Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
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.
Fast, Reliable Fireplace Repair Across Druid Hills
A fireplace repair in Druid Hills usually runs between $165 and $900 depending on what’s failing, with flue relining and firebox rebuilds at the higher end. Most jobs we handle in this neighborhood are on century-old chimneys that were never designed for the way we use them today. If you’re seeing smoke drift back into the room, noticing crumbling mortar on the hearth, or smelling something sharp and acrid when you light a fire, call (678) 263-7908 and we’ll send a tech who knows exactly what these historic Druid Hills flues need.
We’ve been at this since 2002, and the homes of Druid Hills are unlike anything in the newer Atlanta suburbs. These aren’t cookie-cutter flues. They’re hand-laid masonry stacks from the 1910s and 1920s, original clay-tile liners if they have liners at all, and they demand a repair approach that respects what’s there while stopping the actual problem. That’s what we do, and we put the price in writing before the first tool comes off the van.
Why Ashby Chimney Atlanta Is Druid Hills’s Preferred Fireplace Repair Company
Druid Hills homeowners keep our number saved because we answer the phone at 7 a.m. and at midnight. A live person picks up, every time, 24/7. You tell us what’s happening, we schedule a window, and a background-checked uniformed technician shows up in that window. Nobody’s surprised when we knock.
Our crews work these streets regularly, from the stretch along Ponce de Leon Avenue down to the quieter blocks near Fernbank Forest and the Emory campus. We know what a limestone-framed Craftsman fireplace looks like on the inside. We know that many original Druid Hills chimneys have a clay-tile flue that’s been silently cracking for decades. And we know better than to recommend a single repair without camera footage you can watch with your own eyes. That’s the Kingswell Way: say the price, show up in the window, leave it cleaner, put the guarantee in writing, and come back if it fails.
Every repair gets a written guarantee. If a covered repair fails inside the guarantee period, we return and correct it at no charge. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s not an add-on. It’s just how we’ve operated since Nathan Corliss started this company more than two decades ago.
Styles & brands we work with
Fireplace Insert Installation in Druid Hills
Fireplace insert installation in Druid Hills is the single most common upgrade we handle for owners of these old homes, and it usually runs $2,800 to $6,200 when we’re working inside an existing masonry opening. The job is pretty direct: we remove the old firebox components worth removing, evaluate the flue condition with a camera, install the insert, run a proper liner if the original clay-tile flue is cracked or unlined, and confirm the draft with a smoke test. What makes Druid Hills different is that many of these fireplaces were built for coal or cordwood, not for sealed combustion units, so the flue sizing and liner condition determine whether the install is straightforward or needs a HeatShield resurfacing.
What an insert can do for a century-old firebox
An insert changes an open fireplace from a heat-losing feature into a real heating appliance. In a Prairie or Colonial Revival home where the original firebox is decades past efficient operation, an insert recovers heat that would otherwise vanish up the stack. We size the liner to the insert spec, not to whatever happens to be sitting in the flue, because a modern appliance vented through a deteriorating 1920s clay-tile flue is exactly the kind of setup that causes problems nobody sees until there’s smoke or worse.
What the job includes
You get a written price before any work starts. We include the liner inspection, the installation, any masonry-to-liner sealing that’s needed, and a final draft verification. If the original damper assembly needs modification to accommodate the liner, we tell you that before we touch it, because on these ornate old fireplaces we’re careful about what we cut.
Gas Fireplace Installation in Druid Hills
Gas fireplace installation in Druid Hills typically costs $2,400 to $5,800 depending on whether it’s a direct-vent insert into an existing firebox, a vent-free unit, or a full gas log set conversion with new valving. The critical piece on these old homes, and the piece we won’t skip, is the flue and chimney condition. You cannot safely vent a gas appliance into a flue that’s been cracked by decades of Atlanta’s thermal cycling, because the combustion gases will find those cracks before they find the chimney cap.
Venting through an old flue
If the original clay-tile flue is intact and sized correctly, a direct-vent gas insert usually works with a properly installed stainless liner. Where we regularly see trouble is when a previous owner vented a modern gas unit into an unlined or partially lined chimney. The flue was never rated for that appliance. Our camera inspection shows you what’s actually in there before we quote you a liner conversion. We use materials from Olympia Chimney and Copperfield for liner work, and we run the sizes by the appliance manufacturer’s spec, not a guess.
Pilot and valve service
Gas logs and inserts that won’t stay lit in Druid Hills are usually not the logs. They’re the pilot assembly, the thermopile, or the gas valve itself. We carry common pilot assemblies and thermopiles for most major brands, so a diagnosis on a Tuesday doesn’t mean a fix the following week. If the valve is the issue and it’s under manufacturer warranty, we handle the warranty claim for you.
Trusted Brands We Service in Druid Hills
We work on gas logs, inserts, and stoves from a range of brands including HeatShield, Gelco, Olympia Chimney, and Famco. Because we serve Druid Hills and the surrounding Atlanta neighborhoods every week, we stock the repair parts our techs actually use: replacement dampers, refractory panels, pilot assemblies, thermocouples, and clay-tile flue materials. When a repair calls for a brand-specific component, we source it from our chimney-trade suppliers so you’re not waiting on a backordered part from a big-box retailer. And we’ll show you the product before we install it.
Common Fireplace Repair Problems We See in Druid Hills Homes
- Cracked clay-tile flue liners. The original flues in these century-old homes crack under decades of Atlanta’s freeze-thaw cycles, which lets carbon monoxide and creosote migrate into the masonry. We see this constantly in the Craftsman and Prairie homes along Fairview Road and Lullwater Road.
- Deteriorating lime-based mortar joints. Original mortar on ornate brick and stone chimneys spalls and crumbles, and those open joints let water in through the crown and cap. That water stains plaster near the firebox and accelerates the damage every winter.
- Unlined flues venting modern appliances. Many Druid Hills fireplaces were built before flue liners were standard. When someone later installed a gas insert or upgraded the log burner, the unlined flue got asked to do a job it was never rated for.
- Damper failures on original throat dampers. These old cast-iron dampers warp, rust through, or the handle chain lets go. A damper that won’t fully close sends your conditioned air up the chimney all winter, which is not a small thing on a humid Atlanta day.
See the difference
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After
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AfterPricing for Fireplace Repair in Druid Hills, GA
Most fireplace repairs in Druid Hills run between $165 and $900. Damper replacements and pilot light repairs sit at the low end, usually $165 to $450. Firebox repointing and refractory panel replacement run $400 to $900. Flue relining with HeatShield resurfacing is $2,200 to $4,500 on most original Druid Hills chimneys, and full insert installations with liner work start around $2,400. The condition of your original flue drives more of the quote than anything else, which is exactly why we put a camera in the chimney before we put a number on the table. Your estimate is free. Call (678) 263-7908 and we’ll schedule a time that works.
We Also Serve Cities Near Druid Hills
Our crews cover the surrounding metro from the same scheduling office, so if you’re in Atlanta, Dunwoody, North Atlanta, or East Point, you’re within our regular route. For a deeper look at what’s involved on this type of job, see our Fireplace Repair page or the Druid Hills service area details.
Serving Druid Hills, GA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Druid Hills 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 Fireplace Repair in Druid Hills
You can’t tell by looking, and anyone who says otherwise is guessing. The only way to know if the original clay-tile flue in a Druid Hills chimney is safe is a camera inspection that shows the full length of the liner, plus a visual check of the firebox, the smoke chamber, and the exterior masonry. Cracked tiles let combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, escape into the walls and ceiling cavities. If you’ve never had the flue inspected, odds are it needs at least spot repair after a century of thermal cycling. Call (678) 263-7908 and we’ll run the camera and show you exactly what we see.
Yes. The original clay-tile flues and lime-based mortars in Druid Hills homes require repair methods that are gentler and more compatible than what you’d use on a newer frame construction chimney. We use masonry materials that move with the old brick, not rigid cement-based patches that crack again. That’s why you won’t see us repoint an original 1920s stack with a bag of hardware-store mortar. We match the material, and we photograph everything before and after so you can see the method, not just the invoice.
In most cases, yes. If the existing masonry opening is structurally sound and properly sized, a direct-vent gas insert goes in with a correctly lined flue. We won’t quote you a rebuild just because the firebox looks old. Our camera shows us what’s actually failing, and we give you a repair plan that addresses those failures, not a full reconstruction of a chimney that might only need a resurfaced liner and a new damper. If a full rebuild genuinely is required, we’ll show you why on-screen.
Because the damage to these old Druid Hills chimneys happens year-round, not only during burning season. Atlanta’s rain and freeze-thaw cycles push moisture into the masonry, and that moisture expands when it freezes, cracking tiles and mortar joints even if you never light a fire. Animals also move in. We regularly find squirrel and raccoon nests in unused fireplaces across Druid Hills, and that’s a blockage you won’t notice until you do light a fire. An annual inspection finds those problems when they’re small and cheap to fix.
That’s exactly how we evaluate every recommendation. Nathan Corliss built this company on showing the work before asking for the work, and that means you see the cracked tile or the missing refractory panel on camera before we ever hand you a quote. Nothing gets recommended that you can’t see and understand. If you hear from another contractor that your Druid Hills chimney “definitely needs” something but they won’t show you why, get a second look. Our estimate is free, and the camera footage is yours to see.
Call Ashby Chimney Atlanta for Fireplace Repair in Druid Hills
If your Druid Hills fireplace is smoking, smelling, or just hasn’t been checked in longer than you can remember, call (678) 263-7908. We’ll answer, schedule a real arrival window, and send a background-checked technician in uniform who treats your historic home with the care it asks for. You’ll get a written price before any work starts, and a written guarantee on every repair. That’s the Kingswell Guarantee, and it’s been our way since 2002.
Written by Nathan Corliss, Owner at Ashby Chimney Atlanta.