The flue is the part you cannot see from the room

A Level 1 is the accessible parts, seen by eye.

The inside of the flue stays out of sight. So does the top of the stack, unless somebody climbs up. A note about the chimney in a home inspection leaves a buyer with a question and no answer.

We start at the cap, the crown and the flashing. We photograph each one while we are standing next to it. Nothing is guessed from the street.

Then a camera goes down the flue. The scan runs the full length, so you see the liner and the joints instead of taking our word for them. We also look at the accessible attic and crawlspace sections around the chimney.

The chimney standard, NFPA 211, names four moments for a Level 2. A sale or transfer is the first. The others are a chimney fire, an earthquake, and a switch to a different fuel.

For a seller, the report shows what is up there before a buyer asks. For a buyer, it turns a vague note into a list you can hand to your agent.

Report and photos are ready on the day we visit. The client picks who gets them: the agent, the buyer, the seller, or all three.

If repairs show up on the list, what happens next sits between you, the other side and your agents. Contract and legal questions are not ours to answer. Pricing the work is.