Chimney and fireplace service in Manhattan, IL

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

Why a new house can still have a chimney problem

Homeowners in a house built in 2015 are surprised when we recommend a fireplace inspection, and the surprise is reasonable: the unit is new, it was installed by the builder, it has barely been used. The problems in new construction are different from old, but they are real. The most common is a wood-burning factory-built unit that was installed with a flue pipe joint not fully locked, or with insulation packed against the pipe where the listing requires an air space, or with the chase not sealed so cold air pours down around the firebox. The second is a direct-vent gas unit whose termination cap outside was mounted too close to a soffit or a window, or whose vent run exceeds what the manual allows, so it soots or shuts down on cold days. The third is a dryer vent that was routed the shortest way for the framer rather than the shortest way for the dryer, with too many elbows or a run terminating in the attic.

None of that shows from the couch. A Level 2 inspection on a new-construction fireplace checks the installation against the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 211, which together are the listing: clearances, joint locks, chase sealing, termination placement, gasket condition. We find something worth correcting on a meaningful share of them, usually small and usually cheap while the house is under warranty. In a town as new as Manhattan, that inspection is worth doing once early, then annually like any other fireplace.

Services in Manhattan

All seven services at published prices, grouped with Wilmington and Braidwood. No travel charge.

• Chimney sweeping
• Level 1 and Level 2 inspections
• Masonry repair
• Stainless relining
• Caps, crowns and dampers
• Gas fireplace tune-ups — the most common Manhattan booking
• Dryer vent cleaning — long runs in newer floor plans

Manhattan, mostly new

The Baker-Koren Round Barn north of town and the Wauponsee Glacial Trail are the old Manhattan; the subdivisions that fill the space between them are the new one. Almost every house built here since 2000 has a factory-built fireplace, usually a direct-vent gas unit in the family room and sometimes a wood-burning unit in a basement or great room. They are young enough that the work is maintenance rather than repair: annual gas tune-ups, sweeping the wood units, checking chase covers before they start to rust, and cleaning dryer vents that run a long way in these floor plans.

The small group of 1880s-to-1950s homes near the original depot and the Metra SouthWest Service terminus have masonry chimneys and get the same restoration approach we use everywhere: camera inspection, matched mortar, proper crowns. Irish Fest in early spring and Round Barn Fest in the fall bookend the year for a lot of Manhattan families, and the fall festival is about when the fireplace tune-up calls start.

Local links for Manhattan

Manhattan resources: Village of Manhattan · Lincoln-Way West High School