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 Los Gatos
Most fireplace repairs in Los Gatos run between $180 and $1,400 depending on what’s actually wrong, and we’ll tell you the exact price in writing before any work starts. We work all over Los Gatos, from the Victorians near downtown to the hillside homes off Summit Road and the ranch neighborhoods along Los Gatos-Almaden Road. If you’ve got a fireplace that smokes back, a damper that won’t close, or a gas fireplace that won’t light, call (669) 266-5073 and we’ll walk you through what we’re seeing. We’ll show up when we say we will, and we’ll put the price and the guarantee in writing before we touch anything.
Why Ashby Chimney San Jose Is Los Gatos’s Preferred Fireplace Repair Company
We’ve been repairing fireplaces since 2002, and the Los Gatos calls we take tend to have the same shape: an older chimney, a confusing previous diagnosis, and a homeowner who’s done being told one price over the phone and a different one at the door. So we do it differently. Every job in Los Gatos gets a written quote before work begins, and that quote doesn’t move. If something unexpected comes up mid-repair, we show you the camera footage and we talk about it. Nobody gets upsold, ever.
Our techs know Los Gatos housing stock because they’ve worked in it for years: the downtown Victorians with shared flues, the mid-century ranches with original clay tiles, the big hillside builds with prefabricated metal stacks. Nathan Corliss runs our team, and he’s the one who makes sure the Kingswell Guarantee actually means something: if a repair fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it applies to every fireplace repair we do in Los Gatos.
Styles & brands we work with
Fireplace Insert Installation in Los Gatos
Fireplace insert installation in Los Gatos usually costs between $2,800 and $5,600, and it’s the best repair option for a masonry firebox that’s deteriorated beyond practical patching. You get a sealed steel or cast-iron firebox that slides into your existing fireplace opening, vents through a new liner, and actually heats the room instead of sending most of the heat up the flue. For Los Gatos ranch houses built in the 1950s and 60s, inserts solve the two problems we see most: cracked firebrick and a flue that can’t be safely reused without relining.
Wood and Gas Insert Options
We install both wood-burning and gas inserts. Wood inserts in Los Gatos need an EPA-certified burn system, which keeps you inside Bay Area Air Quality Management District rules on burn days. Gas inserts run cleaner and simpler: glass front, remote or wall thermostat, no ash, no stacking cordwood in the wet winter months.
When an Insert Makes Sense
If your Los Gatos home has a fireplace that was built before 1960 with a clay tile flue that’s cracked or misaligned, an insert with a new stainless steel liner is often cheaper than a full masonry rebuild. We’ll show you the camera footage of your flue before we recommend anything, so you know the recommendation is real, not invented.
Gas Fireplace Installation in Los Gatos
Gas fireplace installation in Los Gatos typically runs $3,200 to $6,900 depending on whether we’re adding a direct-vent unit, a gas insert, or a gas log set, and whether a gas line already exists. Many Los Gatos homeowners switch to gas because they’re tired of dealing with wood smoke during Spare the Air days, or because the old masonry fireplace in their hillside home was never actually safe to burn. We handle the full job: gas line sizing, unit installation, venting, and the final test for carbon monoxide and proper draft.
Direct-Vent Gas Fireplaces
Direct-vent units pull combustion air from outside and exhaust outside, which means they don’t fight your home for air. That’s important in Los Gatos hillside homes that have been weather-sealed tight. They’re also the cleanest option for air quality, which matters when the winter inversion layer settles over the valley.
Gas Log Sets and Inserts
If you already have a fireplace you like, a gas log set converts it for a fraction of the cost. A gas insert gives you a sealed, efficient heater with the same look. Both require the flue to be in safe condition or we’ll need to line it, and we will show you why on camera if that’s what we find.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Gatos
We stock replacement parts in our San Francisco Bay Area office that serve Los Gatos, so we’re not waiting a week on FedEx. We work with HeatShield for flue resurfacing, Gelco for dampers and chase covers, and Olympia Chimney for cap and liner components. If your insert or gas unit is from a major manufacturer, we can source the parts; if it’s a discontinued model, we’ll tell you straight what that means for the repair. Our goal is to get Los Gatos fireplaces fixed right the first pass, not to keep returning with the same problem.
Common Fireplace Repair Problems We See in Los Gatos Homes
- Shared flues in Victorian duplexes: The older downtown duplexes off University Avenue and Main Street often have two fireplaces venting into one chimney. Smoke from the downstairs unit can push into the upstairs flue, and creosote migrates between both. It takes a camera inspection to map what’s actually connected to what.
- Cracked clay tile liners: The seismic activity along the San Andreas foothills stresses pre-1960 clay tile flues. Once they crack, heat and gases can reach framing. HeatShield resurfacing often fixes this without a single brick being removed.
- Corroded dampers and caps from winter rains: Los Gatos sees real rainfall from November through March. Creosote absorbs that moisture and turns acidic, which eats dampers, caps, and chase covers faster than you’d expect. We replace these with Gelco or Olympia components built for the wet season.
- Gas fireplaces that won’t light or stay lit: Thermocouples, thermopiles, pilot assemblies. The hillside homes off Kennedy Road and Shannon Road see this constantly, especially after long summer shutdowns. Most of these are same-trip repairs.
See the difference
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AfterPricing for Fireplace Repair in Los Gatos, CA
Here’s what Los Gatos homeowners should expect. A basic pilot light repair or thermocouple replacement runs $180 to $320. Damper replacement is $260 to $520 depending on size and access. Firebox repair, meaning tuckpointing and replacing cracked firebrick, is $380 to $900. A full flue resurfacing with HeatShield runs $1,800 to $3,400 for a typical single-story ranch. Gas insert installation runs $2,800 to $5,600, and a full direct-vent gas fireplace runs $3,200 to $6,900. These are the ranges we quote for Los Gatos, not a nationwide brochure. Call (669) 266-5073 for an exact number in writing.
We always include the written quote before work starts, and every repair carries our written guarantee. If a covered repair fails, we come back and fix it at no charge under our 365-Day Done Right Promise. That’s the Kingswell Guarantee, and it’s included on every job. We also answer our phones with a live person 24/7, because we know how frustrating it is to call about a smoking fireplace and get a voicemail.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Gatos
Our crews serve the whole west valley. If you’re in Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, or Santa Clara, you get the same written pricing, the same guarantee, and the same Fireplace Repair standards we bring to Los Gatos. Dispatch and scheduling are handled from our San Francisco Bay Area office. Call (669) 266-5073 and we’ll get you on the schedule.
Serving Los Gatos, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Gatos 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 Los Gatos
Yes, and it’s common in the older duplexes around downtown Los Gatos. Two fireplaces vent into one chimney, often through separate flues that were built decades ago and may have cracked or cross-connected. The repair usually involves a camera inspection to map each flue, then resurfacing the damaged liner with HeatShield and replacing dampers with independently operating units so each fireplace drafts on its own. Call (669) 266-5073 and we’ll walk you through what your specific chimney looks like.
Most straightforward repairs, like damper replacement, firebox tuckpointing, and flue resurfacing, don’t require a permit in Los Gatos. If the repair involves changing the chimney’s structure or adding a new gas line, a permit from the Town of Los Gatos is typically required, and we handle that paperwork as part of the job. We’ll tell you before any work starts whether a permit applies to your repair.
On Spare the Air days, burning wood in a Los Gatos fireplace is prohibited, and the district has been tightening wood-burning rules every winter. That pushes a lot of homeowners toward gas inserts or EPA-certified wood inserts. If you’re repairing an old fireplace that can’t burn cleanly, a gas insert is often the smartest move, and we’ll show you why on camera.
Seismic stress from the San Andreas foothills is the main cause, along with decades of heating and cooling cycles. Once the clay tile cracks, you have a fire hazard. We repair it with HeatShield, a resurfacing system that’s pumped through the flue and cures into a new fireproof liner, so the chimney can be saved without knocking down walls or masonry. It’s the most common repair we do on Los Gatos hillside homes.
Usually yes. A mid-century Los Gatos ranch with a cracked firebox and a clay tile flue in bad shape can often be saved with a steel or cast-iron insert and a new stainless steel liner, and the total cost is typically less than a masonry rebuild. You also get a working heater instead of a decorative fireplace that draws poorly. We’ll camera the flue, show you the condition of the firebox, and give you a written quote for both the insert route and the repair route so you can decide with real numbers.
Contact Ashby Chimney San Jose for Fireplace Repair in Los Gatos
If your fireplace in Los Gatos is smoking, failing to light, or just hasn’t been inspected in years, call (669) 266-5073. We’ll answer with a live person, schedule a time that works, and show up with a camera, written pricing, and a guarantee. This is what Fireplace Repair in Los Gatos should look like: honest diagnosis, clear numbers, work that stays fixed. Call us today for a free estimate.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney San Jose, serving Los Gatos and the surrounding west valley communities.