Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 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.
Fast, Reliable Fireplace Repair Across East Palo Alto
Most fireplace repairs in East Palo Alto run between $185 and $1,400, depending on what the camera finds inside your flue. We’re Ashby Chimney San Jose, and we’ve been repairing fireplaces in East Palo Alto since 2002. If your fireplace smokes, smells, won’t light, or hasn’t been inspected in years, call (669) 266-5073 and we’ll give you a written price before any work starts.
East Palo Alto’s older homes hide a particular problem: chimneys that look fine from the living room but are quietly falling apart inside. That’s why every repair here starts with a camera inspection you can watch. No guesswork, no upsell. Just footage of what’s actually wrong, and a written quote to fix it.
Why Ashby Chimney San Jose Is East Palo Alto’s Preferred Fireplace Repair Company
We answer the phone. That’s the first thing East Palo Alto homeowners mention when they call us after being burned by other chimney companies. A live person picks up, 24/7. You tell us what’s happening with your fireplace, we schedule a visit, and our background-checked, uniformed technician shows up in the window we gave you.
Our Fireplace Repair team works throughout East Palo Alto regularly, from the older neighborhoods off University Avenue to the newer developments near Bay Road. We know these houses. We know that a 1960s ranch on Pulgas Avenue and a 1990s two-story on Clarke Avenue have completely different chimney problems, and we diagnose accordingly.
Nathan Corliss leads our operation, and the standard he set is simple: show the customer what’s wrong on camera, explain it in plain English, and put the price and the guarantee in writing before touching anything. That’s the Kingswell Way, and it’s backed by the Kingswell Guarantee on every repair we do in East Palo Alto.
Styles & brands we work with
Wood Stove Installation in East Palo Alto
Wood stove installation in East Palo Alto typically runs $2,800 to $6,500 for a permitted install with a new stainless liner, and that’s a number worth knowing before you start shopping. Older East Palo Alto homes with original masonry chimneys usually need a full reline before a wood stove can be safely connected. We won’t install a stove into a chimney that can’t handle it, and we’ll show you exactly why on camera if yours can’t.
Replacing an Old Wood Stove
If you’re replacing an existing wood stove, the job usually moves faster. We pull the old unit, inspect the flue from top to bottom, and replace the connector pipe and liner if needed. A typical replacement with new pipe and minor firebox repair runs $2,200 to $4,000 in East Palo Alto.
New Wood Stove, New Liner
Connecting a new wood stove to a 1950s or 1960s terra cotta flue without a liner is a chimney fire waiting to happen. We reline with a DuraFlex stainless liner sized to the stove, insulate if the flue runs along an exterior wall, and pull permits through San Mateo County. Plan on $4,800 to $6,500 for a full permitted install from scratch.
Gas Fireplace Repair in East Palo Alto
Gas fireplace repair in East Palo Alto commonly falls between $150 and $650, with most repairs completed in a single visit. The gas fireplaces in East Palo Alto homes tend to be either direct-vent inserts installed in the 1990s and 2000s, or gas log sets dropped into an older wood-burning firebox. Each has its own failure patterns, and we service both.
Pilot Light and Ignition Problems
A pilot light that won’t stay lit usually means a dirty thermopile, a failing thermocouple, or gas pressure that’s out of spec. We test the millivolt system, clean the pilot assembly, and replace worn components. Clean-and-test service plus parts runs $150 to $300 in East Palo Alto.
Sooting, Logs, and Burner Repair
Excessive sooting on gas logs points to improper air-to-fuel ratio or clogged burner ports. We disassemble the burner, clean each port, reposition the logs per the manufacturer’s layout, and verify flame pattern and carbon monoxide output. A full gas fireplace service with burner cleaning and adjustment runs $225 to $500.
Trusted Brands We Service in East Palo Alto
We stock parts for the brands East Palo Alto homes actually have: Copperfield dampers and caps, Famco venting components, and DuraFlex stainless liners. When your damper won’t open or your chimney cap has rusted through, we’re not waiting a week on a parts shipment. Our vans carry the common repair parts for these brands, which means most East Palo Alto fireplace repairs wrap up same-visit.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterCommon Fireplace Repair Problems We See in East Palo Alto Homes
- Crumbling terra cotta flue tiles. The 1940s through 1970s chimneys that dominate East Palo Alto were built with clay flue liners that spall and crack over decades. When those shards drop into the smoke chamber, the fireplace is unsafe to burn. The fix is usually a stainless reline, and we’ll show you the cracked tiles on camera before quoting anything.
- Bird nests and debris blocking the flue. East Palo Alto’s mild climate means many fireplaces sit untouched for years, and chimneys without proper caps become bird condos. Nests block the damper, reverse the draft, and push smoke into the living room on the first fire. We remove the nest, inspect for damage, and install a Copperfield cap so it doesn’t recur.
- Hardened creosote glaze on flue walls. Sporadic winter fires in a mild climate create a cycle: a hot fire, then months of damp cool air. Creosote hardens into a glaze that bonds to deteriorating flue tiles and resists normal brushing. Homeowners skip inspections because the fireplace “still works,” until smoke backs up on the first rainy-day burn.
- Failed fireplace dampers. Dampers rust open in wet winters, letting conditioned air escape all year. We replace rusted dampers with Copperfield units sized to the original flue opening, and verify the seal with a smoke test before finishing.
Pricing for Fireplace Repair in East Palo Alto, CA
Here’s what East Palo Alto homeowners can expect to pay. A basic fireplace repair like a damper replacement, chimney cap install, or minor firebox mortar work runs $185 to $500. A stainless steel reline using DuraFlex liner runs $1,800 to $3,800 depending on flue length and access. Gas fireplace repairs run $150 to $650. Wood stove installs start around $2,800 and top out near $6,500 for a full permitted job. What drives cost is what the camera sees: flue length, liner condition, and whether previous work was done correctly. Every quote is written, itemized, and locked before work starts. Call (669) 266-5073 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near East Palo Alto
Our crew covers East Palo Alto and the surrounding Peninsula and South Bay. We regularly handle Fireplace Repair in East Palo Alto and serve San Jose, Santa Clara, Fremont, and Sunnyvale for the same written-price, written-guarantee standard.
Serving East Palo Alto, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the East Palo Alto 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 About Fireplace Repair in East Palo Alto
Yes, and if anything, infrequent use makes an inspection more important than heavy use. Chimneys in East Palo Alto homes that sit for months at a time develop problems regular users never see: nests, hardened creosote glaze, and moisture damage that gets a chance to soak in. A Level 2 inspection with a camera costs a few hundred dollars and tells you exactly what’s safe. Call (669) 266-5073 and we’ll schedule it at a time that works.
We most often reline them with stainless steel. The terra cotta tiles in 1960s East Palo Alto chimneys have had 60 years of thermal cycling and moisture exposure, and they crack and spall. The pieces fall into the smoke chamber and create a blockage. A DuraFlex stainless liner gives you a continuous, insulated flue that’s code-compliant and carries a strong warranty. We’ll show you the cracked tile on camera before recommending the reline, so you can see the problem with your own eyes.
It can cause real damage. A nest packed into the smoke chamber blocks the draft, which pushes smoke and carbon monoxide into the house when you try to burn. Bird droppings are also acidic and accelerate deterioration of terra cotta flue liners. On top of that, nests are highly flammable and sit directly in the exhaust path of your fire. We remove the nest, inspect the smoke chamber and flue, and install a chimney cap so the next bird finds a different home.
Creosote isn’t a gas fireplace problem, but flue liner damage absolutely still is. Many gas fireplaces in East Palo Alto are log sets or inserts venting into a chimney originally built for wood. If the terra cotta liner is cracked or the flue is blocked with an old bird’s nest, combustion gases don’t vent properly. We check gas units for proper carbon monoxide clearance, flame pattern, and venting integrity on every service call. Gas fireplace service starts at $150 in East Palo Alto.
Because you deserve to see the problem before you pay to fix it. The chimney industry’s worst upselling happens when a technician tells you a liner is shot or a firebox needs rebuilt and expects you to take his word for it. We run a camera from the firebox to the flue top, record the footage, and review it with you on a tablet. If there’s no crack, no gap, no blockage, we’ll tell you that too. The Kingswell Guarantee covers every repair in writing: if a covered repair fails, we return and fix it at no charge.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney San Jose, serving East Palo Alto since 2002.
Ready to get your fireplace working? Call (669) 266-5073 for a free estimate. A live person answers, day or night.