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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Liner & Rebuild Across Irvington
Chimney liner and rebuild work in Irvington typically runs between $1,800 and $6,500 depending on whether you need a stainless steel liner dropped into an existing flue or a partial rebuild of the crown and top courses. Most Irvington jobs are completed in one to two days once we’re on the roof. If you’re in a rowhouse on Nye Avenue or a two-family near Civic Square and the flue hasn’t been touched since coal was the standard fuel, call (848) 331-2638 for a straight answer and a free estimate.
We’ve worked Irvington’s attached housing stock long enough to know what’s hiding inside an 85-year-old party-wall chimney. Wendell and his crew show up when we say we will, price the job before a single tool comes off the truck, and hand you camera footage of everything we find. No liner gets recommended without proof you can see yourself.
Why Top Hat Chimney Is Irvington’s Preferred Chimney Liner & Rebuild Company
Top Hat Chimney was founded in 1999 by Wendell Pike, and Irvington is the kind of town where our reputation walks ahead of us. Most of our Irvington calls come from neighbors who watched us work on somebody else’s rowhouse and asked the homeowner what the experience was like. That’s the business model. Not a franchise that rotated in last spring with a call center in another state; a local sweep whose name and license number are published, and who you’ll run into again at the hardware store.
Our Chimney Liner & Rebuild team knows what a shared party wall means in a town where houses sit shoulder to shoulder. When your chimney is your neighbor’s chimney, a liner failure isn’t a private problem. We scope every flue with a camera before recommending anything, and the footage plus a plain-English verdict is yours every time, no exceptions. That’s how we’ve earned our standing in Irvington, and it’s why the same families call us back when the second flue on their three-family eventually needs attention.
Every job, including liner replacements and partial rebuilds in Irvington, carries our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the work isn’t right, one call brings Wendell back. No charge, no argument.
Our Chimney Liner & Rebuild Services in Irvington
Stainless Steel Liner
In Irvington, a stainless steel liner is the most common fix for the coal-era flues we see. Most of these old rowhouse stacks were built with oversized clay tiles sized for coal smoke, not for modern gas furnaces. We install DuraFlex stainless liners sized correctly for the appliance actually venting through the flue. That stops the acidic condensate that eats mortar from the inside and keeps carbon monoxide from bleeding through shared chimney walls into the unit next door.
Flexible Liner
Flexible liners make sense in Irvington because so many flues twist through 80 to 120 year old masonry with offsets and turns a rigid liner can’t follow. We work with Gelco and Famco flexible systems when the chimney geometry calls for it. The liner snakes down the existing flue, gets insulated where needed, and connects to the appliance with proper terminations. Faster install, less disruption, and the same camera verification before we call it done.
Liner Replacement
If your Irvington two- or three-family was converted from oil to gas at some point in the last two or three decades, there’s a good chance nobody relined the flue when the new furnace went in. That’s the single most common code violation we document in this township. Replacing a cracked clay tile liner with a properly sized stainless system brings the chimney into compliance with the NJ Uniform Construction Code and stops the condensate damage that’s quietly dissolving your mortar from inside.
Partial Rebuild
Irvington’s freeze-thaw winters are rough on chimney tops. By the time we get called, the crown is usually spalled, the top three or four courses of brick are loose, and water has been getting into the flue for years. A partial rebuild removes the damaged courses, re-lays the brick, pours a new concrete crown with proper overhang, and often includes new flashing. We price this as exactly what it is: the top of the chimney rebuilt, not the whole stack. Most Irvington partial rebuilds are done in a day.
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.
Trusted Brands We Service in Irvington
We install and service liners and rebuild materials from brands we’ve trusted for years: Gelco, Olympia Chimney, and Copperfield. DuraFlex is our default stainless liner because the steel holds up to the acidic condensate we routinely find in Irvington’s converted gas flues. Parts are stocked for the systems we install here, which means if a warranty issue comes up, we’re not waiting weeks on a backorder. We also service existing systems from Famco and HeatShield when a homeowner already has one in place and needs a repair or second opinion.
Common Chimney Liner & Rebuild Problems We See in Irvington Homes
- Unlined coal-era flues venting modern gas appliances. The original 12-inch clay flue was built for coal smoke. A high-efficiency gas furnace vents cooler, wetter exhaust that condenses inside, creating corrosive acid. That acid eats mortar, spalls brick, and finds its way into adjoining rowhouse units through shared masonry.
- Cracked and offset clay tile liners. After 80 to 120 years of New Jersey freeze-thaw cycles and the shock of coal-to-gas transitions, original clay tiles are almost never intact. Gaps between offset tiles let heat, smoke, and carbon monoxide into the chimney structure itself, not just up the flue. We find this on nearly every older two- and three-family job in town.
- Missing or deteriorated crowns and flashing. A cracked crown on an attached rowhouse doesn’t just let water into one chimney. It lets water into the shared stack, which means two or three households get damp masonry, accelerated liner degradation, and elevated fire risk all at once. One compromised crown is a row problem, not a single-owner problem.
- Third-degree creosote glaze from backdrafting. When a chimney was never relined for a modern appliance, draft reverses. Smoke doesn’t go up; it spills back into the house. That bakes creosote into the smoke chamber and leaves tar-like glaze that’s a serious fire hazard. We’ve literally chipped this stuff out of Irvington flues with rotary tools before the liner could even go in.
Pricing for Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Irvington, NJ
A stainless steel liner installation in Irvington typically runs $1,800 to $3,800, depending on flue height, access, and whether insulation is required. Liner replacement on a multi-flue rowhouse where each unit needs its own separate liner can reach $5,000 to $6,500 when all flues are addressed at once. Partial rebuilds run $2,400 to $4,800, depending on how many courses of brick come out and what the crown looks like. Full chimney rebuilds start around $6,000 and go up from there.
Every estimate is free, and the number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice. We honor a $40 discount on any repair over $200, and seniors and veterans always get 10% off. If you have a written estimate from another company, bring it to us for a free second opinion. Call (848) 331-2638 and we’ll put a number on it.
We Also Serve Cities Near Irvington
Top Hat Chimney serves Irvington and the surrounding Essex County towns. You’ll find us on roofs in Newark, Maplewood, Hillside, and East Orange. If you’re in one of those cities and need chimney liner or rebuild work, the same crew, same pricing, and same 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. Call (848) 331-2638 and ask for Wendell.
Serving Irvington, NJ - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Irvington area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Irvington
Yes. Each flue serving a separate unit or appliance needs its own properly sized liner. You cannot drop one big liner down a shared stack and vent three furnaces through it. That’s against code and it’s dangerous. On a typical Irvington three-family, we install one insulated stainless liner per unit, each sized for that unit’s specific appliance. This is also why multi-flue jobs cost more: you’re lining three flues, not one. Call (848) 331-2638 and we’ll camera-scope each flue and give you a per-flue breakdown.
It can be, yes. A gas furnace vents cooler exhaust than an oil burner, and that exhaust condenses inside an oversized clay flue. The condensate is acidic. Over years it eats the mortar joints from the inside, creates draft reversal, and can push carbon monoxide into living spaces, including through shared party walls into the adjoining unit. We’ve found this exact situation on Nye Avenue more times than we can count. If your flue was never relined after conversion, get it camera-inspected. The inspection is free with any liner estimate. Call (848) 331-2638.
A partial rebuild removes the damaged brick courses, usually the top three to six, and re-lays them with fresh mortar matched to the existing work. The old crown gets chipped out and replaced with a poured concrete crown that overhangs properly and sheds water away from the brick. New flashing is installed where the chimney meets the roofline. That stops water intrusion, stabilizes the stack, and buys decades of service life without rebuilding the whole chimney from the roofline up. Most Irvington partial rebuilds are finished in one day.
Usually, yes, if the clay tile is reasonably intact and can accept a properly sized liner. The stainless liner goes inside the existing flue and is connected at the appliance and the top. But if the clay tiles are severely offset or the flue is too small for the liner the appliance requires, we’ll tell you plainly, with camera footage, what has to change. We won’t force a liner into a flue that won’t take it safely. A camera inspection settles it, and that inspection is free with any liner estimate. Call (848) 331-2638.
Because most of them were built between 1900 and 1940 for coal, converted to oil, then converted again to gas, and never relined at any point. Add 80 to 120 years of freeze-thaw cycling, water intrusion from bad crowns, and acidic condensate from modern gas appliances, and the original clay tiles are typically cracked, offset, or missing entirely. In a multi-family, each flue carries a separate unit’s exhaust, so the whole stack degrades together. Liner replacement is usually the only fix that restores safe, code-compliant venting for every unit at once. Call (848) 331-2638 for a free estimate and camera inspection.
Get Your Irvington Chimney Looked At Before It Becomes a Row Problem
In attached housing, the chimney you ignore is never just yours. Wendell and his crew have been serving Irvington since 1999, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise is stamped on every job we do. Live person answers the phone around the clock, and it may well be Wendell himself picking up. Call (848) 331-2638 for a free estimate, a camera inspection, and a straight answer about whether your liner actually needs work or can safely wait.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Irvington and Essex County since 1999.