A Claim File Is Won or Lost on What Was Written Down.
After a fire, a storm, a strike, or an impact, the chimney needs to be inspected before it is touched. We photograph it, scan the flue on camera, grade the findings against NFPA 211, and write a repair scope an adjuster can price. What your policy covers is your carrier's decision. The evidence is ours to get right.
Do not clear debris or start repairs before the inspection. Once the condition is gone, so is the evidence for it.
We are the evidence, not the advocate.
Plenty of contractors will imply they can get a claim paid. We would rather tell you exactly where our work ends, so that when the report says something, you know it was not written to reach a conclusion someone wanted.
What we do
- Inspect the chimney and fireplace after an event and grade every system against NFPA 211
- Photograph the conditions with dates, and run a full-length camera scan of the flue interior
- Describe what we observed, and what those observations are consistent with, in writing
- Itemize the repair scope with quantities, materials, and access requirements
- Be present while your adjuster inspects, and walk them through the footage and the findings
- Re-inspect and document the corrected work once repairs are complete
What we do not do
- Tell you whether your policy covers the loss — that decision sits with your carrier, not with us
- Negotiate, appeal, or argue a claim on your behalf; in Texas that is licensed public-adjuster or attorney work
- Predict a payout, promise an approval, or suggest what a file is likely to settle at
- Issue a forensic cause-and-origin determination; we report conditions, not a legal finding of cause
- Write a scope larger than the damage in front of us, whoever is paying the invoice
A dated event, not a slow decline.
Read your policy for the language that governs your loss. As a rule of thumb, the chimney damage that carriers consider is damage that happened on a day. Deterioration that accumulated over seasons is usually treated as maintenance, and no report should pretend otherwise.
Chimney fire
A flue fire leaves evidence: puffed and honeycombed creosote, heat-distorted metal, cracked or displaced tile, discolored mortar. It also compromises the liner, which is why the standard calls for a Level 2 afterward. The camera scan is usually the difference between a suspicion and a documented condition.
Wind, hail, and storm
Crowns crack, caps go missing, flashing lifts, and masonry stacks lean or shed brick. Damage above the roofline is the part a homeowner never sees from the ground, so it is photographed at the crown where the roof can be worked safely, and from the closest vantage it cannot.
Lightning and impact
A strike or a struck stack can split masonry and blow out mortar joints in a single moment. Impact damage from a fallen limb or a vehicle behaves the same way in a file: it is a sudden event with a date, which is the category most policies are written around.
Water intrusion after a failure
Water that entered because a cap blew off or a crown cracked in a storm is a consequence of the event. Water that entered over years because nothing was ever sealed is maintenance. The distinction is the whole argument, so the documentation has to speak to it honestly rather than blur it.
Six pieces of evidence, each verifiable.
Dated photographs, exterior and interior
Stack, crown, cap, flashing, firebox, damper, and smoke chamber, each shot captured on the visit date. Overview frames establish the location, close frames establish the condition.
Recorded flue camera footage
A push camera run through the full length of the flue, recorded rather than described. Tile cracks, open joints, and liner separation are the findings that argue for themselves once they are on video.
Findings written against the standard
Each system marked against NFPA 211 with the clause named, so a reviewer can check the grading rather than take the word of the contractor who produced it.
Observation stated separately from opinion
What was seen sits in one column and what it is consistent with sits in another. Keeping those apart is what stops a report from reading like advocacy, and it is what makes the observation column hard to argue with.
Itemized repair scope
Quantities, materials, access and staging requirements, and the work broken into the units an estimator prices in. A reviewer should be able to price it independently and land near the same place.
Completion record after the repair
The corrected work photographed and, where the flue was relined or rebuilt, re-scanned on camera. That closing set is what proves the scope that was approved is the scope that was performed.
Nothing gets touched until it is recorded.
The most expensive mistake after chimney damage is cleaning it up before anyone recorded what it looked like.
Make the appliance safe, then stop
If the flue may be compromised, it comes out of use until it has been inspected. Nothing gets torn out or cleaned up before it is photographed, because a repair performed in a hurry can erase the evidence the file depends on.
Report the loss yourself
First notice of loss is between you and your carrier, and it should not wait on a contractor. The date you reported it becomes part of the record. Tell them a chimney specialist is inspecting and documenting, and ask what format they want the documentation delivered in.
Inspection and capture
The visit produces the photographs, the camera footage, and the graded findings in one pass. Anything outside chimney and fireplace scope is named and handed to the trade it belongs to rather than absorbed into our report.
The adjuster's visit
We can be at the property while your adjuster inspects, show what was found, and answer technical questions about the flue. We answer questions about condition and construction. Questions about coverage go to the carrier, and we will say so on the spot rather than guess.
Repair against the approved scope, then document it
Work starts once you approve it in writing. If the carrier approves less than the full scope, you are told plainly which items are unfunded and what leaving them costs you later, and you decide. Completed work is photographed and re-scanned for the closing record.
The repair scope follows the damage, so it is quoted after we see it.
A blown-off cap and a sealed crown sit at one end of the range and a rebuilt stack sits at the other, so a figure quoted from a phone call would be a number invented to sound reassuring. Published starting figures for each individual service are listed on the pricing page, and the written quote you approve is the price we hold to.
Tell us what happened and when it happened.
Useful on the first message: when it happened, what made you look, whether the fireplace has been lit since, and whether a claim number already exists. If water is still coming in or the stack looks unstable, call instead of filling in a form.
Book your inspection
Chimney claims — FAQ
Will my insurance cover this?
We genuinely cannot tell you, and anyone in this trade who answers that question with confidence before reading your policy is selling something. Coverage depends on your policy language, your deductible, the cause, and the carrier's own review. What we control is the quality of the evidence: dated photographs, recorded camera footage, findings graded against a published standard, and a scope that can be independently priced. That is the part that is in our hands, so that is the part we do properly.
Do you handle the claim for me and deal with the adjuster?
Partly, and the line matters. We can be at the property while the adjuster inspects, walk them through the flue footage, explain construction and condition, and supply any additional documentation they request. What we do not do is negotiate the claim, dispute a denial, or advise you on what to accept. Representing a policyholder in a claim is licensed public-adjuster or attorney work in Texas, and we are neither.
How does a carrier separate storm damage from ordinary wear?
Most policies are written around a sudden, identifiable event rather than gradual deterioration, so that distinction usually decides the file. A crown that cracked and let water in after a hailstorm reads differently from a crown that has been open for six seasons. Our report describes what is there and what it is consistent with, and if what we see looks like long-term deterioration we write that down too. A report that calls every defect storm damage is worth nothing the second a reviewer catches one that is not.
My carrier gave me a list of preferred contractors. Do I have to use one?
A carrier can recommend a vendor. The choice of who performs the repair on your home is yours, and if anyone tells you otherwise it is fair to ask for that in writing. We are set up for the practical side either way: current general liability and workers' compensation, and a certificate of insurance issued to whoever needs it on file.
I found the damage months after the storm. Is it too late?
That is a question for your carrier, and late discovery is one of the common reasons a file goes badly, so it is worth raising with them early rather than hoping it passes unnoticed. What we can date is our own visit and what was visible on it. We will not backdate a finding or write that damage occurred on a date we did not observe, which is exactly why an honest report holds up.
Can you state what caused the damage?
We describe conditions and say what they are consistent with, using the same standard the trade grades against. That is different from a forensic cause-and-origin determination, which is a separate discipline with its own credentials, and some files legitimately need one. If yours does, we will say so instead of stretching our report to cover ground it should not.
What does the documentation and the repair cost?
The repair scope is quoted on site, because what a damaged chimney needs is set by what the inspection finds — a cap and a crown seal is one number, a full stack rebuild is a very different one, and quoting either from a phone description would be a guess. Published starting figures for the individual inspection and repair services are on the pricing page, and the written quote you approve is the number we commit to.
Nothing on this page is coverage advice, and none of it is a prediction about your claim. Your policy and your carrier decide what is paid. Read the policy, and ask your carrier the coverage questions directly.
Talk to a CSIA-certified expert today.
Free written quote. Same-week scheduling. 24/7 emergency response when you need it.
24/7 Response
Active leak, animal in flue, post-fire damage, or smoke event? Real humans on the line 7 AM to 12 AM every day — replies in under 2 minutes. Tech dispatch within 2 hours during business hours, subject to crew availability after-hours.
Emergency line