Getting a fireplace and chimney ready for a sale

What the buyer's inspector will look at

Florida's standards of practice for home inspectors (Florida Administrative Code 61-30.807) include fireplaces, vent systems, flues and chimneys in the inspection, looked at through readily accessible components. From the ground, the roof if it is walkable, and the room, the inspector sees the cap, the crown, the brick and mortar, the flashing, stains on nearby ceilings and walls, the damper, the firebox and the hearth. Where the fireplace is factory-built, they see the chase and its metal top.

The same rules leave draft testing, moving firebox contents and lighting gas units outside the inspector's required scope, so what they cannot confirm, they flag for further evaluation. Get ahead of any report line recommending evaluation by a chimney professional. Anything the inspector can see, such as a rusted chase cover or a missing cap, will be in the report.

A check before listing puts you in control

NFPA 211 counts a sale among the moments when a chimney should get a closer look than the yearly check gives it. Having that done before the house is listed means you learn about any problem on your own schedule, with time to fix it, rather than in the middle of a buyer's inspection period with a closing date bearing down.

The visit follows the flue wherever it can be seen, the smoke chamber, the damper, the firebox and hearth, the crown, cap and flashing, and the clearances that can be measured. A gas unit is lit and checked. You hear the findings on site and get a written estimate that separates what we found, what we would fix and what can be scheduled later. That estimate is also a document you can show a buyer.

Chimney repair before selling a house

Items that let water into the house or put the house at risk from heat or exhaust are the ones to deal with first, because they are the ones an inspector will flag and a buyer will worry about. These are the items we look at first in a pre-sale check.

• A missing or broken cap, replaced with one sized to the flue
• A cracked crown, sealed where the cracks are fine and the crown is sound, or recast where it is broken through
• Flashing that relies on caulk or has pulled away, reset into a cut joint or replaced
• Open mortar joints or shelling brick on the stack, repointed or replaced with matched materials
• A rusted or sagging chase cover on a factory-built chimney, replaced with a new fabricated top
• A damper that will not open, close or seal, repaired or replaced
• Cracked firebrick or open joints in the firebox, repaired with firebrick and refractory mortar
• A gas unit that does not light or burns poorly, serviced and repaired so it runs on the day of the buyer's inspection

What can reasonably wait

Not every finding needs doing before a sale. Surface staining on brick where the water source has already been closed, an old damper that still opens, closes and seals, or a flue that is due for a routine sweep are the kind of items a buyer can take on as ordinary upkeep. The estimate marks these as able to wait and says what to watch.

Whether to fix a larger item, such as relining a flue or rebuilding the top of a chimney, or to disclose it and adjust the price, is a decision for you and your agent. We can give you the scope and the price in writing so that decision rests on numbers instead of guesses. What we will not do is recommend cosmetic work that hides a problem, such as painting over water stains or sealing a crack that is still moving.

Disclosure is part of the job

Florida case law, starting with the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. Davis (1985), expects a seller of a home who knows of facts that materially affect its value, which are not readily observable and not known to the buyer, to disclose them. A known leak at the chimney or a past chimney fire can fall in that category. Your agent or a real estate attorney can tell you how that applies to your house and what forms your transaction uses.

Our paperwork helps either way. If a problem was found and fixed, the invoice shows what was done and when. If a problem was found and left, the estimate describes it in plain terms that can go into a disclosure without guesswork.

Gas and factory-built units

Gather the manual, the model number from the rating plate and any service records for a gas fireplace or a factory-built unit. Buyers and their inspectors ask for these, and they show which parts and clearances apply. If the gas unit's glass has a barrier screen, which newer units carry under the 2015 ANSI revisions, make sure it is in place.

Because the home inspector is not required to light a gas fireplace, a recent service record that shows it was lit, checked and working answers a question before it is asked. On a vent-free unit, the manual's room-size limits and the oxygen depletion sensor belong in the file too.

Presenting the fireplace honestly

A clean, empty firebox photographs and shows better than one full of old ash, so shovel out cold ashes into a covered metal can and take it outside, and clean the glass on a gas unit following its manual. If the fireplace is used during showings, keep the screen closed and the fire modest, and make sure it is out and the ashes cold before the house is left empty.

What does not belong in preparation is covering problems. Fresh paint on a stained chimney breast, new caulk over failed flashing or a rug over a cracked hearth can prompt an inspector to look harder and create disclosure trouble later. Fix it, or disclose it, and keep the record.

The records buyers ask for

Put together a small file for the buyer: sweep and inspection notes, repair invoices, warranty terms for workmanship and for parts such as caps, liners and chase covers, the manual for any gas or factory-built unit, and permit records for work that needed one, such as a rebuild or a newly installed fireplace. A file like that answers questions early and shows the chimney has been looked after.