Chimney sweep and inspection in Peotone, IL

By Jacob Dove, founder of Friendship Chimney Sweep · 29 years in the trade

Peotone, old core and new edges

The Rathje Mill has been standing on the edge of Peotone since 1872, and a fair number of the houses in the downtown historic district are not much younger. Their chimneys are brick with early tile liners or none at all, and the ones that have been converted to gas heat over the years are the ones we worry about most, because a cool gas flue eats mortar joints from the inside. We do a lot of camera inspections on those blocks before a sale or before a homeowner puts a wood insert into a fireplace that has been idle for decades.

Out toward the high school and the Will County Fairgrounds the subdivisions are twenty to thirty years old, which is exactly the age when a factory-built fireplace starts to show its limits. The chase cover rusts through, the refractory panels crack, and the original galvanized cap lets water down the flue. Gas units in those homes need the annual tune-up we describe on the service page, and the second-floor laundry rooms need their dryer vents cleared. Peotone is also where we get calls after a big wind: the open ground around town means caps go missing and crowns take a beating.

Services in Peotone

Every service below, at the published price, scheduled from Bourbonnais.

• Chimney sweeping
• Level 1 and Level 2 inspections — Level 2 inspections for the historic district and for home sales
• Masonry repair
• Stainless relining
• Caps, crowns and dampers — replacing caps that Will County wind has removed
• Gas fireplace tune-ups
• Dryer vent cleaning

The three levels of chimney inspection, explained

NFPA 211 defines three inspection levels, and the difference matters when you are deciding what to book. A Level 1 inspection is the annual check for a chimney that has not changed: same appliance, same fuel, no known problems. We examine everything we can reach without tools beyond a flashlight: firebox, damper, smoke chamber as far as we can see, the flue from below, the exterior brick, the crown and cap. It takes about half an hour and confirms the chimney is sound and clear enough to use.

A Level 2 inspection is required when something has changed or is about to. The property is being sold. A new stove, insert or furnace is going in. The fuel is changing from wood to gas or the reverse. There was a chimney fire, a lightning strike, a tornado or a roof fire. A Level 2 includes everything in Level 1 plus a video scan of the full flue and access to attics, crawl spaces and basements where the chimney passes. It is the only inspection that can actually see a cracked or shifted tile. A Level 3 goes further and removes parts of the chimney or building to reach a hidden problem; it is rare and only follows a Level 2 that found something serious. For a Peotone historic-district home changing hands, Level 2 is the one to book, and it is the one a general home inspection does not include.

Local links for Peotone

Peotone resources: Village of Peotone · Peotone High School