Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Chimney Company in South Pasadena, CA
Chimney repair in South Pasadena usually means working on a 1910s Craftsman or 1920s Spanish Colonial chimney that hasn’t been touched in decades. We spend most of our time on aging clay flue liners, cracked crowns, and mortar joints that the Santa Ana winds have dried out year after year. Imperial Chimney has served South Pasadena since 2017, and we handle the full arc: sweeping, structural repair, and liner restoration without handing the job to another contractor. If you’re seeing crumbling brick or water stains around the fireplace, call (866) 253-3809 and we’ll tell you exactly what’s going on before any work begins.
Why South Pasadena Homes Are Different
South Pasadena’s housing stock is dominated by 1900 – 1940 Craftsman bungalows, Spanish Colonial Revivals, and Tudor-style homes, most of them in the 91030 and 91031 ZIP codes. The chimneys on these houses were built before modern flue liner standards existed. Many have original clay tile liners, or no liner at all, and the fireboxes are parged with a thin mortar skim that’s now a century old. Along the Mission Street corridor especially, we’re called out to fix the same three things every fall: spalling brick from moisture intrusion, mortar caps that have crumbled into the flue, and dampers rusted shut from decades of disuse. The city’s historic-preservation review means exterior repairs often have to match the original brickwork color and profile, so patching isn’t a quick smear job if you want it to pass. And because South Pasadena sits right along the 110/Arroyo Seco corridor, we’re rarely doing new-construction installs here. The calls are about rescuing what’s already standing.
The climate does its own work too. Warm, dry summers and Santa Ana wind events pull moisture from mortar until it turns to dust, and glazed creosote hardens to a tar-like coating that a standard brush won’t move. Then the winter rains and marine layer push water into the old crowns and flue tiles, and the cycle repeats. Mature street trees drop leaves, twigs, and nests into caps and screens, especially around the bungalow blocks off Fremont. South Pasadena homeowners tend to call us in September and October, wanting the sweep and inspection booked before fire season rather than after.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Main South Pasadena Services
Most South Pasadena calls come in for two services: the annual chimney sweep and dryer vent cleaning. Both are fire-safety work, and both matter more in older homes with original venting.
Chimney Sweep in South Pasadena
A chimney sweep in South Pasadena on a 1920s fireplace means more than running a brush. We’re looking at the flue condition, the damper operation, and whether birds have packed a nest down to the smoke shelf, which happens constantly under the mature trees off Mission and Fremont. Because these houses predate modern crowns and screens, we routinely pull out leaves, nests, and chunks of mortar along with creosote. We document everything with photos so you can see the condition before and after. Chimney Sweep in South Pasadena is the page that covers our process, pricing, and what the inspection includes.
Dryer Vent Cleaning in South Pasadena
Dryer vent cleaning matters in South Pasadena because the same vintage homes that have original chimneys usually have original laundry rooms tucked into the back of the house with long, narrow vent runs. Those runs collect lint fast, and per NFPA data, dryer vents are the leading appliance-related house fire cause. We clean the full run, verify airflow, and flag any venting that’s been pieced together incorrectly over the decades. Dryer Vent Cleaning in South Pasadena explains what we find in these older homes and why airflow testing is part of every visit.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Chimney Repair in South Pasadena
Chimney repair in South Pasadena is usually about water damage and age. The 1900 – 1940 housing stock here means clay flue liners are cracked or missing entirely, mortar crowns have crumbled, and flashing at the roofline has pulled away after ninety years of thermal movement. We see the same pattern in 91030 and 91031: water gets in through a failed crown, saturates the brick, and then the Santa Ana winds freeze-dry it until the face of the brick spalls off. Chimney Repair is our main hub page if you want the full scope of what we handle. On this page, we’ll cover the South Pasadena specifics.
Chimney Cap Installation
Signs you need it
You look down the flue and see daylight where there shouldn’t be any, or you’ve already pulled two birds’ nests and a squirrel skeleton out of the smoke shelf.
What it costs in South Pasadena
A new chimney cap in South Pasadena typically runs $200 – $600 installed, depending on the flue size and whether we’re fabricating a custom copper or stainless cover for an odd-shaped vintage flue.
How we do it
We measure the flue opening, match a cap in stainless, copper, or galvanized from our stock, and mechanically fasten it so it stays put through Santa Ana gusts.
Chimney Liner Installation
Signs you need it
Your sweep pulls out flue tile shards the size of poker chips, or the fireplace fills the living room with smoke even with the damper wide open.
What it costs in South Pasadena
Liner work here usually lands between $900 and $2,500 depending on whether we’re relining a short single-story bungalow flue or a two-story run with an offset, with stainless and HeatShield resurfacing as the two paths.
How we do it
We camera-scan the flue, show you the footage, then either pull a new stainless liner or apply HeatShield ceramic resurfacing if the masonry structure is still sound.
Chimney Flashing Repair
Signs you need it
You have a water stain on the ceiling next to the chimney, or the roofer flagged rusted, lifted flashing during a roof inspection.
What it costs in South Pasadena
Flashing repair runs $150 – $500 on most South Pasadena homes, less if we can reseal the existing metal, more if we’re cutting in new step flashing to match the original roofline.
How we do it
We pull the old flashing, inspect the underlayment at the roofline, install new step and counter flashing with proper overlap, and seal with a high-temperature exterior sealant that holds through winter rain.
Chimney Crown Repair
Signs you need it
The top of your chimney looks like a cracked concrete driveway, with hairline fractures radiating out from the flue tile.
What it costs in South Pasadena
A crown rebuild on a South Pasadena chimney typically runs $300 – $800, which includes removing the old crown, forming a proper overhang, and using a flexible crown coat that moves with the masonry.
How we do it
We pour a new crown with a drip edge that sheds water away from the brick, then apply a weatherproof crown coat so the same crack doesn’t come back after one rain season.
What Chimney Repair Costs in South Pasadena
| Item | Typical range in South Pasadena |
|---|---|
| Chimney cap installation | $200 – $600 |
| Chimney liner installation or resurfacing | $900 – $2,500 |
| Flashing repair or replacement | $150 – $500 |
| Crown rebuild and coat | $300 – $800 |
Why do South Pasadena chimneys need repair so often?
Most chimneys here are 80 – 120 years old and were built without a proper crown overhang or a modern liner. Dried-out mortar, cracked clay tiles, and water intrusion are normal for that age, especially with the long dry season followed by winter rains.
Can you match original brickwork on a historic South Pasadena home?
Yes. We keep a range of reclaimed and color-matched brick and mortar pigments on hand for 1900s – 1930s masonry, and we’re familiar with the city’s preservation review expectations. Exterior patches are blended to read as original from the street. Call (866) 253-3809 and we’ll tell you what’s possible for your specific brick before we quote a price.
Brands We Service in South Pasadena
We work with trade-level materials rather than retail-grade parts: Gelco caps, Olympia Chimney flue components, Famco venting parts, and Copperfield chase covers. We keep a working stock of common sizes in our truck, so a standard cap replace on a South Pasadena bungalow doesn’t wait on a parts order. Our brands page lists what we stock and why we chose each manufacturer.
See the difference
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AfterPricing for Chimney Company in South Pasadena, CA
| Service | Typical range in South Pasadena |
|---|---|
| Chimney sweep and inspection | $150 – $300 |
| Dryer vent cleaning | $100 – $200 |
| Chimney cap installation | $200 – $600 |
| Chimney liner installation or resurfacing | $900 – $2,500 |
| Flashing repair or replacement | $150 – $500 |
| Crown rebuild and coat | $300 – $800 |
| Firebox repair (minor parging) | $200 – $600 |
| Damper repair or removal | $100 – $300 |
| Chase cover replacement | $150 – $400 |
What pushes price up in South Pasadena is usually access: two-story roofs, steep pitches, chimneys boxed into tight side yards, and historic masonry that needs color-matched material instead of off-the-shelf patch. What doesn’t change is our upfront pricing: you get a written price before work starts, and it doesn’t move unless we find something that genuinely changes the scope, which we’ll show you on camera.
Neighborhoods We Serve in South Pasadena
We work the whole city, but the calls cluster in the historic blocks where the oldest chimneys live:
- Mission Street corridor and the bungalow blocks around it
- The neighborhoods off Fremont Avenue, where street trees drop a lot of debris into caps
- The hillside streets above Monterey Road, where two-story Spanish Colonials need full ladder and roof work
- The vintage homes around Orange Grove and El Centro
- The post-war infill pockets closer to the Alhambra border, where early 1950s flues are hitting their own decline
We typically schedule South Pasadena visits within one to two weeks, though late September and October fill fastest as fire season sharpens everyone’s attention.
Service Area – Cities Near South Pasadena
Our South Pasadena customers often ask if we cover the surrounding cities. We do. We run the same crews into Pasadena, CA and San Marino, CA, where the housing stock is similarly vintage, and into the dense bungalow blocks of Alhambra, CA and San Gabriel, CA. If you’re on the border of one of these, give us a call and we’ll confirm the schedule.
Serving South Pasadena, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the South Pasadena area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Company in South Pasadena
Our standard scheduling runs one to two weeks out from your call, but we hold a few slots each week for chimney emergencies like water pouring through the fireplace or a cap torn off in a wind event. Fall is the busiest window in South Pasadena, so if you want work done before fire season, call in August. The number is (866) 253-3809.
Routine sweeping and cleaning never need a permit. For structural repairs like liner replacement or crown rebuilds on a historic-designated home, the city’s preservation review can require matching materials and documentation. We handle the paperwork on our end and tell you before any work starts whether a review applies to your property.
Clear the area around the fireplace so we can lay down drop cloths and run our camera, and move anything breakable off the hearth. If your chimney is accessed from the roof, we’ll confirm the best ladder route when we schedule. Nothing else is needed; we bring all our own equipment and clean up fully before we leave.
Home | Chimney Sweep in South Pasadena | Dryer Vent Cleaning in South Pasadena | Chimney Repair | Our Brands
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees — talk to a local chimney cleaning pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3We come out and measureLicensed & insured, at a time that suits you — the visit and the quote are both free.
- 4You get the price in writingLine-itemed, yours to keep, and nothing starts until you say go.
What South Pasadena Customers Say
"Good work. The written inspection report took about a week to arrive after I asked for it, which was slower than I expected."
— Christine Lin"Thorough sweep and a clear report. He was running late from the job before and arrived near the end of the window, though he did call to warn me."
— Shannon Hoffman"Level two inspection before we bought the house. The report was detailed enough to use as a negotiating point and he explained every photo in it."
— Stephanie Meyer