After an earthquake, can I light a fire to see if the chimney still works?

No. A fire is not a test; it is the thing that finds the crack. Earthquake Country Alliance advises against using a fireplace with a damaged chimney and against standing near brick chimneys after shaking. Have the flue looked at first. If bricks have fallen or the stack is visibly leaning, keep people away from that side of the house.

Does a Glendale homeowners policy cover chimney damage from an earthquake?

Standard homeowners policies do not cover earthquake damage, according to the California Department of Insurance; that needs a separate earthquake policy, most of which in California come through the California Earthquake Authority. State law does require homeowners policies to cover fire caused by or following an earthquake. Check your own policy wording for the details.

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Los Angeles County

Chimney & Fireplace Services in Glendale

Local information for Glendale, CA — what the climate and the housing stock here do to a chimney, and the services that deal with it.

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Glendale, CA

Chimney service in Glendale

A Glendale chimney may be older masonry on a flat street or a hillside stack that is awkward to reach, and the first answer depends on which kind yours is. Masonry questions tend to be about age and seismic history; hillside questions tend to be about access and exposure.

What Glendale does to a chimney

Two things shape chimney work in Glendale more than the weather does. The first is earthquakes: an older brick chimney in the region may have been through significant shaking, and damage inside the flue is easy to miss when the outside looks fine. Earthquake Country Alliance is plain about it — do not use a fireplace with a damaged chimney. The second is the building authority. Glendale combined its planning and building and safety functions into a Development Services Division, and that division, not Los Angeles County or LADBS, is the one that decides whether a given chimney repair needs a permit at a Glendale address.

Glendale homes and what it means for the chimney

Where a Glendale house sits on a slope, the chimney is often tall on the downhill side and reached across a steep roof, which affects how a visit is set up more than what the masonry needs. Where the house is older and on flatter ground, the questions shift to the mortar and the flue liner, especially if the stack has been repaired at some point without anyone looking inside it. Knowing which situation applies narrows the job before anyone arrives.

Glendale sits in the Verdugos, where the dominant chimney risk is foothill fire exposure + long burn season.

Local services

Chimney services in Glendale

Written for Glendale specifically, rather than for the county as a whole.

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chimney inspections in Glendale

chimney repair in Glendale

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chimney sweeping in Glendale

Gloved hands lowering a rotary brush into the flue of a soot-stained brick chimney

chimney liner repair in Glendale

Sealing work at the joint where a brick chimney meets the roof

chimney leak repair in Glendale

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chimney cleaning in Glendale

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chimney masonry repair in Glendale

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fireplace repair in Glendale

Services

Chimney and fireplace service topics

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What this site covers

Chimney & fireplace services
Los Angeles County Service Areas
Estimate requests online

What this site covers

Chimney & fireplace services
Los Angeles County Service Areas
Estimate requests online

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Around Glendale

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Common questions

Glendale questions

Glendale's Development Services Division, which brings together the city's planning and building and safety functions. Routine cleaning is not the kind of work people usually ask about; relining, rebuilding a stack or structural masonry repair is. Ask the division for your address before work is scheduled.

More chimney and fireplace questions are answered on the main FAQ page.

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Chimney and fireplace questions in Glendale

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