Los Feliz Chimney Sweep and Stucco Chimney Care
A chimney sweep in Los Feliz is usually straightforward; the harder question on a period house is what the stucco on the outside of the chimney is hiding. Where brick is covered in plaster, cracks and water damage show late, often as a stain on the chimney breast indoors. A sweep with a look up the flue and at the crown is a reasonable place to start.
What Los Feliz does to a chimney
Los Feliz is in Central Los Angeles, next to Griffith Park, and a house there may face a flat street or sit on a slope. Unlike Hollywood next door, it has no HPOZ named for it on City Planning's list. That does not rule out historic protection: the City has designated over 1,200 places as Historic-Cultural Monuments, and a house can also be on the National or California Register. Owners of hillside lots near the park should check the state fire hazard map by address.
Los Feliz homes and their fireplaces
Where a Los Feliz house is a period revival design, the chimney is sometimes brick finished in stucco to match the walls, occasionally with a decorative shroud at the outlet. The finish can look tidy long after the mortar underneath has begun to fail, and hairline cracks in stucco let water in without letting it back out. Where the house is individually designated, exterior repairs involve City Planning as well as LADBS.
The work that comes up most in Los Feliz
Ordered by how often local conditions make each one the right question.
- Chimney Leak Repair
On stucco-clad stacks, a stain indoors is often the first sign, and the entry point needs tracing before anything is sealed.
- Chimney Inspection
A look up the flue and at the crown shows what a smooth stucco finish outside cannot.
- Chimney Flashing Repair
Where a stucco chimney meets a tile or shingle roof, the flashing joint is a common way in for rain.
- Chimney Sweep
A period fireplace lit on winter evenings still needs its flue cleared as its condition requires.
- Fireplace Restoration
Original tile surrounds and hearths in revival houses are often worth repairing rather than replacing.
- Chimney Waterproofing
Once the crown, flashing and cracks are fixed, a vapor-permeable sealer can slow water getting into the masonry.
Send a photo of the chimney from outside and, if there is one, of the stain inside, and we will come back to you. Send the details of the issue and request an estimate for the specific work.
Call NowWhat stucco does to a Los Feliz chimney over time
Stucco is a cement-based skin. It sheds rain well while intact, but once it cracks, water gets behind it and sits against the brick. After winter rain that shows up as efflorescence, the white powdery deposit left when water moves through masonry and dries at the surface, or as a damp patch beside the fireplace inside.
Repair starts by finding where the water enters: a cracked crown, failed flashing where the chimney meets the roof, or open cracks in the stucco. Coating the whole stack in sealer before those are fixed traps moisture and tends to make matters worse.
Decorative shrouds on Los Feliz period chimneys
Some period chimneys finish in a shaped masonry cap, a small tiled roof or a pierced shroud rather than a plain metal cap. They suit the house but make it harder to add a spark arrestor or keep animals out without changing the look.
Where the house is designated, altering that feature may need City Planning's sign-off. Where it is not, the choice still deserves some thought, and one option is fitting mesh inside or behind the shroud so the outline stays as it is.
Around Los Feliz
Los Feliz is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles overview covers the city as a whole.
Nearby neighborhoods
Background reading
Local references
Requirements and designations change, and they vary by address. These are the authorities to confirm with rather than a statement of what applies to your property.
Los Feliz chimney questions
Other things homeowners ask are covered on the FAQ page.
Chimney and fireplace questions in Los Feliz
Call, or send a short description and request an estimate. Estimates cost nothing.