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.
Gelco Chimney Cleaning in Florence-Graham, CA | San Bernardino Chimney Sweep
We provide independent Gelco chimney cleaning and repair across Florence-Graham, with service built around the reality of this community’s older, tightly packed housing stock. Most Gelco units we see here sit in 1920s – 1950s bungalows or duplexes where the flue hasn’t been touched in years, and the job is rarely a simple sweep. It’s an access job, an inspection job, and often a cap or damper repair job all at once. Call (877) 516-7159 for a free estimate and we’ll tell you exactly what your Gelco fireplace needs.
Why Florence-Graham Residents Choose Us for Gelco Service
We’ve worked on Gelco factory-built fireplaces and inserts for years, and we know how these units age in South LA’s specific conditions. The damper frames, the chase covers, the cap screens. Gelco built a solid box, but decades of dry heat, Santa Ana grit, and idle flues take a toll that shows up in predictable ways. When a Florence-Graham landlord calls us about a smoking Gelco fireplace, we usually know what we’ll find before we climb the ladder.
Allen Prescott, our owner, grew up near the Kendall Drive corridor in San Bernardino and spent the better part of three decades working on Inland Empire and South LA chimneys before narrowing his focus to chimney maintenance and venting safety. He’ll tell you plainly what he found in your flue, why it matters, and what actually needs doing versus what can wait. That straight talk matters in Florence-Graham, where cost-sensitive landlords and homeowners don’t want a scare pitch. They want an honest assessment and a fixed fireplace.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Gelco Chimney Cleaning Problems We Solve in Florence-Graham
- Idle flues packed with bird and squirrel nesting material. Florence-Graham’s mild climate means fireplaces sit unused most of the year. Birds and squirrels move in. The first cold-night burn smokes back into the room instead of drawing. We pull the nests, sweep the flue, and get the draft working before you light anything.
- Original Gelco caps and screens that have failed after years of sun and grit. The mounting bolts rust, the sealant cracks, and suddenly rain and pests have a direct path into the chase. On a duplex off Graham Ave, a landlord called us before a new tenant moved in because the last renter complained of smoke rolling into the living room. Our tech pulled a packed bird nest and years of leaf debris out of the Gelco flue, found the original cap missing its screen and half its mounting bolts, and reset the flue with a properly anchored replacement cap before sweeping the firebox. The unit drew clean on the first test burn, and we left the landlord photos of the flue and cap for the County file.
- Cracked crowns and spalled mortar on the brick chimneys these Gelco units sit in. Decades of deferred maintenance on 1920s – 1950s bungalows went unrepaired. Seismic shaking from the region’s earthquake history didn’t help. We point the mortar, stabilize the crown, and make sure the Gelco unit isn’t compromised by the masonry around it.
- Rusted or seized dampers on Gelco fireboxes that haven’t been operated since the last tenant. A damper that won’t open or close properly makes the fireplace unusable or dangerous. We free them up when possible and replace the damper assembly when the metal’s too far gone.
- Odd flue and chase configurations from converted garages and additions. Florence-Graham’s small lots push people to convert space, and that sometimes creates flue paths that complicate a standard sweep. We’ve worked enough of these to know what to expect and how to clean them thoroughly without damaging the chase.
Gelco Service in Florence-Graham: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Florence-Graham is unincorporated LA County land, not City of LA, so chimney and cap work here answers to County building jurisdiction, not the city’s. On a lot packed with a 1920s bungalow sitting inches from the neighbor’s roofline, that means permit-ready documentation of the flue and cap condition matters as much as the sweep itself. Landlords especially need photos and written findings they can file, because a tenant complaint or a County inspection can turn on whether there’s a record that the flue was actually checked.
This also shapes how we approach Gelco service here. It’s not enough to run a brush up the flue and call it done. We’re documenting the condition of the cap, the chase, the damper, and the firebox because that record protects the property owner. A Gelco unit that draws clean today but has a failing cap screen will be a smoke problem and a pest problem by next season. We catch that early and tell you what’s actually needed, not what’s convenient to sell.
Gelco Models & Products We Service in Florence-Graham
We service the Gelco factory-built wood-burning fireplaces with metal chases and top-mounted caps that are common in older South LA homes. We also work on Gelco inserts set into original masonry fireboxes, Gelco multi-flue chimney cap and screen assemblies, and Gelco gas log sets installed in older fireboxes. For parts, we fit OEM-equivalent Gelco caps, screens, dampers, and firebox components where the original profile matters, and quality aftermarket parts where they hold up better in this climate. If a firebox or chase is structurally sound, we repair it. If the metal has rusted through or the refractory is failing, we tell you straight instead of patching it twice. We work on Gelco systems as an independent shop, not as the manufacturer or its agent. For more about how we approach Gelco sales & service, see our dedicated Gelco page.
See the difference
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After
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AfterGelco Service Pricing in Florence-Graham
Chimney cleaning in Florence-Graham typically runs between $149 and $350, depending on the level of buildup, the flue configuration, and whether pests have moved in. A Level 2 inspection, which we recommend for any Gelco unit that hasn’t been used in years, adds to that because it involves camera work and a closer structural review. Cap replacement and mortar repointing are quoted separately after we see the condition. The flat price gets agreed before we book, and the estimate is free. Call (877) 516-7159 and we’ll give you an exact quote for your fireplace.
Serving Florence-Graham, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Florence-Graham 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 – Gelco Chimney Cleaning in Florence-Graham
Yes. A Gelco factory-built fireplace has a metal chase, a specific cap profile, and a damper assembly that a basic masonry sweep doesn’t address. In Florence-Graham, the flues often sit idle for years, so the job usually includes removing nesting material and inspecting cap fasteners and screens that have baked in the sun. A standard sweep wouldn’t catch that.
If smoke is rolling back into the room, the flue isn’t drafting, and the cause could be a nest, a failed cap, a blocked chase, or a damper issue. A cleaning alone won’t tell you which. We’d recommend a Level 2 inspection for any smoking Gelco unit in Florence-Graham, because it gives you documentation of what we found. Call (877) 516-7159 and we’ll walk you through what makes sense.
Often in Florence-Graham, yes. The lots are narrow and the homes sit close together, so reaching a chimney from one side of the roof sometimes means standing in an adjacent yard. We handle that access request professionally, and we’ll let the neighbor know what we’re doing and when. If the chimney is fully accessible from your property, we won’t bother anyone.
Sometimes. If the cap body is structurally sound and the screen is the only failed part, we can replace just the screen and resecure the cap. If the mounting bolts are gone or the cap itself has cracked, a full replacement makes more sense. We’ll show you what we found and let you decide.
No, not without checking the flue first. In Florence-Graham, unused flues are exactly where birds and squirrels nest, and years of disuse mean the cap and damper haven’t been tested. Lighting a fire in an obstructed or damaged flue can push smoke back into the room and create a carbon monoxide hazard. Have it inspected before you burn. Call (877) 516-7159 for a free estimate.
Service Areas Near Florence-Graham
While this page is focused on Florence-Graham, our crews also serve nearby communities in the Inland Empire and beyond. We’re set up for Gelco service in Echo Park for clients with properties there, and Gelco service in Sky Valley for high-desert work. If you own rentals across multiple neighborhoods, we can often schedule those calls in the same day. See our Florence-Graham service area page for the full coverage map.
Book Your Gelco Service in Florence-Graham Today
A clean flue isn’t a luxury, it’s just how you keep the fire where it belongs. If your Gelco fireplace hasn’t been inspected or swept recently, call (877) 516-7159 to book. We’ll schedule a time that works for you or your tenant, and the estimate is free.
Written by Allen Prescott, Owner at San Bernardino Chimney Sweep, serving Florence-Graham and surrounding communities.