Chimney sweep and repair in Westfield
More than a third of Westfield's homes predate 1940. We clean, repair and reline their chimneys after a free inspection.
Westfield was settled around 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract and today sits on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line. Its population grew fast between 1900 and 1930, and the housing shows it: 37.3 percent of Westfield's homes were built before 1940, against 17.4 percent statewide, and another 7 percent in the 1940s. About 78 percent are detached single-family houses, and in a prewar house that usually means a full masonry chimney.
That makes Westfield a town of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Tudor houses with full masonry chimneys, many now 90 to 130 years old. About 87 percent of homes heat with gas, so the chimney that serves the furnace and water heater works all winter, while the fireplace flue may sit unused for months. Both age, in different ways. We check every flue at the free inspection, take photos, and give you a written price before any work.
Kimball Avenue and Westfield's older neighborhoods
Kimball Avenue, between Lawrence Avenue and Elm Street, is Westfield's locally designated historic district, with Queen Anne houses from the 1880s and 1890s. Westfield's Historic Preservation Commission oversees it and about two dozen individually designated properties. Exterior changes there need a Certificate of Appropriateness. The town's 2024 historic preservation plan also names neighborhoods such as Wychwood, Stoneleigh Park, Westfield Gardens, Dudley Park and Brightwood Park for future study, but those aren't under commission review unless designated.
On old Westfield houses we usually find washed-out mortar near the top, cracked crowns and tired flashing. Repointing typically costs $500 to $2,500, a crown $600 to $2,200, and flashing $300 to $1,800. On a designated property, like-for-like materials make the approval simpler.
Old flues and new heating systems
A Tudor or Colonial from the 1920s often has its furnace and water heater venting into a clay-tile flue built for coal. Modern appliances put out cooler, wetter exhaust, and in an oversized flue it condenses and eats the mortar. When either appliance is replaced, New Jersey requires a chimney verification on form F-370 before the job is approved. A sized stainless liner for a furnace or water heater typically runs $625 to $2,250.
Where we work in Westfield
Kimball Avenue · Wychwood · Stoneleigh Park · Westfield Gardens · Dudley Park · Brightwood Park · Prospect Street · Tremont Avenue · Downtown · North Side · South Side
FAQ
Westfield chimney questions
Do I need approval to repair the chimney on a Kimball Avenue house?
Exterior changes in Westfield's Kimball Avenue historic district go through the Historic Preservation Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Check with the town before work that changes the chimney's look. Matching the existing brick and mortar keeps it simple.
Our fireplace smells like smoke when it rains. Why?
Usually water mixing with soot and creosote in the flue, often through a missing cap or cracked crown. A cap typically costs $250 to $850. We'll find the cause at the free inspection.
We're getting a new furnace. Does the chimney need a liner?
Often. New Jersey requires an F-370 chimney verification when a furnace is replaced, and old Westfield flues are usually too large for a modern unit. We check the flue and tell you whether it needs a liner.
How much does it cost to clean a chimney in Westfield?
We price cleaning at the free inspection, after seeing the flue and the buildup, and put it in writing before we start. We book Sunday to Friday in 3-hour windows.
Book online
Book in Westfield. The inspection is free.
Free inspection in a 3-hour window: 8 to 11, 11 to 2, or 2 to 5. We call to confirm before we arrive.