Service area
Chimney sweeping and crack inspection in Rancho Palos Verdes
Rancho Palos Verdes homeowners call AAA Chimney Sweep, a family owned chimney sweep, to sweep a flue, photograph cracked masonry or fit a spark screen, including on houses that sit beside ground the city says has been moving since 1956. Brick shows it early.
What is the fireplace doing?
8am to 8pm
What we look for
Cracks we photograph near Portuguese Bend
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Stepped cracks in the mortar
A crack that climbs the brick like a staircase is following the mortar joints. Sometimes the base has moved. Sometimes it is old shrinkage. We photograph and measure it, so you have a dated record.
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A firebox pulling off the wall
The city lists outside walls pulling away from a building as a warning sign of land movement. Indoors it looks like a gap between the firebox face and the wall. Heat can reach framing through it.
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A stack leaning off the house
A tall column of brick tips when its footing shifts. Even a gap the width of a pencil where the chimney leaves the roof lets winter rain run in behind the flashing and down the framing, where it can sit unseen for a season. Check the roofline.
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Worn spark screens on the bluffs
CAL FIRE's inspection guide calls for a spark screen of half inch wire mesh on chimney outlets. Salt and wind wear that mesh thin. We check it on every sweep.
What the city says about the ground
Rancho Palos Verdes treats Portuguese Bend as an active landslide complex. Its own guidance lists new cracks in brick as a sign of land movement.
The slide was reactivated in 1956, per the city. It has moved ever since. The complex takes in the Portuguese Bend, Abalone Cove and Klondike Canyon landslides. Seaview and the Portuguese Bend neighborhoods saw movement jump from spring 2023. The September 2026 city update put the average rate inside the active boundary under an inch a week for the first time since October 2023, and the Portuguese Bend slide itself has slowed 92 percent since deep dewatering wells went in.
A sweep can find the cracks. It cannot tell you why the ground moved. That call belongs to a geotechnical engineer, and the city Building and Safety Division keeps a list of engineers who work in the area, so our dated photos give whoever you hire a record of what the chimney looked like before they arrived.
Fire zones changed on January 1, 2026. Since 2008 most of the city had been rated Very High. CAL FIRE's 2025 map cut much of that back and added High and Moderate areas. Check your address. CAL FIRE's inspection guide cites PRC 4291 on cutting any branch back ten feet from a chimney outlet, and on the windy bluffs that is worth doing whatever the map says about your lot.
About 85 percent of homes here went up between 1950 and 1980, the housing element says. So most chimneys are between about 45 and 75.
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Questions
Asked by owners near the slide and up the hill
- Is the crack in my chimney from the landslide?
- Nobody can say that for certain from a roof. We photograph where the crack runs and measure how wide it is. A geotechnical engineer ties it to the ground, and the city keeps a list of them.
- Our gas service was shut off. Can we use the gas fireplace?
- Not on natural gas until service returns. SoCalGas suspended service to the Portuguese Bend community, and the city has published guidance on alternatives. A wood burning fireplace is a separate question, and a sweep with an inspection answers it.
- Is my house still in a Very High fire zone?
- Maybe not. CAL FIRE's 2025 map took effect on January 1, 2026 and moved large parts of the city down to High or Moderate. Look up your address on the city fire hazard page. A working spark screen makes sense in any zone.
- Should we get a chimney inspection before selling near Portuguese Bend?
- Yes. Ask for the Level II. The camera report with photos gives a buyer a dated record of the chimney as it stood on the day you listed, and on ground that moves, that date matters.
Services
Repairs that follow ground movement
Chimney inspection
Every crack photographed and dated, ready to hand to your engineer.
Chimney repair
Repointing stepped joints once an engineer is happy with the ground below.
Firebox repair
Closing the gap where a firebox has pulled away from the wall.
Chimney rebuild
A leaning stack taken down to sound brick and built back plumb.
Chimney cap installation
Stainless caps with half inch spark mesh for the windy bluffs.
Nearby
Around the peninsula and toward the harbor
Rancho Palos Verdes runs from the ocean bluffs round toward the harbor. The closest pages to it are these.
Book a visit
Get the cracks on record
Tell us your street and what you have noticed, inside the house or out. Inspections are starting at $69 and sweeps are starting at $99. A Level II comes with photos and a written report.
818-348-1993Phones answered 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, bluffs and canyons included.
Request a visit
We answer the same day during business hours.