Level 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.
Chimney Inspection in New Braunfels: What It Actually Costs and Covers
A chimney inspection in New Braunfels typically runs $189 – $449, depending on the level of inspection your chimney needs. A Level 1 inspection starts at $189, while a Level 2 inspection with a camera (the one we recommend for most New Braunfels homes) runs $289 – $449. Every inspection includes a written photo report and a straight answer about whether your chimney is safe to burn, or if we’re flagging something you should know about before you light the next fire. Call (830) 251-4560 and we’ll walk you through which level fits your situation.
New Braunfels homes sit in a specific geological pocket that shapes what our Chimney Inspection team finds on nearly every job. We’re not a generic chimney outfit. We know the difference between what a 1950s masonry chimney in the Landa Park area needs versus a newer build on the northeast side. That matters when you’re deciding whether to book a basic sweep-and-look or spend a bit more on a Level 2 inspection with real camera documentation.
Why Flint Chimney Sweep Is New Braunfels’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
We’re part of the Garrison Partners family, which has operated since 2002 under The Garrison Standard: written pricing before any tool comes off the truck, uniformed and background-checked technicians, and a live person answering the phone around the clock. That structure means when you book a chimney inspection in New Braunfels, you know the price before we schedule, and you know exactly who’s walking through your door. Hank Delano leads our team with one standing rule: nothing gets recommended without camera evidence the homeowner can see for themselves.
New Braunfels homeowners call us because the inspection report actually teaches them something about their house. We don’t hand you a vague checkbox form. You get photos of the flue interior, the crown, the flashing, and the firebox, with notes on what we saw and what can wait. If your chimney is fine, we say so. We won’t sell you a liner you don’t need. That’s the Garrison Code, and it’s in writing.
Every inspection booking in New Braunfels gets a written price before we arrive. If a repair is covered under our 365-Day Done Right Promise and fails within one year, we return at no charge. No argument. No re-quote. That guarantee is on every repair invoice we issue, including work done in New Braunfels.
Chimney Flue Inspection in New Braunfels
A Chimney Flue Inspection goes inside the flue itself (the inner passage that carries smoke and exhaust out of your home) using a camera, and in New Braunfels that inspection often turns up issues that have nothing to do with soot. What we’re looking for: cracked clay tile liners, gaps between tile sections, glazed creosote buildup, water staining, and signs of flue gas leaking into the wall cavity. A basic chimney sweep removes soot. A flue inspection tells you whether the chimney is fundamentally sound.
What a New Braunfels homeowner should expect
We run the camera from the firebox up through the flue to the cap, recording the entire path. You see the footage. The report includes still images with measurements where damage is present. If your flue is lined with an original 1940s-60s clay tile system, we’ll check for the hairline cracks that shifting clay soils in this part of Texas tend to produce over decades of wet-dry cycles.
When to schedule a flue inspection
Before your first burn of the season is the standard answer, but in New Braunfels we also recommend one after any major hailstorm. Hail doesn’t just dent cars. It fractures chimney crowns, and once the crown goes, water enters the flue and starts breaking down masonry from the inside. A $289 camera inspection catches that before it becomes a $2,000 repair.
Chimney Fire in New Braunfels
A Chimney Fire happens when creosote (a tar-like combustion byproduct that builds up inside the flue) ignites, and New Braunfels fire departments respond to these every burn season. The fire itself can reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, cracking liners, warping dampers, and in the worst cases, spreading to the attic and roof structure. A chimney sweep is not the same as a chimney fire prevention inspection. The sweep removes creosote. The inspection verifies whether your chimney is structurally sound enough to contain a fire if one ever started.
Signs your New Braunfels chimney may have already had one
A puffy or honeycomb-textured creosote deposit inside the flue, cracked flue tiles visible from the roof, or a warped damper are all indicators a chimney fire has already occurred. Even a small chimney fire can compromise the flue liner. The problem is these clues are almost never visible from the living room. That’s precisely why a camera inspection matters here.
What we find after New Braunfels chimney fires
We’re often called after the fire department leaves. The typical call goes like this: the homeowner heard a roar, saw flames from the chimney cap, or noticed smoke backing into the house. We perform a Level 2 inspection with documentation for insurance purposes, then give you a written damage assessment and repair plan. HeatShield is the product we often specify for repairing fire-damaged flue interiors because it can restore the liner’s integrity without a full teardown.
Trusted Brands We Service in New Braunfels
We work with professional-grade chimney products and can inspect, assess, and repair systems built around them. If your New Braunfels chimney has a HeatShield ceramic coating, a Gelco cap, Olympia Chimney components, or a Famco damper, our techs know the product specifications and how to spot when they’re failing. Because we don’t carry the cheapest hardware off the shelf, we stock and source the correct parts for the job. That means less waiting on parts, and fewer return trips.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in New Braunfels Homes
- Cracked crowns from hail and wind. The Balcones Escarpment transition zone brings intense storm cells through New Braunfels regularly. Cracked crowns let water in, which rusts dampers and spalls fireboxes. We find this on nearly half of all inspections in neighborhoods near the Comal River and Landa Park.
- Liner cracks from shifting clay soils. New Braunfels clay soils swell and shrink with seasonal moisture changes. Over decades, that movement translates through the foundation and into the masonry chimney stack, causing hairline cracks in clay tile liners. This is a New Braunfels-specific pattern we document with photos in every report.
- Missing or damaged chimney caps. Without a cap, rain goes straight down the flue, and in this region’s storm season that means a lot of water. A qualified New Braunfels inspection will always check cap condition, and often we recommend replacing it with a proper factory-built cap like Gelco.
- Unlined flues in older homes. Many 1940s-60s homes around New Braunfels were built with unlined or minimally lined chimneys. A homeowner who skips a camera inspection will never know the fire risk is there. This is the single most compelling reason to upgrade from a standard sweep to a Level 2 inspection.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in New Braunfels, TX
Chimney inspection pricing in New Braunfels runs $189 for a Level 1 visual check, $289 for a Level 2 camera inspection (recommended for most homeowners), and $449 for a Level 3 inspection, which involves opening up part of the chimney structure to access hidden damage. Real estate inspections for property transfers are a common request here, and we perform Level 2 inspections for that purpose with a written photo report suitable for closing documents. The price you approve before booking is the price you pay. No door-markup, no “while we’re in there” add-ons. Call (830) 251-4560 for an exact quote based on your chimney type and accessibility. Estimates are free, and the visit includes our written photo documentation.
We Also Serve Cities Near New Braunfels
Our crews regularly serve Chimney Inspection in New Braunfels and the surrounding communities of Seguin, San Marcos, Cibolo, and Schertz. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our San Antonio office, but the tech on your roof is a local crew who knows the soil, the storm patterns, and the housing stock of this region. If you’re outside New Braunfels proper, just ask when you call (830) 251-4560.
Serving New Braunfels, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the New Braunfels 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 Chimney Inspection in New Braunfels
Once a year, before your first burn of the season, is the correct interval for most New Braunfels homes. If you burn heavily through winter, or if your home sits on the clay-heavy soils west of I-35 where masonry shifts more, a mid-season visual check is also prudent. Annual Level 1 inspections are sufficient for chimneys that have been consistently maintained. A Level 2 camera inspection is warranted every few years, or whenever you buy a home, after a chimney fire, or after a major hailstorm. Call (830) 251-4560 and we’ll help you build a schedule that fits your house, not a generic calendar.
A chimney sweep removes soot and creosote from the flue. An inspection examines the chimney’s structure, liner, crown, cap, flashing, and firebox, and produces a written report with photos. If you have never inspected your New Braunfels chimney and you burn regularly, you need both. The sweep clears the buildup; the inspection tells you whether the chimney is safe to keep using. We can perform both in a single visit, and the pricing is separate and transparent.
You wouldn’t know without opening the flue and looking. Hidden risks include cracked liners, unlined chimneys, or glazed creosote that a basic sweep won’t fully remove. These conditions produce no visible symptoms from the living room until a fire starts or carbon monoxide enters the home. In New Braunfels, the shifting clay soils make liner cracks more common than in the sandier suburbs east of town. A Level 2 camera inspection with photographic documentation is the only way we now have to identify that risk before it becomes an emergency. Call (830) 251-4560 to book one.
Third-degree creosote is a hard, glazed, tar-like layer that has already been baked into the flue walls by high heat. It looks like a shiny black coating and it’s highly flammable. We identify it during inspection and can remove it using professional rotary cleaning equipment, but this is a specialized process that goes beyond a standard sweep. In New Braunfels, we often encounter third-degree creosote in chimneys that have burned unseasoned wood or artificial logs. We’ll show you the camera footage and give you a written plan for removal and prevention.
We schedule inspections by appointment, not on demand. Same-day service is not something we promise, because a proper camera inspection takes time and we don’t rush the documentation. What you do get is a clear window, a live person on the phone when you call, and a written price before we arrive. If you’re under contract on a home and need a real estate inspection on a deadline, call us early in the process and we’ll work with your closing timeline. Call (830) 251-4560 to get on the schedule.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Sweep, serving New Braunfels under The Garrison Standard.





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