Level 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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Fireplace Services Across Midwood
Fireplace service in Midwood starts with an honest look at what’s actually inside your flue. Most homes here were built between 1920 and 1945 as semi-detached brick Tudors and Colonial Revivals, and the chimneys that came with them were never designed for what they’re doing today. If you’ve got a fireplace that drafts poorly, a damper that won’t close, or a gas fireplace that smells off, call (516) 289-9316. Wendell Pike and his crew have worked Midwood’s older brick homes long enough to know exactly what we’re going to find before the camera even goes up.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Why Top Hat Chimney Is Midwood’s Preferred Fireplace Services Company
Wendell founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999, and he’s spent the years since putting his name on the work. Literally. His license number is published, his address is public, and when you call, a live person picks up. Not a call center. Often Wendell himself. Midwood homeowners tend to appreciate that, especially the ones who’ve already been through a national outfit that quoted one number on the phone and a different one at the door.
We’ve scoped fireplaces on nearly every block from Ocean Avenue down to Flatbush and across the numbered streets from Avenue H to Avenue P. The brick Tudors off East 16th and the Colonials near East 24th have chimneys that are 80 to 100 years old now. Original lime mortar, original terra-cotta liners, and in a lot of cases, original problems nobody has ever looked at. Our Fireplace Services team knows what those problems look like, and more importantly, which ones actually need fixing right now and which ones can safely wait. Every job comes with a written 90-Day Done Right Promise. If it’s not right, one call brings us back.
Our Fireplace Services Services in Midwood
Gas Fireplace Service
Gas fireplaces in Midwood are usually retrofits, and the retrofit is usually the weak point. A ventless log set installed in a fireplace that was originally built for coal doesn’t always draft the way the installer assumed. We service gas fireplaces thoroughly: burner and thermocouple checks, glass seal inspection, log placement, and a camera look at the flue above. If your gas fireplace sets off the CO detector or leaves the room smelling faintly of exhaust, call us. That’s not normal, and in Midwood’s older chimneys, it’s usually the flue, not the unit.
Wood Burning Fireplace
A wood-burning fireplace in a 1930s Midwood semi-detached should be the most relaxing thing in the house. When it’s not, the cause is almost always creosote or a compromised flue. We sweep first-degree creosote with brushes. Third-degree creosote is a glaze, and that’s a different conversation. The camera tells us which one you have before we quote anything. Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes.
Fireplace Insert
Inserts are where we see the most unnecessary upsell in this trade, especially in Midwood’s older homes. A salesperson quotes an insert, then “discovers” the liner is shot and the job doubles. We do it differently. Before we recommend an insert for your Midwood fireplace, the camera goes in. You see the footage. We tell you in plain English whether the existing flue can handle it, whether it needs a liner, and what the honest number is. We install inserts with DuraFlex stainless liners when the original flue can’t do the job safely, and we don’t recommend one step beyond what the footage shows.
Damper Repair
Dampers fail in three ways in Midwood: they rust from Jamaica Bay humidity, they warp from decades of heat, or they were never properly sized. We repair and replace throat dampers and install top-sealing dampers where the situation calls for it. Here’s the thing we always check before we touch a damper on a party-wall chimney: whether the flue above is still connected to something next door. That’s a Midwood-specific problem, and we’ll get to it. Our cam-in, cam-out policy means we inspect the full flue every time, not just the part you asked about.
Trusted Brands We Service in Midwood
We install and service products from Gelco, Olympia Chimney, and Copperfield, and we stock the parts Midwood homeowners actually need. When a damper plate from a 1950s fireplace finally gives up, we’re not waiting two weeks on a slow boat. Wendell’s shop keeps common plates, glass, gaskets, and liner components on hand, so the repair happens the same week, often the same day. If your fireplace was built for a specific brand and that brand has been discontinued, we’ll tell you straight and help with a replacement that fits the existing opening. No hardsell, no forced upgrade.
Common Fireplace Services Problems We See in Midwood Homes
- Shared party-wall flues venting a neighbor’s appliance into your fireplace. This is the one that keeps us up at night. In semi-detached Midwood homes, the chimney stack often sits on or adjacent to the shared wall, with flues serving both halves. A deteriorated internal wythe can let a neighbor’s gas furnace or water heater exhaust into your side. A smoke test or pressure test on your fireplace reveals it. A standard visual check won’t.
- Unlined or cracked terra-cotta flues in 80-100-year-old chimneys. Midwood homes originally burned coal, then converted to oil, then gas. The original terra-cotta liners, if they were ever lined at all, are now brittle and cracked. Burning a wood fire without addressing a cracked liner risks heat reaching the brick, and that’s how chimney fires start.
- Dampers seized or rusted open from decades of humid Brooklyn air. Southern Brooklyn’s proximity to Jamaica Bay means moisture sits in these old flues year-round. The resulting rust and corrosion eats damper hardware. A rusted-open damper means your conditioned air goes up the chimney all winter, and a rusted-closed one means smoke comes back into the living room.
- Hidden creosote glaze behind years of soot. A level-one inspection that skips the camera can’t tell first-degree creosote from third-degree. Once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too, and Midwood’s humidity accelerates creosote hardening into that shiny, flammable glaze.
Pricing for Fireplace Services in Midwood, NY
Here are honest numbers for Midwood’s market. A standard fireplace sweep and Level 1 inspection runs $149 to $229. A Level 2 camera inspection, which we include with any repair or insert quote, adds $99 to $149 depending on roof access in Midwood’s semi-detached rows. Damper repair typically falls between $180 and $320, with a full replacement including a top-sealing damper at $350 to $600. Firebox repair with refractory mortar runs $400 to $1,200 depending on the extent of spalling. A stainless liner with insulation, installed, is $2,800 to $4,500. Gas fireplace service and cleaning runs $129 to $199. Estimates are free, and the price on the phone is the price on the invoice. Call (516) 289-9316, and Wendell or one of his crew will give you a real number before a single tool comes off the truck.
We Also Serve Cities Near Midwood
Top Hat Chimney works throughout southern Brooklyn and the surrounding area. If you’re in Midwood, Flatbush, Gravesend, or Sheepshead Bay, you’re in our service area. We also handle fireplace repairs and cleanings in Brooklyn Heights, Ridgewood, and Glendale. Same pricing, same written 90-Day Done Right Promise, same live person answering the phone.
Serving Midwood, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Midwood 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 - Fireplace Services in Midwood
Because a cap keeps rain out, but it can’t stop the ambient humidity that southern Brooklyn gets from Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic. That moisture works its way into old brick and mortar through the chimney’s exterior walls, not just through the top. Over decades, it causes efflorescence and spalling, which then lets more moisture in. The fix is often repointing the exterior joints and sealing the crown, not replacing the cap. Call (516) 289-9316 for a camera look, and we’ll tell you exactly where the moisture is entering.
No, and here’s why: a coal boiler flue is oversized for a modern gas insert, and it was never designed to handle the lower-temperature exhaust gas produces. The oversized diameter causes condensation, which turns into acidic residue that eats the brick from the inside. In Midwood’s 1920s-1940s homes, those old flues are also frequently cracked. The safe fix is a correctly sized stainless liner run down the existing chimney. We use DuraFlex. The camera before, the footage after, and a number that won’t change.
It’s common, but it’s not something to ignore. When a fireplace is sealed without capping the flue above, decades of soot and creosote stay inside, and humid southern Brooklyn air reactivates that odor and pushes it into the living space. Sometimes it’s just odor. Sometimes it’s a sign of a cracked liner or an uncapped flue letting in rain that’s now pooling behind the seal. The camera will show which one you’re dealing with. In a semi-detached Midwood home, it can also be a neighbor’s vented appliance pushing exhaust through a deteriorated party wall. Worth checking. Estimates are free.
You can’t know without testing, but here are the warning signs: a faint exhaust or fuel smell near the fireplace when you haven’t lit a fire, a CO detector that trips on humid or still days, or a fireplace that drafts backward when the neighbor’s heat kicks on. In Midwood’s semi-detached brick homes, the chimney stack often sits on or adjacent to the party wall, and a deteriorated internal wythe can allow cross-venting between the two units. A smoke test or pressure test on your side will expose it. One call to (516) 289-9316 and we’ll set one up.
No, not every year. For a fireplace that never gets used in Midwood, we recommend a Level 1 visual inspection every year and a Level 2 camera inspection every three to five years, or immediately if you notice odors, dampness, or plan to put the fireplace back into use. The exception is a party-wall home where a neighbor’s appliance is venting through the shared stack. In that case, we want a camera in your flue the first time anyone reports unusual smells or CO alarm activity. Once a year, burn or no burn. Chimneys break in the off-season too.
Call Top Hat Chimney for Fireplace Services in Midwood
You can keep shopping for fireplace quotes, or you can call the number where a live person answers around the clock and the owner’s name is on the work. Wendell Pike has been doing this since 1999, and his 90-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every job. $40 off any repair over $200. Free second opinion on any written estimate. No trip charge inside the county. 10% off for seniors and veterans. Call (516) 289-9316 and get a straight answer from someone who has actually been inside Midwood’s chimneys.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney.