Level 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.
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AfterFast, Reliable Fireplace Services Across Tempe
Fireplace service in Tempe isn’t about heavy creosote removal the way it is in Flagstaff or Prescott. It’s about what happens when a chimney sits idle for nine months in 110-degree heat. Roof rats move in. Haboob dust packs the flue liner. Dampers seize. The good news is that almost all of it is fixable, and most Tempe jobs run $180 to $450 when the issue is caught before a firebox or liner fails. We’re Emberly Chimney Cleaners, and we’ve been documenting chimney conditions with camera scans since 2009. That’s 38,000-plus inspections, every one with a written price before work starts. Call (980) 580-8641 and we’ll schedule a visit to your Tempe home.
Our Fireplace Services team works Tempe neighborhoods every week, from the ASU-adjacent grid streets to the foothills of South Tempe. Dispatch comes out of our Phoenix office, but the crews, the trucks, and the parts inventory are local to the Valley.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Why Emberly Chimney Cleaners Is Tempe’s Preferred Fireplace Services Company
Tempe homeowners tend to research before they call. They read the three-star reviews. They want to see the problem, not hear a sales pitch about it. That’s exactly how we operate. We run a camera down the flue, show you the footage on the spot, and hand you a written scope with a written price before anything gets taken apart. No “we’ll let you know after we open it up.” No “this could run you somewhere between.” Clause 1 of the Haven Standard says it plainly: Have it in writing.
Our techs know the difference between Class III creosote, which coats flue walls as a thick, tarry glaze after years of green-wood fires, and the fine silt that haboobs drive into a flue through a failing chimney cap. They know that a 1960s ranch near Escalante likely has a clay-tile liner that’s been thermally cycled for 60 years, and that a gas fireplace insert in a 1990s Arrowhead Ranch home might have been vented into a stack that was never sized for it. They also know that a roof-rat nest in an idle chimney is often the first sign of a rodent highway into the attic, not just a messy flue.
Every Tempe customer gets the same record: camera footage, still photos, written scope, written warranty. We’ve been doing the photo-record practice since 2009, years before insurers or regulators started asking for it. That practice became Clause 4 of the Haven Standard. If it’s not done right, we make it right. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s stamped on every job we do in Tempe.
Our Fireplace Services Services in Tempe
Gas Fireplace Service
Gas fireplaces in Tempe get used maybe eight to twelve times a year, usually between Thanksgiving and late February. That’s still enough cycling for burner ports to clog with dust, thermocouples to fail, and glass assemblies to accumulate a milky film that won’t burn off. We service the burner, valve, log set, and ignition system, and we check that the unit is venting correctly into the flue. A gas fireplace service in Tempe typically runs $150 to $300, depending on the unit’s age and whether the pilot assembly needs replacement.
Wood Burning Fireplace
Most wood-burning fireplaces in Tempe are masonry units built in the 1950s through 1970s, when the city’s ranch tracts went up around ASU. The fireboxes and clay-tile liners in these original stacks have been through decades of thermal cycling, extreme summer heat against rare winter freezes. We inspect the firebox refractory panels for cracks, check the smoke chamber for sediment and animal debris, and scope the flue liner for gaps or spalling, which is when the clay material chips and flakes apart, exposing the masonry behind it. A cleaning and camera inspection on a standard Tempe wood fireplace runs $180 to $280.
Fireplace Insert
Fireplace inserts, whether gas or wood, are popular in Tempe because they turn a drafty, inefficient original fireplace into a sealed, high-efficiency heat source, which matters when the desert night drops into the 30s. But the insert is only as good as the flue it’s vented into. Many older Tempe homes have inserts installed without a properly sized liner, which creates a carbon monoxide risk and a drafting problem. We install and service inserts from Copperfield and other manufacturers, and we always verify liner integrity with a camera scan before connecting or reconnecting an insert. Insert installation in Tempe typically runs $2,800 to $5,500, and liner replacement adds another $1,200 to $2,400 depending on flue size and complexity.
Damper Repair
This is the single most common repair we do in Tempe. Haboob season runs roughly July through September, and those storms drive ultra-fine desert dust deep into flue liners and onto damper blades. Add a little monsoon humidity and you get a seized, rusted damper that won’t open or close. A seized damper isn’t just a nuisance; it’s an energy leak and an open invitation to roof rats. Damper repair or replacement in Tempe runs $140 to $320, and we carry Famco dampers in the truck because they hold up better to desert conditions than bottom-shelf hardware.
BeforeAfterTrusted Brands We Service in Tempe
We service gas and wood fireplaces, inserts, and dampers from most major manufacturers, including Copperfield, DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco. Because we’re servicing Tempe homes weekly, we keep common replacement parts, damper blades, chimney caps, and refractory panels stocked locally rather than ordering everything out of a warehouse. That means less waiting when the fix is straightforward. When the fix requires a liner repair or resurfacing, we use HeatShield or a DuraFlex liner, depending on the flue’s condition and the type of appliance you’re venting. Materials are procured through Haven’s buying network, which keeps prices in line rather than marked up twice on the way to your door.
Common Fireplace Services Problems We See in Tempe Homes
- Roof-rat intrusion in idle chimneys. This is the big one in Tempe, especially in the high-density rental housing near ASU and the older neighborhoods like Maple-Ash. A chimney that hasn’t had a fire in years becomes a nesting site and an entry point. We routinely open cleanouts and find them packed with nesting material and droppings. The homeowner assumed no fires meant no problem.
- Haboob dust packing the flue and smoke shelf. Monsoon storms drive ultra-fine particulate deep into chimneys through failing caps, settling onto dampers and smoke shelves as a sediment that has nothing to do with combustion. This cakes and hardens, causing dampers to seize and draft problems when the fireplace does get used.
- Thermal-cycling damage to original fireboxes. Tempe’s core neighborhoods, the 1950s through 1970s ranch tracts around Escalante and the ASU-adjacent grid, were built with masonry fireplaces that have endured decades of 110-degree summers and rare winter freezes. The firebox refractory panels crack, mortar joints loosen, and the firebox floor can pit or slump.
- Chimney caps warped or rusted out by desert heat and monsoon storms. A standard galvanized cap can warp or rust within two monsoon seasons here. When it fails, the flue is open to everything: roof rats, birds, haboob dust, rain. We recommend desert-rated caps, and we won’t install a cap that’s going to fail on you in 18 months.
Pricing for Fireplace Services in Tempe, AZ
Here’s what you should expect to pay in Tempe. A gas fireplace service runs $150 to $300. A wood fireplace cleaning and camera inspection runs $180 to $280. Damper repair or replacement runs $140 to $320. Firebox repair, depending on the extent of the refractory panel damage, runs $400 to $1,200. A full chimney cap replacement with a desert-rated cap runs $300 to $600 installed. Fireplace insert installation runs $2,800 to $5,500, not including any liner work, which adds $1,200 to $2,400 if the flue needs a new liner. Every quote is written, with a written scope and written warranty, before work starts. Every job includes a documented photo record. Call (980) 580-8641 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Tempe
Our crews cover Tempe and the surrounding Valley cities, including Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, and Scottsdale. If you’re in one of those cities and need fireplace service, the same written-price, camera-documented approach applies. Call (980) 580-8641 to schedule.
Serving Tempe, AZ - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Tempe 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 - Fireplace Services in Tempe
Yes, and in Tempe this is one of the most common calls we get. Roof rats enter through chimney caps that have warped or rusted out, then climb down the flue and into the attic through gaps in the damper assembly. We regularly open cleanouts in idle chimneys near ASU and find them packed with nesting material and droppings. The fix is a camera scan to confirm the entry path, removal of all debris, a new desert-rated chimney cap, and a damper that actually seals. Call (980) 580-8641 for an inspection.
Yes. Haboob dust is ultra-fine, finer than the sediment you’d see in a normal house, and monsoon winds drive it deep into flue liners and onto damper blades through any gap in the chimney cap. Over a season or two it cakes and hardens, seizing dampers and creating a dust shelf on the smoke shelf that can cause backdrafting if the fireplace is ever lit. We see it on almost every Tempe inspection we do between September and December.
If your house was built between the 1950s and 1980s in one of Tempe’s original ranch tracts, it almost certainly has a clay-tile flue liner unless someone already replaced it. Clay tiles were the standard for decades. After 50 or 60 years of desert thermal cycling, those tiles spall, meaning they chip and flake apart at the joints. The only way to know for sure is a camera scan. We show you the footage, point to the gaps if they’re there, and tell you plainly whether it needs repair or can safely wait. Nothing gets recommended without that evidence.
Yes. Rusted and seized dampers are one of the most common repairs we make in Tempe. The old damper gets removed, the throat is cleaned, and a new damper, usually a Famco top-sealing damper, gets installed. Top-sealing dampers seal tight at the top of the flue, which shuts out roof rats, haboob dust, and the huge temperature swings that wreck traditional dampers. This repair runs $140 to $320 in Tempe and takes one visit.
Yes, because an idle chimney in Tempe is not an empty chimney. It’s a habitat. Roof rats and cavity-nesting birds use unused flues as entry points into attics and walls, and the damage from that can run into thousands of dollars in insulation replacement and rewiring. An inspection with a camera scan costs $180 to $280, gives you a documented record for your rental file, and tells you whether the chimney is sealed or serving as a rodent highway. For rental owners in Tempe, that’s cheap insurance. Call (980) 580-8641 to schedule.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Emberly Chimney Cleaners, serving Tempe under the Haven Standard since 2009.