Chimney Repair in Boston - Inspected on Camera, Then Priced in Writing

Fast, Reliable Chimney Repair Across Boston

Chimney repair in Boston typically runs $225 – $2,800 depending on what’s failing: a chimney cap replacement is usually $225 – $475, a stainless flue liner installation runs $1,800 – $2,800, and mortar repointing averages $400 – $900 per section. Most Boston homeowners call us because water is getting in somewhere it shouldn’t, or a Chimney Inspection in Boston turned up creosote or a cracked liner that can’t wait. We serve every neighborhood in Boston, from Dorchester and South Boston to Roslindale and Hyde Park, and we arrive with a written price before any tool comes off the truck. If you’re seeing water stains on the ceiling near the chimney, crumbling mortar on the firebox, or a damper that won’t close, call (830) 251-4560 and we’ll scope the job properly.

Call (830) 251-4560

Why Flint Chimney Sweep Is Boston’s Preferred Chimney Repair Company

Boston’s housing stock is not like the rest of the country. Triple-deckers and pre-1900 rowhouses share masonry stacks, which means a flashing failure on one unit can send water into a neighbor’s smoke chamber two floors away. We’ve repaired hundreds of these shared stacks across Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and the triple-decker rows off Blue Hill Avenue, and we know how to scope a repair without tearing open a wall that belongs to someone else’s unit. Our techs carry camera rigs on every truck because most of what’s wrong with a Boston chimney is invisible from the ground.

Every repair we complete carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise: a written guarantee valid for a full year from the service date. If a covered repair fails inside that year, we return and fix it at no charge. No argument, no re-quote, no phone tree. The price you approve before we start is the price on the invoice, always. Our Boston crews are background-checked and uniformed, and a live person answers the phone 24/7 at (830) 251-4560. That matters when you’re looking at a water stain spreading across the ceiling on a Tuesday night in February.

We’ve been operating under the Garrison Standard since 2002 as part of the Garrison Partners family of independently owned chimney service companies. The standard is simple: document the scope, photograph the defect, price it in writing, and stand behind it for a year. That’s why Flint Chimney Sweep has become the company Boston homeowners call when they want a straight answer, not an upsell.

Chimney Cap Replacement in Boston

Chimney Cap Replacement in Boston is one of the most common repairs we scope, and it’s the cheapest insurance against a much bigger problem. The cap sits on top of the flue and does two jobs: it keeps rain and snow out of the flue, and it keeps birds, squirrels, and raccoons from nesting in the smoke chamber. A standard cap replacement in Boston runs $225 – $475 depending on flue size and material. When the cap cracks, rusts through, or blows off in a nor’easter, water gets straight into the flue and starts wrecking the liner and the firebox brick.

When a Boston cap needs replacing

We see three patterns in Boston. First, old galvanized caps rust out after ten to fifteen winters of salt air and freeze-thaw cycles. Second, caps get torn off by wind or heavy snow sliding down a steep roof. Third, we find caps that were never sized right to begin with, which lets rain in around the edges. A quick visual from the ground or a roof-level camera check tells us which one you’ve got.

What the job involves

We remove the old cap, measure the flue opening, and install a stainless cap sized to the flue, not the chimney chase. New stainless caps hold up to Boston’s winter salt and freeze-thaw cycles better than galvanized. The whole job usually takes under an hour, and we hand you a photo of the new cap before we leave.

Chimney Liner Installation in Boston

Chimney Liner Installation in Boston is a repair that a lot of homeowners first hear about from a sweep or an inspector, because the liner is the inner stainless or clay channel that carries smoke up and out of the house. When a liner cracks, gaps open between the flue and the masonry, and that’s how chimney fires start and carbon monoxide leaks into living space. In Boston, a stainless liner installation typically runs $1,800 – $2,800, including the liner, insulation, top plate, and connection at the appliance. That’s a real number, not a teaser price.

Signs your Boston liner is failing

Flakes of clay tile at the bottom of the firebox, visible cracks in the flue during a camera inspection, or a furnace or water heater that vents into an old, unlined brick flue all point to liner replacement. In Boston triple-deckers, we often find that the original clay liner was adequate for a wood fireplace in 1910 but not for the modern gas appliance that was added in 1995. The flue size no longer matches the heating setup.

What a liner replacement includes

We camera-inspect the full length of the flue, document what we find, and specify the liner by job. For most Boston installs we use DuraFlex stainless liners, which handle both wood and gas exhaust and carry a manufacturer’s warranty on top of our 365-Day Done Right Promise. The work is done in a day in most cases, and you get a photo report showing the old liner and the new one.

Trusted Brands We Service in Boston

Flint Chimney Sweep installs and works with professional-grade materials from HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, and Famco. HeatShield is our go-to for resurfacing deteriorated flue liners without a full teardown, which matters a lot in Boston rowhouses where a total rebuild would mean scaffolding over a shared wall. Gelco service in Boston and Famco caps and dampers are on our trucks for same-visit replacement most days. When you call us, you’re not getting whatever was cheapest at the supply house that morning; we spec the material by job, not by margin, and we show you the product name on the written estimate.

Common Chimney Repair Problems We See in Boston Homes

• Failed flashing and cracked crowns on shared rowhouse stacks. A rowhouse flue shares masonry with the house next door. Water that gets past a loose flashing at the roofline or a cracked crown at the top doesn’t always show up in the unit where it entered. We’ve traced water stains in a South Boston parlor to a crown crack two addresses down.
• Third-degree creosote glaze in the smoke chamber. A routine brush pass can’t touch the hardened glaze that forms in the smoke chamber above the damper. When a repair call is scoped only to the visible firebox, that glaze stays put, and it’s the number one fuel for a chimney fire. We camera the smoke chamber on every repair visit.
• Dampers and caps blamed on the appliance when the liner is the actual problem. A damper that won’t close, a cap that’s always wet, smoke that backs up into the room: homeowners call it an appliance issue, but in Boston it’s usually an oversized or cracked flue liner that no longer matches the heating system. Fix the liner and the “appliance problem” disappears.
• Spalling brick in the firebox and on the exterior stack. Water gets into the mortar, freezes, expands, and pops the face off the brick. This is Boston’s signature chimney damage because the freeze-thaw cycle runs all winter. Spalled brick in the firebox needs repointing and sometimes brick replacement before the next burn.

Pricing for Chimney Repair in Boston, MA

We Also Serve Cities Near Boston

Our crews work just across the Charles and the Mystic too. We serve Somerville, Cambridge, Chelsea, and Everett with the same written-price guarantee and 365-Day Done Right Promise. If you’re just outside Boston proper, Chimney Repair in Boston coverage includes the surrounding metro, so call us and we’ll route the nearest truck.

FAQs About Chimney Repair in Boston