, and what to do with what we find.
Why Ashby Chimney Miami Is Miami Shores’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
Miami Shores homeowners call us because we show the camera footage before we recommend a single repair. Nathan Corliss built this business in 2002 on a simple rule: if we can’t show you the problem on screen, we don’t ask you to fix it. That rule matters more in Miami Shores than almost anywhere else we work, because the village is full of 1920s Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial homes with original clay-tile flues that have been misdiagnosed by other companies for years.
Our Chimney Inspection in Miami Shores customers consistently tell us the same thing: they expected a sales pitch and got a straight answer instead. We arrive with a written scope of work, run the inspection, and hand you a report with photos and plain-English findings. No pressure to replace a liner the same day. If a repair does make sense, you get a written guarantee and the Kingswell 365-Day Done Right Promise behind it.
Every tech who walks into a Miami Shores home is background-checked, uniformed, and trained on the specific failure modes we see in this housing stock: spalling brick, missing caps, uncapped flues with no dampers, and clay tiles cracked by decades of salty air. Calls are answered by a live person 24/7, not a voicemail box that promises a callback next week.
Styles & brands we work with
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Miami Shores
A Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Miami Shores is the camera-based evaluation we recommend for most 1920s-era homes in the village, especially those with original brick chimneys that may have gone years without a cap, damper, or any meaningful maintenance. It covers everything in a Level 1 visual check, then adds a high-resolution scan of the entire flue interior, the smoke chamber, and the exterior crown and brickwork. In Miami Shores, a Level 2 inspection runs $289 – $589, with the price set in writing before we arrive. You need one if you’re buying or selling a home, after a chimney fire, after any structural change to the fireplace, or if you haven’t had the flue looked at since you moved in.
What the camera actually shows you
We run the camera from the firebox up through the flue and record the whole pass. You’ll see cracked clay tiles, gaps in mortar joints, bird or squirrel nesting material, and water staining as it actually is, not as a verbal summary. For Miami Shores homeowners who have been told they need a liner by someone who never showed them evidence, this is the part that settles it.
When a Level 2 is the right call
If your chimney has no cap and no damper, assume wildlife has been in there. If your home sat through even one hurricane season without a proper crown seal, assume water has been getting behind the brick. A Level 2 answers both questions definitively and gives you a record for insurance or a future real estate transaction.
Chimney Leak in Miami Shores
A Chimney Leak in Miami Shores usually traces back to three things: a failed or missing chimney cap, cracked crown mortar, or spalling brick that’s been absorbing salty rain for decades. Heavy summer downpours push water into any gap, and because Miami Shores homes sit in a subtropical climate with year-round humidity, that moisture rarely dries out on its own. We diagnose leaks with a camera inspection and a moisture check on the exterior masonry. The inspection itself runs $189 – $389, and if we find a leak, the repair gets priced separately in writing before any work starts.
Why caps and crowns fail here faster
Salt-laden air from Biscayne Bay accelerates mortar deterioration on exposed chimney crowns and shoulders. We regularly see crowns in the village that haven’t been resealed since the house was built. Once the crown cracks, rain gets into the brick itself, and spalling follows within a few seasons. A camera inspection confirms whether water has also reached the flue interior.
Leak repair done in the right order
No leak repair makes sense until we’ve documented where the water is entering. That’s the camera’s job. After that, the fix might be a new stainless cap, a crown reseal, or in more advanced cases, HeatShield resurfacing inside the flue. We’ll show you the footage and give you the written price before you decide anything. Nathan Corliss has never been interested in selling a liner to someone who only needed a cap.
Trusted Brands We Service in Miami Shores
When a Miami Shores inspection does turn up a repair need, we install materials from manufacturers we trust to hold up in this climate. HeatShield resurfacing systems for clay-tile flues, Gelco caps and chase covers built for coastal salt exposure, and Olympia Chimney components for crown repair and water protection. We keep a rolling inventory of common parts sized for 1920s-era flues, which means less waiting when a repair is scheduled. No generic hardware-store substitutes, no “whatever was in the van.” You’ll see the brand name on the invoice and on the parts.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Miami Shores Homes
- Uncapped, undampered flues with wildlife inside. Most original Miami Shores chimneys were built without caps or dampers. Birds and squirrels treat them as permanent housing, and the first cold snap usually sends a nest down into the firebox or a smell into the living room.
- Clay tiles cracked from heat and age. The original flue liners in these 1920s homes are now nearly a century old. Thermal stress plus decades of salty rain spalling the outer brick means many liners are cracked in places you can only see with a camera.
- Water-damaged crowns and wash brick. Miami Shores’s heavy summer rains and humid air keep mortar perpetually damp. Crowns crack, water seeps into the masonry, and the face of the brick starts flaking off. Even decorative chimneys need this checked.
- Furnace or water heater venting into a decorative stack. When an old chimney was repurposed for a modern gas appliance, the flue size and condition often don’t match code. A Level 2 camera inspection catches venting problems that a visual check never will.
See the difference
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AfterPricing for Chimney Inspection in Miami Shores, FL
Here’s the straight talk. A Level 1 inspection in Miami Shores runs $189 – $289. A Level 2 camera inspection runs $289 – $589, with the higher end covering two-story Mediterranean Revival homes where roof access takes longer and flues run taller. A real estate inspection for a home sale in the village falls in the same Level 2 range, and we give the buyer or seller a written report they can actually read. If we find a chimney leak and you want the repair priced, the inspection effectively becomes diagnostic time, and the repair quote is separate and always in writing. Every Miami Shores inspection includes photos, a written summary, and a live person on the phone when you call (850) 787-8597. No one climbs a ladder until you’ve approved a fixed price.
We Also Serve Cities Near Miami Shores
Our Chimney Inspection team covers Miami Shores and the surrounding South Florida communities. You’ll also find us in Miami, Hialeah, North Miami Beach, and Hialeah Gardens, running the same camera-first inspections on whatever the local housing stock throws at us. If you’re just outside the village line, call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll tell you straight whether we can get to your address this week.
Serving Miami Shores, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Miami Shores 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 Miami Shores
Yes, and here’s why: in Miami Shores, most decorative chimneys were built without dampers or caps, so they act as open vertical shafts for rain, birds, and humid air. Even if you never light a fire, water and wildlife are degrading the flue and the surrounding masonry. A camera inspection documents what’s actually in there, and it’s the only way to know whether the “decorative” stack is quietly damaging your roofline. Call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll schedule one with a written price first.
Salt-laden air from Biscayne Bay accelerates mortar deterioration by holding moisture against the brick and promoting crystallization inside the masonry pores, which causes spalling (the flaking and popping of the brick face). In Miami Shores, we see this on chimneys even when the fireplace has never been used, because the exterior stack is fully exposed. A Level 2 inspection includes a moisture and spalling check on the outer brick so you know whether the structure needs repointing or crown work before it becomes a larger chimney leak. Call (850) 787-8597 for an inspection that gives you that answer in photos, not promises.
A Level 2 chimney inspection is a camera-based evaluation of the entire flue interior, smoke chamber, and exterior masonry, and in Miami Shores it’s the right call for any home sale, any home with an uncapped or undampered original chimney, and any time you notice an animal smell, water staining, or debris falling into the firebox. In the village’s 1920s housing stock, we default to Level 2 because visual checks miss too much inside century-old clay-tile flues. The inspection runs $289 – $589 with a written price before we start, and you’ll see the camera footage yourself. Call (850) 787-8597 to book one.
Because caps cover the flue opening but not the crown, and in Miami Shores, cracked or deteriorated crown mortar is the most common leak source we diagnose. Rain hits the crown, seeps into hairline cracks, and travels into the masonry and sometimes down the flue. Salt air makes crown deterioration worse here than in inland Florida. The fix is often crown reseal work with a product like Gelco or a proper repair, but we confirm the exact entry point with a camera and moisture check first, then quote the repair in writing. Call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll find it without guessing.
Yes. A musty smell from a Miami Shores fireplace usually means one of two things: water has been entering through a failed crown or missing cap and mold is growing in the smoke chamber, or an animal has nested in the flue. A camera inspection sees both directly. We’ve pulled squirrel nests out of original clay-tile flues on Spanish Colonial homes off NE 95th Street more times than we can count, and we always show the homeowner the footage before recommending cleanup or repairs. Call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll get a tech out to trace that smell to its source.
Contact Ashby Chimney Miami for Chimney Inspection in Miami Shores
If you own a home in Miami Shores with a chimney you haven’t looked at in years, or you’re about to buy one, don’t guess. Call (850) 787-8597 for a free estimate on a Level 1 or Level 2 chimney inspection. We’ll give you a written price, a real arrival window, and a camera report you can see with your own eyes. Nothing gets recommended that we can’t show you. That’s how Nathan Corliss has run Ashby Chimney Miami since 2002, and that’s how we’ll treat your Miami Shores home too.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Miami, serving Miami Shores since the company’s founding in 2002.