Should an older brick chimney in Inglewood be braced for earthquakes?

It is worth asking, particularly for an unreinforced chimney that rises well above the roof. Earthquake Country Alliance treats inadequately braced chimneys as a common problem and points owners to a professional assessment. Bracing, reinforcement or taking the stack down below the roofline are all possible outcomes, and which fits depends on the chimney's condition, so that is established first. The City of Inglewood decides what permit any structural work needs.

We just bought a house in Inglewood and nobody knows when the fireplace was last used. Is it safe to light?

Not until someone has looked. A flue that has sat idle can hold a nest, fallen debris or a liner crack nobody had reason to notice, and CSIA's guidance is that the annual inspection standard applies even to chimneys that are rarely used. An inspection before the first fire answers the question. If the flue turns out clean and sound, a sweep may not be needed at all.

Person pushing a chimney brush down a brick chimney on a tile roof

Los Angeles County

Chimney & Fireplace Services in Inglewood

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

(213) 348-6341 Request an Estimate

Chimney & Fireplace ServiceCleaning, inspection & repair
Los Angeles Service AreasCities & LA neighborhoods
Free Estimates AvailableEstimates at no charge
Easy to ReachCall or request online

Inglewood, CA

Chimney service in Inglewood

Chimney questions in Inglewood tend to start inside the flue rather than on the roof. Where a house still has its original masonry chimney, the clay tile liner has been through decades of heating and cooling, and a stack that looks tidy from the street can hide cracked tile. Where a gas water heater or furnace shares that chimney, the liner matters for more than the fireplace.

What Inglewood does to a chimney

Inglewood sits a short distance inland, close enough for damp marine air to reach it and far enough that salt is a smaller factor than at the beach. That shifts the attention to the masonry and to whatever runs through the flue. In an older house the chimney may carry more than wood smoke: a gas water heater or furnace may vent through a flue of its own inside the same stack, or occasionally into the fireplace flue. Where that is the arrangement, a cracked or blocked liner is a carbon monoxide question, and it deserves attention whether or not anyone ever lights the fireplace.

Inglewood homes and what it means for the chimney

Where an Inglewood chimney is unreinforced brick, it is the kind of structure earthquake guidance singles out: the Earthquake Country Alliance says inadequately braced chimneys are a common problem and recommends having a professional assess them. Where the house is later, the masonry is younger, but the clay tile liner is still the part most likely to have cracked without anyone noticing. In both cases the inside of the flue says more about the chimney than the outside does.

Inglewood sits in the South Bay, where the dominant chimney risk is coastal corrosion + factory-built service needs.

Services

Chimney and fireplace service topics

Each link opens the service page explaining what that work covers.

See all chimney and fireplace services →

Brick chimney with a mesh cap against an evening sky

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

Email us anytime

info@chimneycleaningla.com

Estimate request

Request an estimate in Inglewood

Tell us what the chimney is doing and we'll come back to you.

Prefer to call?

(213) 348-6341

Call for an Estimate

Around Inglewood

Nearby service areas

View All Service Areas →

City of Los Angeles

Los Angeles neighborhoods next to Inglewood

Westchester

Common questions

Inglewood questions

Yes. A gas appliance sends combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, up the flue whenever it runs, not just when a fire is lit. A cracked liner, a collapsed section or a nest at the top can push those gases back into the house. The US Fire Administration advises a CO alarm outside each sleeping area and on every level; if one sounds, get everyone out and call 911. The flue itself needs an inspection with the liner in view.

There are more answers on the Los Angeles homeowner FAQ.

Free estimates

Chimney and fireplace questions in Inglewood

Call, or send a short description and request an estimate. Estimates cost nothing.

(213) 348-6341 Request an Estimate