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.
Before
After
Before
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Before
AfterTrusted Fireplace Services for Brentwood Homeowners
Most fireplace problems in Brentwood homes don’t announce themselves with a bang. They start as a faint smell, a lazy flame, a damper that won’t sit right. Left alone long enough, they turn into a chimney fire, a cracked firebox, or a carbon monoxide leak that no one sees coming. Wendell Pike founded Top Hat Chimney in 1999, and in the 29 years since, he’s been inside more Brentwood flues than he can count. The answer to most fireplace trouble is simpler than the big chains would have you believe: look at it, show you what we saw, and tell you plainly whether it needs fixing. If it does, you’ll know the price before a single tool comes off the truck. Call (934) 935-3847 and you’ll get a live person, not a voicemail box.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
What Our Fireplace Services Service Includes
Fireplace Services in Brentwood span everything from gas logs that won’t light to old masonry fireboxes that have seen forty winters. Here’s what we actually do, room by room and unit by unit.
Gas Fireplace Service
Gas fireplaces are convenient right up until they aren’t. A thermocouple fails, a pilot goes out, or the burner gets so clogged with dust and pet hair that the flame burns orange instead of blue. That orange flame isn’t just inefficient, it’s producing carbon monoxide. Wendell and his crew service gas fireplaces across Brentwood, cleaning the burner, checking the gas line connections, testing the millivolt system, and confirming the venting is moving exhaust out of the house the way it should. If a part is worn, we tell you the price before we touch it.
Wood Burning Fireplace
A wood burning fireplace is the one that warms a room and carries the smell of oak through the whole house on a cold Brentwood night. It also builds creosote, which is flammable and collects unevenly depending on what you burn and how hot you burn it. We inspect the firebox, the damper, the smoke chamber, and the flue liner, then sweep what needs sweeping and tell you where the creosote is building up fastest and why. Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes.
Fireplace Insert
An insert is a steel or cast iron stove that slides into an existing fireplace opening and turns a decorative hearth into an actual heat source. In Brentwood, where winters can bite through a poorly insulated living room, a good insert changes how you use a whole floor of the house. We install and service inserts, checking the surround, the vent liner connection, the blower motor if there is one, and the door gaskets that keep the burn controlled. A gasket that lets air slip changes the burn rate and sends heat up the chimney instead of into the room.
Damper Repair
The damper is the metal plate that sits above the firebox and opens or closes the passage to the flue. When it rusts, warps, or the hinge wears out, it stops sealing. A damper that won’t close is a window in your ceiling, sending heated air out of the house all winter and letting cold air drop in at midnight. We repair and replace dampers across Brentwood, including top-sealing dampers that do a better job than the original throat dampers most builders installed. If you’re not sure whether yours is sealing, we can test it and show you the gaps on camera.
Firebox Repair
The firebox is the brick or paneled chamber where the fire actually burns. Over the years, mortar joints open up, firebrick spalls, and heat finds its way into places it was never supposed to go. In Brentwood homes built in the 60s and 70s, we regularly see fireboxes that look fine from across the room and are holding loose bricks once you get close with a light. We repair fireboxes with the right refractory materials, not regular mortar, because regular mortar breaks down under direct flame. A cracked firebox is a chimney fire waiting for a hot enough night.
Fireplace Conversion
Some Brentwood homeowners are done hauling wood and want gas. Others have a gas line run to the fireplace and want to keep burning wood. A conversion changes the type of appliance in your fireplace opening, and it involves more than swapping a set of logs. Gas conversions require running and testing a gas line if one isn’t already there, sizing the burner correctly, and sometimes changing the damper setup so the flue drafts properly with a different kind of exhaust. Wood conversions often need fresh firebrick, a new damper, and a sweep before the first match. We’ve handled hundreds of these in Suffolk County and we’ll show you the full scope before we start.
Brands We Service for Fireplace Services
Famco makes dampers and chimney caps that show up all over Brentwood, and we’ve installed and repaired enough of them to know which models hold up and which ones fail early. If you have a Famco damper that won’t seal, we likely have the replacement parts on the truck or can get them the same week. Copperfield has been building chimney products for decades, and their caps, dampers, and chase covers are common on Long Island homes. We work with Copperfield products regularly and know how they fit on the masonry and prefab chimneys in this area.
If you have a unit from a brand we haven’t named, don’t worry. Whether it’s a Famco damper, a Copperfield cap, or any other make, the process is the same: we look at it, we show you the camera footage, and we tell you what it actually needs. That’s the Top Hat way.
Signs You Need Fireplace Services Right Now
- You smell something burning even when there’s no fire. That’s usually creosote or animal nesting in the flue, and in Brentwood, chimney swifts and squirrels find their way into uncapped chimneys every season. It’s also a sign that your damper isn’t closing and air from the chimney is working its way into the room. Get it looked at before it gets worse.
- Smoke rolls back into the room instead of going up the flue. Draft problems have real causes: a clogged flue, a damper that’s partially closed, or a chimney that’s too short or too cold. In Brentwood houses with exterior chimneys, cold flue walls are a common culprit. The fix might be simple, but the cause matters.
- You see white or dark staining on the wall above the fireplace. That’s moisture coming through, or exhaust, and neither one belongs in your living room. It often means a gap has opened in the firebox or the crown, or the flue liner has failed. Ignoring it turns a small repair into a larger one.
- The damper won’t open or won’t close all the way. A stuck damper is a burned hand waiting to happen if you have to reach in and try to force it. It’s also a sign the metal has warped from heat, and at that point, patching it back together isn’t worth it. A new top-sealing damper often fixes the draft and the energy loss in one step.
- Gas flames look orange or yellow instead of blue. A healthy gas fireplace burns mostly blue with maybe a small yellow tip. If you’re seeing orange, the burner needs cleaning or there’s a venting problem, and both are carbon monoxide risks. Don’t run it until someone has looked at it. That’s not a scare line; it’s just the truth.
Our Fireplace Services Process - Step by Step
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You call and talk to a person. Not a menu tree, not a call center in another time zone. You call (934) 935-3847 and someone answers. It may well be Wendell himself. You’ll tell us what you’re seeing and we’ll schedule a time that works, with a real arrival window.
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Walk-through and inspection. Wendell or one of his crew shows up in uniform, boots on the floor, and goes over the fireplace with you before touching anything. We look at what you’ve been seeing, measure, and check the easy things first. No work starts until you’ve heard what we think and agreed on the number.
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Camera inspection of the flue. Any fireplace inspection at Top Hat includes putting a camera up the flue and showing you the footage. You’ll see the creosote, the cracks, the nests, or the rust yourself. The camera footage and a plain-English verdict, every time, no exceptions.
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Upfront price and written scope. The number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice. If we find something during the inspection that changes the job, we stop, call you, and explain what we found before spending another minute of your time or a dollar of your money.
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The work, done right, with a 90-day promise. We do the work, clean up the area, and leave it better than we found it. Every completed job is backed by the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if it’s not done right, one call brings Wendell back. That’s not fine print. That’s how we’ve worked since 1999.
How Much Does Fireplace Services Cost in Brentwood?
A typical fireplace service call in Brentwood runs between $149 and $299 depending on what you need, so if you’re wondering how much Fireplace Services costs, here’s a breakdown. A gas fireplace cleaning and safety check is usually $149 to $189. A wood fireplace sweep and inspection lands around $189 to $249. Damper replacement pushes higher, typically $300 to $600 installed depending on the damper type and chimney configuration. Firebox repair work is the most variable, anywhere from $400 for a partial repoint to $2,500 or more for a full rebuild in a large masonry fireplace. A fireplace conversion from wood to gas in Brentwood generally starts around $1,800 and goes up based on whether a gas line already exists at the fireplace. Inserts vary by unit and liner needs, but figure $2,500 to $6,000 installed.
What affects the price: the type and condition of your existing fireplace, whether you’re on a slab or have a crawlspace that makes gas line work easier, and what we find in the camera inspection. The way to avoid overpaying is simple: get the camera footage and look at it. A national chain that quotes one price on the phone and another at the door does that because you can’t see what they’re claiming. We show you. And if you have a written estimate from anyone else, bring it to us for a free second opinion before you sign. Every estimate we give is free, and there’s no trip charge for calls inside the county. Seniors and veterans always get 10% off, and any repair over $200 knocks $40 off the bill. Those offers stand, year round.
Fireplace Services Near Brentwood - Our Service Area
Top Hat Chimney works across Suffolk County, from Fireplace Services in Brentwood out to Fireplace Services in Hauppauge, Fireplace Services in Central Islip, and the surrounding communities: Bay Shore, North Bay Shore, Brightwaters, Islandia, Baywood, Islip, East Islip, Islip Terrace, and Nesconset. Most areas are a same-week visit, and we keep the schedule honest. If we’re running late, we call.
Serving Brentwood, NY - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Brentwood area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions - Fireplace Services in Brentwood
Our Fireplace Services in Central Islip cover everything needed to keep a fireplace operating safely and efficiently: inspection, cleaning and sweeping, damper and firebox repair, gas burner service, insert installation, and conversions between fuel types. In Brentwood, where many homes have original masonry fireplaces from the housing boom of the mid-20th century, the most common service calls are gas fireplace cleanings, damper replacements, and firebox joint repairs.
A standard gas or wood fireplace service, including inspection and cleaning, takes between 45 and 90 minutes. Damper replacement or firebox repair adds time based on the extent of the masonry work. When we schedule you, we’ll give you a real window, not an all-day arrival. If the job runs long, we call you before it happens.
A basic gas or wood fireplace service call in Brentwood typically runs $149 to $299. Larger repairs cost more, and we’ll always show you camera footage and give you a written number before starting any work. Two things keep the price honest: the upfront flat quote and the camera. Nothing gets recommended that you can’t see for yourself. Call (934) 935-3847 and we’ll give you a firm quote, free.
Yes. We service and install Famco dampers and caps and work with Copperfield chimney products across Brentwood and Suffolk County. If you have a unit under either brand, we likely have the parts you need on the truck or can get them the same week. And if your fireplace is a different brand entirely, we can still help. The inspection works the same way regardless of the name on the label.
We are available around the clock by phone, and if you’re facing a smoke problem, a gas odor, or water coming into the firebox on a storm night, we’ll tell you over the phone how to stay safe and when we can have someone there. For anything involving gas or active smoke in the house, shut the fireplace down and call us. One call, a live person, day or night.
Every job comes with our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the work isn’t done right, one call brings Wendell and his crew back at no additional cost. We’ve handled our Fireplace Services in Islip and across Suffolk County since 1999, and the warranty is our way of keeping the work honest. No fine print, no phone tree, no waiting on hold.
Clear the area around the fireplace a few feet in every direction so we have room to work and lay down drop cloths. If you have a gas fireplace, leave the pilot light as it is; we’ll handle it when we arrive. Have any previous inspection reports or installer paperwork out if you have them, but don’t worry if you’ve lost them. Most Brentwood homeowners don’t know the brand or model of their unit, and the inspection will tell us what we need to know.
Schedule Your Fireplace Services Service in Brentwood Today
If your fireplace hasn’t been looked at in a while, or if something’s been off and you’ve been putting it off, now is the time. Call (934) 935-3847 and talk to a live person. We’ll answer your questions, give you a straight answer about pricing, and schedule a visit that works for your week. The estimate is free, there’s no obligation, and if the job turns out to be smaller than you thought, Wendell will tell you so himself. That’s been the Top Hat way since 1999, and it isn’t changing any time soon.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Brentwood since 1999.