Why Thousand Oaks homes need fireplace inspection done right
A chimney without ember-resistant hardware can turn a survivable brush fire into a total loss, which is the math that makes annual inspection worth the modest cost here. Waiting until after a fire like Woolsey to find out the cap was inadequate is the expensive way to learn that lesson. A visit typically includes full firebox and refractory panel inspection, damper operation and sealing test, and smoke shelf and smoke chamber evaluation, so the scope reflects the chimney's actual condition instead of a flat-rate guess.