You can feel it in the air. Winter is coming. Cold weather is nearly upon us. You’ve got to be ready.
That means making sure your chimney and fireplace are in good working order – and that means hiring JCS Home Services as your chimney repair technicians in Fairfax VA.
Chimneys are great – when they work. When they’re in disrepair, however, they’re a real hazard. Keep fire in the fireplace and keep water and other harmful agents out of the chimney . . . and keep an eye out for these signs of potential problems:
Strange Odors Coming from the Fireplace
It’s normal for the smell of soot to waft out from your chimney and fireplace system. It’s not normal for the smell to be strong, or for it to persist after the chimney hasn’t been used in a while. Unpleasant scents should be directed up and out of the chimney. If you can sense them in your living room, you should call JCS Home Services for chimney inspections and repairs.
White Stains Visible on Chimney Exterior
White stains, also known as efflorescence, is the amassing of salt from your chimney masonry. It’s simple to clean – but that’s not the point. The point is that those stains indicate a moisture issue . . . and a potentially serious one. Moisture is very harmful to a chimney and requires a consultation with the professionals at JCS Home Services to rectify.
Fireplace and Firebox Issues
The masonry that comprises your fireplace and the internal firebox has an important job: It regulates heat, keeping flames inside while allowing energy to escape outside. To do this job, the fireplace inserts must be up to snuff. If you see wear-and-tear on the bricks or masonry, or if you detect rust on the damper, there could be issues with moisture getting into the fireplace and harming the protective bricks. JCS Home Services can help eliminate those concerns.
Spalling Bricks
When bricks fall off your chimney, that’s called “spalling,” and it’s obviously not a good thing. It indicates that excessive moisture has entered your chimney and cleaved off pieces of the masonry. The result is a weakened structure and a damaged chimney, which is an alarming hazard. If your chimney’s bricks are spalling, it’s definitely time to put JCS Home Services on the case.
Shaling Flue Tiles
Shaling is the interior version of spalling. Like bricks, flue tiles aren’t meant to fall off and land in your fireplace – but if they do, it’s indicative of a serious problem involving your chimney’s flue liner. The flue liner is meant to protect against fire spreading, so a damaged or deteriorating flue liner is an unacceptable fire risk. If you think your chimney’s flue tiles are shaling, call JCS Home Services.
When it’s something as important as a chimney, experience counts.
JCS Home Services was formally founded in 2011 and officially incorporated as a business in 2012, but that doesn’t tell the story of our vast experience in chimney cleaning and chimney maintenance. Our techs have been cleaning, maintaining, and repairing chimneys in Fairfax VA for far longer.
Who do you want conducting your chimney inspections, or performing your chimney repairs? Some newbie company just starting out? Or a veteran chimney technician who’s been there, done that, and seen it all before? Obviously, the one you want to let up on your rooftop chimney is the company that knows their way around chimney systems: JCS Home Services.
Winter is coming. Don’t trust your chimney repairs to some unknown quantity. Rely on the experience of JCS Home Services to fix your home’s chimney . . . the right way . . . the first time.
Proper maintenance reduces possible dangers. Go to the Services tab at the top of this webpage and click on Chimney Maintenance Services. The page that awaits you tells the story of our comprehensive suite of chimney services – everything you need to get ready for the coming winter.
Chimney Inspections
We provide two levels of chimney inspections, creatively named Level One and Level Two.
In a Level One inspection, the JCS chimney tech visually inspects all readily accessible areas of your chimney system, including the outer hearth, inner hearth, firebox, throat, smoke chamber, and flue, as well as the chimney’s exterior walls. Level One chimney inspections are standard with every chimney cleaning or chimney repair job we do.
A Level Two inspection goes deeper, however, using a video camera to investigate your chimney for cracks and gaps that a mere visual inspection might miss. Additionally, a Level Two chimney inspection produces a written report detailing the JCS tech’s findings.
Chimney Cleaning
JCS Home Services is a proud member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild and as such, we’re held to a higher standard than many local chimney sweeps in Fairfax VA. As professional rooftop chimney sweeps, we take chimney cleaning very seriously, going above and beyond to ensure a clean chimney worthy of our status. See our quality work by our qualified technicians for yourself.
Chimney Caps & Chimney Crown Installation & Replacement
Your rooftop chimney requires attention up top in addition to down below. Up on the roof, your chimney has a cap which keeps precipitation from getting into the chimney and harming the masonry – which, obviously, can lead to the need for masonry repairs. The chimney cap also serves the function of keeping flames contained to the fireplace (also pretty important) and keeps burrowing animals like squirrels, birds, and racoons from seeking shelter in your chimney.
JCS Home Services can install a new rooftop chimney cap or replace the existing one, keeping what belongs in your chimney in, and what doesn’t belong out.
Your chimney crown, also known as a chase top or wash, directs precipitation away from the chimney flue. Crowns are typically sealed to the top of the chimney, providing a firm barrier against harmful intrusive water leaks. JCS Home Services offers crown inspection and installation, so we can inspect and replace the equipment that protects your chimney the most.
Pressure Washing
At JCS Home Services, we believe your chimney should look as good as it performs. That’s why we offer highly effective pressure washing of exterior masonry work, so that the outside of your chimney appears spic-and-span while the inside does its job keeping your house warm.
JCS Home Services has developed a sterling reputation among satisfied customers as an honest, trustworthy, no-nonsense local chimney sweeping and chimney repairing business doing a great job at a fair price. Our approach is straightforward: We listen to the customer’s needs, thoroughly examine the job at hand, and set expectations with thorough communication. Basically, we say what we mean and mean what we say . . . and we always take the customer’s perspective into account.
It works – at least, judging from the abundance of 5-star reviews for JCS Home Services posted to review sites around the Internet, such as Angi, Yelp, Google, Houzz, and Consumers’ Checkbook.
Customers gush about our “prompt and friendly service,” rave about our professionalism and punctuality, and praise our courtesy, competence, and reliability. They talk about how we explain things very thoroughly, and about how they would “definitely recommend.” We really appreciate that.
Work with JCS Home Services as your rooftop chimney sweeps and chimney repair technicians, and hopefully we’ll give you good reason to post your own 5-star review.
We’re a true hometown small business. JCS Home Services is a Northern Virginia company founded and operated by NoVA locals who know the highways and neighborhoods of the Northern Virginia area because we’re from here.
Our service area includes all of Fairfax County, from Great Falls to Falls Church and Annandale to Centreville and every place in between. We go to Reston, McLean, Burke, Lorton, Alexandria, and Tysons Corner VA to perform chimney inspections, chimney cleaning, and chimney repairs – and we can come to your home in Fairfax VA too.
Winter is coming. Be ready. Put JCS Home Services to work on your chimney.
It’s easy to hire JCS. Just give us a call or send us a message!
Don’t get caught out in the cold this winter. Your Northern Virginia chimney repair company is JCS Home Services of Fairfax VA.
JCS Home Services
172 Imboden Dr #18
Winchester, VA 22603
(540) 215-8425
customerservice@jcs-homeservices.com
JCS Home Services
Sterling, VA 20165
(571) 299-9389
customerservice@jcs-homeservices.com
JCS Home Services
Berryville, VA 22611
(540) 254-5044
customerservice@jcs-homeservices.com