Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
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 Fireplace Repair Across Kendall
Fireplace repair in Kendall usually runs between $185 and $2,400 depending on what’s actually wrong, and the honest answer is that most of what we quote comes down to one thing: what the camera shows inside your flue. If you live in Kendall West, The Hammocks, or anywhere along Kendall Drive with a 1960s-1980s ranch, your fireplace probably has a clay tile liner that’s been quietly cracking for years. We serve Kendall from our Miami dispatch office, and our techs know exactly what those older chimneys look like on the inside. Call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll give you a written price before any work starts.
Why Ashby Chimney Miami Is Kendall’s Preferred Fireplace Repair Company
We’ve been doing this since 2002, and we’ve seen every version of fireplace trouble Kendall’s housing stock can throw at a homeowner. The reviews we get from Kendall customers tend to mention the same things: the tech showed up in the window we gave, the price on the invoice matched the quote, and the camera footage made the problem obvious. That’s not an accident. Nathan Corliss built Ashby around a simple practice: show the homeowner what we see, explain what it costs to fix, and put the guarantee in writing. Every repair gets that treatment.
When you call, a live person answers. Not a voicemail, not a callback form. That matters when you’ve got smoke backing into your living room or a gas fireplace that won’t light and it’s 8 p.m. Our techs are background-checked and uniformed, so you know exactly who’s walking through your door. We keep parts for common Kendall repairs stocked locally – Copperfield dampers, DuraFlex liners, HeatShield resurfacing material – so we’re not waiting on a shipment when your firebox is spalling into the living room.
We don’t do scare tactics. We do camera evidence. If your flue is fine, we’ll tell you it’s fine and charge you for a sweep and inspection. If it’s not fine, you’ll see the crack on our screen before we ever quote a repair.
Styles & brands we work with
Wood Stove Installation in Kendall
Wood stove installation in Kendall comes up more than you’d expect, mostly in older ranch homes where the original masonry fireplace was sealed off decades ago and the owner wants real heat without the heat loss of an open hearth. A typical wood stove installation in Kendall runs $2,800 to $6,500, and that includes the liner, stove pipe, through-the-wall or through-the-roof penetration, and the permit-ready paperwork. The humid climate and occasional-use pattern means we always match the stove size honestly to the square footage, and we line the existing masonry or install a new chimney system rather than venting a modern stove into an old unlined flue.
Lining for Existing Masonry
Most Kendall homes from the 1960s-1980s have an existing masonry chimney, but the clay tile flue is rarely sized or safe for a modern wood stove. We typically drop a DuraFlex stainless liner down that stack, sized to the stove’s exhaust volume. That’s the piece that keeps combustion gases moving out instead of leaking into the wall cavity.
Freestanding Stove on a Hearth Pad
If you’re keeping the old fireplace but want a freestanding stove in front of it, the hearth pad and clearances to combustible walls are where most Kendall installs get tricky. We measure to the inch and quote the pad, stove pipe, and any heat shielding as separate line items, so you see exactly what you’re paying for.
Gas Fireplace Repair in Kendall
Gas fireplace repair in Kendall usually means one of three issues: a pilot light that won’t stay lit, a thermocouple or thermopile that’s given out, or a venting problem where the unit is dumping carbon monoxide back into the house instead of up the chimney. The most common repair call we run in Kendall is the pilot assembly replacement, which typically costs $225 to $475 parts and labor. A full gas valve replacement runs $350 to $800. If the gas logs are rusted or the burner is clogged, factor another $150 to $375. Every quote is written before we start, and the number doesn’t change at the door.
Venting Through an Older Chimney
This is the one we see most in Kendall’s older subdivisions. A homeowner has a gas insert or gas logs venting into the same clay tile flue that served the wood fires for forty years. High humidity corrodes the damper and the flue tiles, and pretty soon the exhaust isn’t drafting correctly. If that’s what we find, you’ll see it on camera. The repair is usually a properly sized liner run from the insert up through the stack, not a tear-out.
Pilot Light and Ignition Work
If the pilot won’t catch or keeps dropping out, we test the thermocouple first, then the gas pressure, then the valve itself. We don’t just swap parts until something works. You get a diagnosis and a price for the exact fix before we turn a wrench.
Trusted Brands We Service in Kendall
Most fireplace manufacturers’ warranties require that repairs use compatible components from established chimney-trade suppliers, and we keep those parts in rotation for Kendall calls: Copperfield dampers and caps, DuraFlex stainless liners, HeatShield resurfacing material, and Gelco refractory products. When you have a gas insert that needs a specific pilot assembly or a wood stove that needs a replacement baffle, we’re not piecing it together with whatever’s in the van. We quote the proper part, order it if we don’t have it locally, and get your fireplace running again without three return trips.
Common Fireplace Repair Problems We See in Kendall Homes
- Cracked clay tile flue liners. Kendall’s water table sits close to the surface in subdivisions like Kendall West and The Hammocks, and that moisture works its way into aging clay tiles. By the time smoke or carbon monoxide backs up into the house, the crack has usually been there for years.
- Hardened third-degree creosote behind the damper. Mild winters mean people burn once or twice a year, and each short fire lays down a layer of creosote that never gets hot enough to burn off. Over time it glazes solid, and no brush will touch it. That’s chemical treatment or a liner.
- Spalling firebox mortar and smoke chamber deterioration. Kendall’s humidity seeps into the masonry, and when the firebox heats up even once, the thermal shock pops chips of mortar loose. We find piles of sand and creosote flakes in the firebox after every rainy season.
- Corroded dampers and caps. Salt-tinged humid air eats through cheap dampers and chimney caps faster here than in drier climates. A rusted-out damper never fully closes, which means air-conditioned air escapes up the flue for months before anyone notices the draft.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterPricing for Fireplace Repair in Kendall, FL
Here’s what fireplace repair actually costs in Kendall. A basic damper repair runs $185 to $425. Firebox mortar and smoke chamber repair: $600 to $1,800 depending on how much spalled material has to be cut out and rebuilt. A full clay-tile-to-stainless reline with DuraFlex runs $2,800 to $6,500. If we can resurface instead of reline with HeatShield, that’s usually $1,800 to $3,200. Every quote is written, itemized, and given to you before work begins. We don’t do verbal “about this much” pricing, and we don’t tack on surprises at the end. Call (850) 787-8597 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Kendall
Our Miami dispatch office sends techs to Kendall daily, and we also cover the surrounding area: Miami, Hialeah, North Miami Beach, and Hialeah Gardens. If you’re in one of the older neighborhoods near Kendall Drive or SW 88th Street, you’re in our normal service range, and the same written-price and written-guarantee policy applies. For full details on everything our Fireplace Repair team handles, that page breaks it down service by service.
Serving Kendall, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Kendall 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 Fireplace Repair in Kendall
Water is the culprit, not heat. Kendall’s high water table and heavy seasonal rain keep moisture moving through the masonry around your clay tile flue. The tiles absorb that moisture, expand and contract slightly with temperature changes, and eventually crack along the joints. You won’t see it from the firebox. It takes a camera run up the flue to show it, and that’s exactly what we do before recommending any repair. If we find cracks, you’ll see them on our screen with your own eyes. Call (850) 787-8597 for a camera inspection.
A Level 1 visual inspection only looks at the accessible parts of the chimney – the firebox, damper, and whatever the tech can see from below or the roof. What it misses is everything inside the flue itself: cracks in the clay tiles, hardened creosote glaze, animal nests up near the cap. In Kendall, where fireplaces sit unused for months in high humidity, the damage accumulates in exactly those hidden spots. Our camera sees it all, and you get to watch the footage. If the flue is clean, you’ll know. If it’s not, you’ll know why, and we’ll quote the repair only after you’ve seen the evidence.
Yes. We don’t tear down chimneys unless the masonry itself is structurally failing. For cracked clay tiles, the standard options are a stainless liner dropped down the existing flue (DuraFlex is what we typically use here) or resurfacing with HeatShield, which rebuilds the interior of the flue without demolition. Which one works for your fireplace depends on the size of the flue, the extent of the cracking, and whether you’re burning wood or venting a gas appliance. You’ll see the camera footage first, then get a written quote for the option that fits your chimney and your budget.
That black crust is hardened creosote and sometimes spalled mortar flaking down from the smoke chamber above. In Kendall’s humidity, the masonry absorbs moisture, and even one fire a season causes enough thermal expansion to pop bits of mortar loose. Combined with old creosote that never fully burned away, you get that tar-like glaze and crumbly black debris. It’s not just ugly – that creosote is fuel. A Level 2 camera inspection will show us how deep the glaze goes and whether chemical treatment or a resurfacing job is the right fix.
You’ll usually hear or smell it first: a faint exhaust odor in the room, soot staining above the fireplace opening, or the carbon monoxide detector going off near that room. But the definitive answer comes from a camera run and a draft test. We scope the flue to check for cracked tiles, rusted-out dampers, or blockages, then measure the draft with the insert running. If the clay tile flue is in rough shape, we line it properly for the gas appliance. Don’t guess on this one. Call (850) 787-8597 and we’ll test it.
Camera Evidence Before You Spend a Dollar
Here’s the thing about fireplace repair in Kendall: the most expensive damage is the stuff you can’t see from your living room. A cracked clay tile flue in a Kendall West ranch looks fine from the firebox. Hardened third-degree creosote behind the damper in a Hammocks split-level looks like nothing at all until it lights up. Masonry spalling in the smoke chamber drops debris you just sweep up and ignore. That’s why we never quote a repair without running a camera first, and we never let you approve work until you’ve seen the footage yourself.
In that Kendall West ranch, we pulled the copper chimney cap and found a squirrel nest packed tight against a crack that ran six feet down the clay liner. The homeowner hadn’t used the fireplace in two years. Our tech scoped the whole flue with the camera, showed the crack and the glazed creosote behind the damper, and we relined with HeatShield instead of telling them they needed a full chimney rebuild. That’s how we work. Nothing gets recommended that you can’t verify with your own eyes on our screen.
The Kingswell Guarantee backs every repair we do in Kendall. That means a written price before work starts, a written guarantee when it’s done, and a free second visit if the covered repair fails within the guarantee period. We call it the 365-Day Done Right Promise. It’s not an add-on, and it’s not a warranty you have to register for. It’s just how Nathan Corliss has run this company since 2002: say the price, show up in the window, leave it cleaner than we found it, put the guarantee in writing, and come back if it fails.
If your fireplace hasn’t been looked at in the last year, or if you’re seeing smoke, smelling exhaust, or just found more black crust in the firebox after the rains, call (850) 787-8597. We’ll answer, talk through what’s going on, and get you on the schedule before the next cool stretch hits Kendall. Written price. Written guarantee. Camera evidence. That’s the Ashby way.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Miami, serving Kendall since the company’s founding in 2002.