Service area
A chimney sweep for Carson homes built in the 1950s and 1960s
AAA Chimney Sweep is a chimney sweep and repair company, family owned since 1977, working across Carson with inspections starting at $69. Carson became a city on February 20, 1968, with 66,520 residents. Most of its houses were built before 1970.
What is the fireplace doing?
8am to 8pm
Carson's houses are older than the city
Most Carson homes went up in the 1950s and 1960s, while this was still unincorporated county land. That puts most chimneys here at roughly 55 to 75 years old.
Tract housing first arrived for defense workers during World War II, and the large residential developments followed once the war ended and Southern California's population exploded.
Then came drainage. New sections of the Dominguez Channel were finished in the 1960s, and the drained land opened up for more homes. That decade is Carson's biggest for housing. About a third of today's units date from it, going by the Census Bureau's latest five year survey.
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Common findings
What a sixty year old Carson chimney tends to need
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A crown with cracks
A mortar crown poured in the 1960s has seen about sixty winters. The top few rows of brick soak up the water first. Caught early, the crack gets sealed and that is the end of it.
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A damper that will not budge
Years without moving and the hinge rusts solid. Sometimes it frees up with work. A plate that has rusted through gets replaced.
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Flashing after a reroof
Most houses this age have had a new roof or two. Each reroof is a chance for the chimney flashing to be skipped or patched badly. Water then turns up as a stain on the ceiling near the chimney.
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A worn firebox
Decades of fires loosen firebrick and open the mortar joints. Gaps in the firebox let heat reach the framing behind it.
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Caps and damper plates near industry
The largest refinery on the West Coast sits in Carson, on 223rd Street south of the 405. The state air board lists refineries, freight and port traffic among this area's air sources. Your own roof may be fine. We still check the metal parts closest.
Questions
Questions Carson homeowners bring us
- Does living near the refineries mean the chimney needs checking more often?
- We have no data that says so. The standard is the same everywhere: NFPA 211 calls for an inspection at least once a year. On Carson roofs we still look hardest at the cap and the damper plate, since those are the steel parts of a chimney and steel shows wear before brick does.
- There is a stain on the ceiling next to the chimney. Is that the chimney?
- Often it is the flashing, the metal seam between chimney and roof. After a reroof or two, that seam is where water finds its way in. We trace the path before recommending a repair.
- What does a chimney sweep cost in Carson?
- Pricing is starting at $99 for a sweep and starting at $69 for an inspection. Repairs are quoted once we have seen the chimney.
- We have a chimney we never use. Should we still cap it?
- Yes. An open flue lets rain and birds in whether or not anyone lights a fire. If the brick up top is loose, we can talk about repair or a rebuild.
Services
Three services most Carson homes need
Chimney inspection
A yearly look at the crown, cap and damper on a 1960s Carson chimney.
Chimney leak repair
Flashing resealed where decades of reroofing left gaps at the brick.
Chimney cap installation
Rain and nesting birds kept out of an idle flue with stainless steel.
Nearby
Cities that border or sit close to Carson
Wilmington lies along Carson's southern edge, and Long Beach borders it to the southeast.
Book a visit
Get a Carson chimney on the calendar
Give us a rough build year for the house and what you are seeing. A crack, a stain, smoke, a stuck handle. It all helps us plan.
818-348-1993Call any day of the week between 8am and 8pm.
Request a visit
During business hours we reply the same day.