Los Angeles County Fireplaces That Smoke, Smell or Stall
What Does Your Los Angeles County Fire Do?
A line on the smoke, the smell or the flame is plenty. We call back from San Pedro with a few questions about when it happens.
Los Angeles County ZIP Codes and Neighbors
Find yours, or one of the bordering names, and mention it when you describe what the fire is doing.
Ramsey Fixes for Los Angeles County
What we most often find behind it here: whatever fits the home, from salt-eaten caps near the coast to cold desert flues or old quake cracks inland. Each card below lays out that work for Los Angeles County.
Chimney Sweep in Los Angeles County
Choked flues are a common reason a fire smokes into the room, so we brush the whole run until smoke draws upward again.
How it helpsChimney Inspection in Los Angeles County
Draft trouble usually leaves clues in the flue, the damper and the crown, and a Level 1 look finds most of them.
How it helpsChimney Repair in Los Angeles County
Leaks, loose bricks and cracked crowns change how a chimney draws, so each repair starts with finding where air and water get in.
How it helpsFireplace Inspection in Los Angeles County
Smoke rolling out the top of the opening tells us where to look, and the inspection covers the firebox, damper and smoke chamber.
How it helpsFireplace Repair in Los Angeles County
Spilled smoke has a cause, from a stuck damper to an oversized opening, and each one gets its own fix.
How it helpsChimney Level 2 Inspection in Los Angeles County
Video goes down the full flue to find cracked tiles, gaps and offsets that a flashlight from the firebox will never reach.
How it helpsChimney Cap Installation in Los Angeles County
Wind coming off the water can push smoke back down an open flue, and the right cap blocks the gusts, rain and birds.
How it helpsChimney Flashing Repair in Los Angeles County
Water stains beside the chimney breast usually start where the roof meets the brick, and resealing that joint stops the drip.
How it helpsChimney Masonry Repair in Los Angeles County
Salt air eats at soft mortar, so we repoint joints, swap spalled brick and recast crowns before water works behind them.
How it helpsChimney Rebuilds in Los Angeles County
Leaning or shaken stacks get rebuilt from the roofline up, or from the footing, with the flue sized to draw properly.
How it helpsFireplace Cleaning in Los Angeles County
Soot on the glass doors, ash under the grate and a smell that lingers get cleaned out of the firebox and smoke chamber.
How it helpsGas Fireplace Cleaning in Los Angeles County
Yellow, sooty flames and a faint smell when the logs light point to dirty burners, misplaced embers or a blocked vent.
How it helpsGas Fireplace Repair in Los Angeles County
Flames that die after a minute, a pilot that will not hold, or a clicking igniter usually trace back to one small part.
How it helpsFireplace Remodel in Los Angeles County
Rebuilding the face, hearth or firebox is a chance to fix a smoky opening too, so the new look also draws properly.
How it helpsFireplace Inserts in Los Angeles County
Drafty, smoky open fireplaces can take a sealed insert that heats the room and vents through a liner sized to its own outlet.
How it helpsPellet Stove Repair in Los Angeles County
Hoppers that stop feeding or fires that die with pellets left often trace to the auger, igniter or a choked vent.
How it helpsWood Stove Repair in Los Angeles County
Leaky door gaskets, cracked baffles and weak draft explain most wood stoves that smoke, run away or die overnight.
How it helpsGas Logs in Los Angeles County
Switching to gas logs lets you light the hearth on no-burn days, with no ash, no splitting and no smoky mornings.
How it helpsReading a Los Angeles County Chimney
With 88 cities and about 70 percent of homes older than 1980, no single answer fits this county. Prewar areas lean on old masonry, newer homes on factory-built or gas, so the first step is simply finding out which kind you have. Climates run from coast to valley, foothill and desert here, from salt corroding hardware near the beach to mountain snow. Major faults cross it too, among them the San Andreas and Puente Hills, and shaking can leave cracks in any older flue.
What Owners Notice
Smoke, a stale smell or a slow draft, and each one means something different depending on where you live.
What the Tests Turn Up
Whatever fits the home, from salt-eaten caps near the coast to cold desert flues or old quake cracks inland.
Local Air and Wind
Salt air near the coast, heat in the valleys and snow in the mountains all act on chimneys in this county.
Houses on These Streets
In Los Angeles County the chimneys we test belong to old prewar masonry, newer factory-built or gas units, and coast, valley, foothill and desert homes.
Start With the Symptom
Is the Los Angeles County hearth acting up again?
Say when the trouble shows: lighting up, on windy nights, with the hood on, or the morning after. That account points us toward a sweep, a damper, a cap or a pressure problem before we arrive.