Service area
Marina del Rey chimney sweep for harbor condos and towers
AAA Chimney Sweep is a family owned chimney company that sweeps and inspects fireplaces in Marina del Rey's condo and apartment buildings around the harbor. Family run since 1977. Sweeps start at $99 and inspections start at $69, and we work with your HOA or property manager on roof access.
What is the fireplace doing?
8am to 8pm
County land, big buildings
Almost every home in Marina del Rey is in a large building, so a fireplace problem here usually starts with the HOA or the property manager.
The numbers make it plain. Census estimates put about 6,070 of the community's 7,590 homes in buildings of 50 units or more. Detached houses? About 120.
The ground is unusual too. Marina del Rey is unincorporated, and Los Angeles County owns the land. The county's Department of Beaches and Harbors runs the harbor and leases parcels to developers on long terms. Your unit sits inside a building someone else maintains, on land someone else owns.
The harbor was dedicated on April 10, 1965, and the housing grew up around it. About 3,220 homes date from the 1960s and 70s. Another 2,330 or so went up after 2010. Buildings like these typically use factory built fireplaces with metal flues running up an enclosed chase, and a metal cover on top where the chase meets the roof.
The harbor roads
Eight basins, one set of roofs
- Admiralty Way
- Via Marina
- Bali Way
- Mindanao Way
- Panay Way
- Fiji Way
What goes wrong in a harbor tower
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Chase covers that rust and hold water
The sheet metal cover on top of a chase sits in salt air off the harbor all year. Once it rusts or sags, rain pools on it and runs down inside the chase. The first sign can be a stain on a ceiling near the fireplace.
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Flues you cannot reach from your unit
Your fireplace is on your floor. Its flue ends on a roof you probably have no key to. Any real inspection needs the building to open the roof, so we set that up with the manager before the visit.
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Factory built fireplaces need matching parts
A factory built fireplace is a listed system. The firebox, flue pipe and cap were tested together. Repairs and gas conversions have to use parts listed for that model, so we read the label plate before we quote anything.
What we do here
Service for condo and apartment fireplaces
Chimney inspection
Level II camera work when a unit is sold, or a flue-by-flue look for the whole building.
Chimney cap installation
Stainless caps and chase covers for metal flues on Marina del Rey roofs.
Fireplace repair
Firebox panels, doors and screens on factory built units, with parts listed for the model.
Questions
Condo owners and renters ask us this
- I rent in Marina del Rey. Can I book a chimney inspection myself?
- You can call, but the building has to agree to it. Roof access and any repair go through the property manager. Ask them to call us, or give us their number and we will set it up with them.
- My unit smells of smoke when a neighbor lights a fire. Why?
- Stacked units can vent through flues that run side by side in one chase. If a cap or chase cover is damaged, or two terminations sit too close together, smoke from one can drift into another. The fix is on the roof, so tell the HOA.
- Can a factory built fireplace be converted to gas?
- Only with parts the manufacturer lists for that model. Some allow a gas log kit and some do not. We read the label plate inside the firebox first.
- I am selling my condo. Should I get the chimney looked at first?
- It helps. A Level II inspection gives the buyer camera footage of your flue and a written report, and booking it before the listing goes up gives you time to fix anything it finds.
Nearby
South of the harbor
Westchester is a short drive south of the basins, and El Segundo sits just past LAX.
Book a visit
Send us the building name
Give us the building and your unit number. If the HOA or manager has to sign off, we will tell you exactly what to ask them for. Before you book, you can check what customers wrote on our Yelp listing.
818-348-1993Open every day, 8am to 8pm. Harbor condos and apartment towers.
Request a visit
We answer the same day during business hours.