Chimney and fireplace service in the West Metro
Most West Metro chimneys date from the postwar building boom and are now 65 to 85 years old. We inspect them for free and write down a price before any work.
The suburbs just west of Minneapolis filled in after the Second World War. In the Census Bureau's 2024 survey, 35.3 percent of St. Louis Park's homes and 33.8 percent of Golden Valley's were built between 1940 and 1959, and their median build years are 1965 and 1966. Edina is a little later and more mixed, with a median of 1971, about 8 percent of homes from before 1940 and nearly 23 percent from the postwar years. Hopkins comes in at 1973.
A typical house from those decades has one brick chimney with a fireplace flue and a furnace flue side by side. Gas heats 71 to 79 percent of homes in Edina, St. Louis Park and Golden Valley. Hopkins is the exception at 58 percent, because about a third of its homes heat with electricity and fewer than a third are detached single-family houses.
When the furnace moves out of the chimney
Many West Metro owners have replaced the original furnace with a high-efficiency model that vents through a plastic pipe in the side wall. That leaves the water heater as the only appliance in a masonry flue sized for both, and a small appliance in a big cold flue cannot keep it warm. The exhaust cools, condenses and drips back down.
The fuel gas code adopted in Minnesota says that when an appliance is permanently disconnected from a chimney, the chimney must be resized as needed to control flue gas condensation. Minn. R. 1346.5501 adds that a masonry chimney venting gas appliances needs a metal liner. In practice that usually means an aluminum or stainless liner sized to the water heater alone.
- Flue check for furnace and water heater: free
- Aluminum liner for gas appliances only: $625 – $2,250
- Stainless steel liner, installed: $900 – $3,800
Rambler chimneys at 70-plus years
After seven decades of Minnesota weather, the mortar joints near the top of a postwar chimney often turn sandy, and a crown that was poured flat or thin tends to crack across. Tuckpointing those top courses runs $500 – $2,500, and a new crown runs $1,000 – $3,000, built sloped with a drip edge as the current Minnesota Residential Code describes.
Many of these houses also have a fireplace that has not been used in years. Before you light it, have the flue looked at for animal nests, fallen tile and a stuck damper. NFPA 211 calls for chimneys, fireplaces and vents to be inspected at least once a year.
Carbon monoxide alarms and apartment buildings
Minnesota Statute 299F.51 requires an approved, working carbon monoxide alarm within 10 feet of every room used for sleeping, in single-family homes and in every unit of a multifamily building, where the owner installs and replaces them. In November 2025 Golden Valley reminded residents that carbon monoxide has no color, smell or taste and that headache, nausea and ringing in the ears are reasons to get outside and call for help.
If you smell gas, leave the house first, then call 911 and your gas utility from outside.
FAQ
West Metro questions
We switched to a high-efficiency furnace. Does the water heater flue need work?
Often, yes. The fuel gas code adopted in Minnesota calls for a chimney to be resized when an appliance is disconnected from it, so the remaining flue does not fill with condensation. We check the draft and the flue at the free inspection and tell you whether a liner sized to the water heater is needed.
Is it an ice dam or a chimney leak?
Location usually tells. The University of Minnesota Extension explains that ice dams form when heat escaping into the attic melts roof snow that refreezes at the cold eave, and it names frequent fireplace and wood stove use as one source of that heat. Water at the eaves points to an ice dam; water around the chimney in any thaw points to the crown or flashing.
How do I know if my rambler's chimney is lined?
From the roof you can sometimes see a clay tile or a metal pipe at the top of each flue, but cracks and gaps are inside. We look up each flue at the free inspection, and if a hidden problem is suspected, a camera scan is priced at that visit.
Who is responsible for CO alarms in a Hopkins apartment?
Under Minn. Stat. 299F.51, the owner of a multifamily building installs the alarms and replaces missing or disabled ones, and the occupant keeps them in working order. Each alarm must be within 10 feet of every room used for sleeping.
Book online
Choose a day. We'll bring the ladder.
Free inspection in a 3-hour arrival window: 8 to 11, 11 to 2, or 2 to 5, Sunday through Friday. We phone to confirm before we come.