How often should a chimney be inspected?

Have your chimney inspected once a year. The U.S. Fire Administration advises maintaining heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected each year by a professional.^[1] Fairfax County Fire and Rescue says the same: have a licensed chimney sweep clean and inspect your chimney at least once a year.^[2] The best time is late summer or early fall, before the first fire.

Why every year

A chimney can be damaged or blocked without any sign inside the house. EPA's guidance says fire officials recommend getting your wood-burning appliance, chimney, and vent professionally inspected each year, and describes an inspection as looking for any chimney cracks, which can allow smoke to enter your home, or can expose your chimney's components to high temperatures that may cause a fire.^[3] Winter freezes, roof leaks, animals and the heat of the last season's fires all work on a chimney, so a clean bill of health last year says little about this one. What the inspector checks is covered in what a chimney inspector looks for.

Cleaning and inspection are related but not the same. How often to sweep depends on how much you burn; see how often a chimney should be cleaned. The yearly visit is the chance to do both at once.

It is not only wood fireplaces

Gas and other fuel-burning appliances vent through chimneys too. EPA's frequently asked questions quote the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as urging an annual professional inspection of all fuel-burning appliances, including furnaces, wood and gas stoves, fireplaces, clothes dryers, water heaters and space heaters, to detect potentially deadly carbon monoxide leaks.^[4] If a furnace or water heater vents through your chimney, the chimney is part of that appliance's safety. For the dryer vent, see how often a dryer vent should be cleaned.

Times to inspect in addition

Before connecting a stove, insert or new appliance. Woodstock Soapstone, a stove manufacturer, says all chimneys should be inspected by a professional and needed repairs should be made before you hook up your stove.^[5] The same source says even chimneys in newer homes should be inspected for soundness and proper clearances to combustibles.^[5]

Before using a chimney that has been idle. Woodstock warns that an out-of-use or abandoned chimney may not be up to code.^[5] A chimney that has not been used for years may have lost mortar, gained a nest or never had a proper liner.

When you buy a house. The seller's yearly record, if there is one, tells you little about today's condition. See whether you need a chimney inspection when buying a house.

When something changes. If you smell smoke indoors, EPA's advice is to shut down your wood-burning appliance, open a window, be sure the flue is open, carefully check the venting (chimney) system, and call a professional wood stove installer or chimney sweep.^[3] Treat a burning smell, smoke coming into the room, falling debris in the firebox or visible damage to the masonry as reasons to stop using the fireplace and book an inspection, not to wait for next fall. The same goes after anything that could have hit the chimney, such as a hard storm or a fallen tree limb.

What to ask when you book

• Does the visit include a camera scan of the flue, roof and attic access, and a written report?
• Will you tell me in writing what could not be reached?
• Is the price for inspection only, or does it include sweeping? What a chimney inspection costs in Virginia explains what changes the price.

Keep each year's report. A file of dated reports shows how the chimney is aging and helps when you sell the house.

When to call a licensed pro

Chimney inspection is pro-only. It means roof access, a camera scan and the judgment to tell routine wear from a failing liner, and what is missed can end in a fire or carbon monoxide in the house. There is no do-it-yourself version of a safety inspection, only a quick look that can give false comfort.

Repairs after an inspection are contracting work in Virginia. The Code of Virginia says Class C contractors are those whose single contract or project is over $1,000 but less than $30,000, or whose total work in any 12-month period is less than $250,000,^[6] so check the licence before you sign, and get more than one written quote for anything significant.

Loclis lists DPOR-licensed businesses with their licence number and class. Browse chimney services or read more chimney and fireplace answers.

Book this year's chimney inspection by describing your chimney once, and local chimney businesses quote it.