Chimney and Fireplace Service in Lakeville, Minnesota

Lakeville started in 1855, named for the lake now called Lake Marion, and stayed small for a century. Wikipedia's census table shows 7,556 people in 1970 and 69,490 in 2020, which makes it one of the fastest-growing cities in the metro. The old core around Main Street and Antlers Park, where an amusement park opened on Lake Marion in 1910, is now ringed by subdivisions reaching out toward Orchard Lake and the Airlake industrial area.

Census ACS (2024 five-year) numbers put Lakeville's median year built at 1999, the newest of any city in our area, with about 48 percent of homes built in 2000 or later. About 72 percent are single-family detached houses, and gas heats 86 percent of them; propane heats about 2.6 percent, mostly at the rural edges. Brick chimneys are rare. The work here is gas fireplace service, chase covers and the occasional insert.

Gas fireplaces in newer houses

A 2000s Lakeville fireplace is usually a direct-vent gas unit with a sealed glass front, venting through the wall or up a short chase. They are simple, but they are not maintenance-free. Pilots soot up, igniters wear, thermopiles weaken, and the glass gasket dries out. NFPA 211 calls for chimneys, fireplaces and vents to be inspected at least once a year.

Typical part prices: igniter $90 to $150, pilot assembly $100 to $350, thermocouple $150 to $350, thermopile or gas valve $150 to $300. If you smell gas near the fireplace, leave the house, then call 911 and your gas utility from outside.

• Flame turning yellow or lazy
• White film or haze on the glass
• Clicking with no flame
• Pilot that goes out on windy days

Chase covers built with the house

Builders often topped a chase with a plain galvanized lid. After 20 or 25 Minnesota winters, those lids start to rust at the corners and sag in the middle. The NOAA station at Farmington, just east of Lakeville, averages about 150 nights a year at or below freezing (1991–2020 normals), and every thaw sends meltwater toward any low spot on that lid. A stainless or powder-coated replacement cover typically runs $300 to $700.

Selling a Lakeville home

The Minnesota Realtors seller's disclosure form asks whether the fireplace, fireplace mechanisms, wood-burning stove and carbon monoxide detector are in working order. Our home-sale inspection is free and gives you photos and written findings to answer those lines accurately.

Where we work in Lakeville

Lake Marion · Antlers Park · Orchard Lake · Valley Lake · Downtown Main Street · Argonne area · Near Airlake