BROWN CHIMNEY
Chimney Services in Detroit, MI foR A CITY BUILT OF BRICK
More than half of Detroit's houses have masonry walls, and the chimneys were laid up with them. Repairing one is structural work, not a patch on a veneer — and that is the work we have been doing for forty years.
4.9
★★★★★
Based on 3,412 reviews
4.9
★★★★★
Based on 3,412 reviews
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40 years sweeping chimneys
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3,412 verified Google reviews
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4.9 average rating
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CSIA-certified crew
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NFPA 211 compliant
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Licensed in 6 states
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100% background-checked technicians
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Free estimates
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40 years sweeping chimneys
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3,412 verified Google reviews
●
4.9 average rating
●
CSIA-certified crew
●
NFPA 211 compliant
●
Licensed in 6 states
●
100% background-checked technicians
●
Free estimates
●
40 years sweeping chimneys
●
3,412 verified Google reviews
●
4.9 average rating
●
CSIA-certified crew
●
NFPA 211 compliant
●
Licensed in 6 states
●
100% background-checked technicians
●
Free estimates
●
40 years sweeping chimneys
●
3,412 verified Google reviews
●
4.9 average rating
●
CSIA-certified crew
●
NFPA 211 compliant
●
Licensed in 6 states
●
100% background-checked technicians
●
Free estimates
REPAIRS SIZED TO THE MASONRY, NOT TO THE ESTIMATE
Detroit's average house was built in 1939, and the majority carry brick exteriors. A chimney here is usually worth repairing rather than replacing — and the repair has to match what is already in the wall.
REPOINT FAILED MORTAR JOINTS
REPLACE SPALLED BRICK INDIVIDUALLY
REBUILD CROWNS WITH A DRIP EDGE
LINE FLUES TO SUIT THE APPLIANCE
WHY DETROIT HOMEOWNERS CALL US BACK
CSIA-CERTIFIED CREWS
Every technician is CSIA-certified and works to NFPA 211. Teams are dispatched in pairs, so the person on the roof is not also the person guessing from the ground.
MASONRY IS THE WHOLE JOB HERE
In a city where the majority of houses are brick, the chimney is part of the structure. Repointing, brick replacement, crown rebuilds, and full rebuilds priced by brick count are the everyday work rather than the exception.
HISTORIC DISTRICT PAPERWORK
Detroit has more than twenty local historic districts. Exterior work there needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic District Commission before the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department will issue a permit. We plan for that review rather than run into it.
RITTEN BEFORE IT IS STARTED
Measured on site, priced in writing, approved by you. Rebuilds are counted brick by brick rather than estimated by the foot, so the figure comes from your chimney.
OUR SERVICES
FULL-SERVICE CHIMNEY CARE IN DETROIT
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DETROIT MASONRY
THE CHIMNEY IS PART OF THE HOUSE, NOT AN ADD-ON
Walk any street of two-family flats or brick bungalows and the chimneys are integral — laid up in the same courses, out of the same material, by the same hands. That changes what a repair means. Matching matters, because a mismatched repointing job is visible from the sidewalk for the next thirty years. Depth matters, because a joint packed shallow fails first. And what fails on these chimneys is nearly always the exposed portion above the roofline, while the masonry inside the house has been sheltered the whole time.
WORKING INSIDE A HISTORIC DISTRICT
Indian Village, Boston-Edison, Palmer Woods, Corktown, Woodbridge, West Village and more than a dozen others are designated local historic districts. Exterior work in any of them requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before a building permit can be issued, and the Commission reviews exterior changes even where they cannot be seen from the street — which includes a chimney on the back elevation. Straightforward maintenance is often cleared at staff level; larger applications are heard by the Commission at its monthly meeting. We put that timeline in the quote rather than discovering it halfway through.
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FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS — CHIMNEY SERVICES IN DETROIT, MI
Where else in Michigan does Brown Chimney work?
Detroit is covered as its own service area rather than as the end of a suburban route, because the housing stock and the permitting here differ from anywhere around it. We run two other full operations in the state — chimney services in Ann Arbor covering Washtenaw County and chimney services in Troy covering Oakland County — and the outlying communities around each are served from those.
- Brighton
- Northville
- Saline
- Troy
- Pittsfield Township
How much does a chimney inspection cost in Detroit?
Forty-nine dollars for the standard visit, and the fee is credited against any repair booked the same day. A Level 2 camera inspection of the full flue interior is $149 and is the standard after a chimney fire, a change of fuel, or a property sale. You can work out which level your chimney needs before booking, and the same pricing applies everywhere we operate in Michigan.
Do I need approval from the Historic District Commission to repair my chimney?
If the property sits in one of Detroit's local historic districts, yes — exterior work requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department will issue a building permit, and that applies even to elevations not visible from the street. Routine maintenance is often cleared at staff level. A full chimney rebuild in Detroit goes before the Commission at its monthly meeting, so we count the brick and price the scope first and build the review into the schedule.
Why does brick change how a chimney is repaired?
Because on a masonry house the chimney is structural rather than decorative. Mortar has to be matched to the existing color and grain, joints tooled to the existing profile, and brick whose face has broken away replaced one unit at a time rather than skimmed over. Once the joints are sound, sealing Detroit brick with a vapor-permeable product is what keeps them that way — applied after the repair, never instead of it.
My chimney was repointed before and the brick is still breaking up. What went wrong?
Usually one of two things. Either the replacement mortar was harder than the surrounding brick — mortar is meant to be the sacrificial material, and when it is stronger than the masonry the brick takes the movement instead — or the water was never coming through the joints at all. A cracked crown lets water in from above, and repointing beneath it changes nothing. Sorting out which one you have is worth doing before paying for the same repair twice.
Get STARTED
MINOR CHIMNEY PROBLEMS DON’T STAY SMALL FOR LONG.
CONTACT US FOR A CONSULT BEFORE THE ICE SETS IN.
