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.
Trusted Chimney Repair for Austin Homeowners
Chimney repair in Austin, TX is typically a $350 – $2,900 job depending on what’s actually wrong, and the honest answer is that most homeowners don’t know until a camera goes up the flue. That’s exactly why we lead with documentation: every diagnosis includes before-and-after photos, so you see what we see. Hadley Chimney Sweep has served Austin homes since 2003, led by Cory Mitchell and backed by the Relay Visibility Guarantee: live arrival times, written pricing before any work starts, and a written guarantee on every repair. If something’s not right, we come back free within 365 days. That’s our Done Right Promise, and it’s in writing. Call (361) 603-5116 to book, or keep reading to understand what your chimney might need and how much Chimney Repair costs.
Chimney Cap Installation
Chimney Cap Installation is the most cost-effective repair we do in Austin, typically running $225 – $550 with the cap included. The cap is the metal guard at the top of your flue that keeps rain out, blocks embers from landing on your roof, and stops birds and squirrels from turning your chimney into a nest. In neighborhoods like Shady Hollow and Lost Creek, we replace a lot of caps that were simply never installed when the home was built, and the damage from years of open-flue exposure shows up as rusted dampers and water-stained fireboxes. We carry stainless steel and copper caps from Gelco and Copperfield, and every install includes a written guarantee.
When a Cap Pays for Itself
A missing cap doesn’t announce itself. You might only notice a stain on the ceiling near the chimney, or a musky smell after a hard rain. By the time those signs appear, water has already been working its way through the masonry for months.
What We Check During Installation
Before seating a new cap, we inspect the flue tile below it for cracks and measure the crown for proper overhang. If the crown is damaged, a new cap alone won’t stop the leak. We’ll document it with photos and give you a straight answer about what actually needs fixing now versus what can wait a season.
Styles & brands we work with
Chimney Cap Replacement
Chimney Cap Replacement is a common repair for Austin homes where the original cap has rusted through or blown off during a Hill Country storm, and it usually costs $280 – $600 depending on the flue size and material. In areas like Wells Branch and Jollyville, galvanized caps installed 15 – 20 years ago are hitting the end of their life, showing rust stains down the chimney chase and perforations that let rain pour straight into the firebox. We replace them with stainless steel or copper systems from Copperfield and use a screen mesh that keeps out every bird species common in Central Texas, from chimney swifts to grackles. Before replacing, we photograph the old cap in place so you can see exactly why it failed.
Rust Vs. Bent: When Repair Becomes Replacement
A dented cap can sometimes be reshaped, but once rust has eaten through the metal, patching is a waste of your money. Replacement is the only honest fix. We’ll show you the underside of the old cap before we quote the new one.
Post-Replacement Draught Check
An undersized or poorly fitted cap can choke the draught and push smoke back into the living room. After every replacement, we do a quick draught test and adjust the cap height if needed, so you aren’t dealing with a smoky fireplace the first cold night in December.
Chimney Liner Installation
Chimney Liner Installation in Austin typically falls between $1,800 and $4,200 and is the repair we flag most often after a chimney fire or when switching from a wood-burning setup to a gas insert. The liner is the pipe inside your chimney that contains the heat and exhaust, and in older Austin homes with clay tile liners, cracked tiles and failed mortar joints create a direct path for carbon monoxide to leak into the house. We install DuraFlex flexible stainless steel liners almost exclusively, because that’s the brand our lead techs have trusted for years, and they hold up to the high draft temperatures of Texas fireplaces. Every liner job comes with a camera inspection before and after, a written price, and a 365-day written guarantee.
Why a Camera Inspection Leads Every Liner Quote
Nobody should quote a liner without seeing the inside of the existing flue. We run a high-resolution camera up the chimney and walk you through the footage on site, so when we say the liner needs replacement, you’ve seen the cracks with your own eyes. If the liner is still serviceable, we tell you that too, and we document it.
Wood-to-Gas Conversions and Liner Sizing
Converting a wood-burning fireplace to gas often requires resizing the liner to match the new appliance’s exhaust volume. A liner that’s too large cools the exhaust too quickly, causing condensation and rust. We size every liner to the appliance and the local code, and we pull permits where Austin requires them.
Chimney Flashing Repair
Chimney Flashing Repair is the fix we associate most with water stains on the ceiling near the chimney, and on Austin homes it typically runs $300 – $800. Flashing is the metal strips that seal the joint where the chimney meets the roofline. When that seal fails, rainwater follows the chimney straight down into the attic, and by the time you see the stain on drywall, sheathing and insulation have already been wet for a while. In Lago Vista and Hornsby Bend, where wind-driven rain hits from the north, we see flashing failures accelerate after big thunderstorms. We cut out the old flashing, inspect the underlayment, and install a two-part step and counter flashing system with a written guarantee.
What a Proper Flashing Job Includes
Every flashing repair we do includes removing the old sealant, checking the roof deck for rot, and installing new metal that sits tight against both the chimney and the shingles. We also photograph the finished work from the roofline, so you don’t have to climb up there to know it was done right.
Flashing vs. Crown: Which Leak Is It?
Not every ceiling stain near the chimney is flashing. If water is pooling on top of the chimney and seeping down through the brick, the crown is the problem. We trace the water path with a moisture meter before quoting anything, so you pay for the right fix the first time.
Chimney Crown Repair
Chimney Crown Repair in Austin costs $450 – $1,100 for most homes and is the difference between a chimney that survives another 20 years and one that slowly crumbles from the top down. The crown is the concrete slab that caps the chimney and directs water away from the flue. When it cracks, water seeps into the brick and mortar below, and Austin’s freeze-thaw cycles do the rest. We repair crowns with a cementitious compound built for thermal movement, and we form a proper taper so water sheds instead of pooling. Every crown repair includes camera photos of the finished surface and a 365-day written guarantee.
Why Paint-On Sealers Aren’t the Answer
Homeowners sometimes ask about liquid sealants that promise to “waterproof” a cracked crown. They don’t fill structural cracks, and they trap moisture inside the masonry. Our crews remove the loose material, prep the surface, and rebuild the crown so it actually sheds water.
Crown Repair Before Liner Work
If you need a liner installed and the crown is cracked, we do the crown work first. A new liner inside a chimney with a leaking crown is a short-term fix. We sequence repairs so each layer protects the one below it, and we show you the sequence in the written estimate.
Chimney Repair Companies
Chimney Repair Companies in Austin range from one-man operations with no liability insurance to established firms with written guarantees and photo documentation, and the difference isn’t always obvious from a website. Hadley Chimney Austin falls into the second category of Austin Chimney Repair companies, and we’ve been doing it since 2003. Our techs are background-checked, uniformed, and arrive in a tracked window, and our office answers the phone 24/7 with a live person. We also carry the Relay Visibility Guarantee, which means a written price before work starts, before-and-after photos on every job, and digital invoicing you can pay from your phone.
What Separates the Good from the Risky
A real chimney company will show you the damage before they quote the repair. If someone gives you a number over the phone without looking at the chimney, walk away. We do the opposite: we inspect first, show you the camera footage, and then hand you a written price.
Questions to Ask Every Company
Ask about insurance, ask to see the damage yourself, and ask what guarantee they put in writing. If they can’t show you photos and won’t guarantee the work, that’s your answer.
Chimney Masonry Repair
Chimney Masonry Repair is the catch-all term for fixing cracked brick, spalled faces, and deteriorating mortar joints on the chimney structure itself, and in Austin it ranges from $400 for a tuckpointing project to $3,500 for a partial rebuild. Austin’s clay-rich soil shifts enough to move chimneys slightly, and older masonry often can’t flex without cracking. In Buda and Elgin, we see decades of sun exposure causing brick faces to pop off, a process called spalling, which leaves the softer interior brick exposed to rain. We offer Spalling Brick Repair for this exact issue. We match the existing brick and mortar color, document every repair with photos, and cover the work with a written guarantee.
When Repointing Is Enough
Mortar Repointing, which is replacing the outer layer of mortar between bricks, works when the bricks themselves are still sound. We test the mortar with a simple scratch test and show you what we find. If the bricks are cracked or spalled, repointing is cosmetic, and we’ll say so.
Structural Supports for Leaning Chimneys
A leaning chimney is a structural problem, not a cosmetic one. Without support, the chimney can pull away from the house and compromise the roof framing. Our masonry crew reinforces weakened sections and rebuilds what’s already failed, and we photograph every stage.
Brands We Service
We install and repair components from Gelco and Olympia Chimney, two brands Austin chimney pros actually stock on the truck. Gelco caps and liners show up often on our repair trucks because they hold up well in Central Texas heat and fit the flue dimensions common in 1980s and 1990s Austin construction. We carry their stainless caps in several stock sizes, so a cap replacement doesn’t mean a second visit while we order parts.
Copperfield is our go-to for copper caps and chase covers on higher-end homes in Lost Creek and Westlake, where the detail matters. Whether you have a Gelco cap, a Copperfield crown, or any other make, we can repair or replace it to spec with a written guarantee.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterSigns You Need a Pro Right Now
- Water stains on the ceiling or wall near the chimney. This means water is getting past something, either flashing, crown, or masonry. Every day it continues, the repair bill grows.
- Crumbling brick or flaking stone on the chimney exterior. That’s spalling, and it means the structural face of your chimney is failing. It won’t stop on its own.
- Smoke filling the room instead of going up the flue. A blocked or collapsed liner can push carbon monoxide back into the living space, and that’s a hazard, not an inconvenience.
- You hear animals inside the chimney. Squirrels and chimney swifts carry nesting material that blocks the flue and burns. After we remove them, a proper cap prevents a return.
- Rust on the firebox or damper. Rust means water is in the flue, and the source is usually a failed cap or crown. Fix the source before the firebox rots through.
Our Process, Step by Step
- 1
Book your appointment and get a live arrival window. Our dispatchers answer 24/7, and you’ll get a tracked arrival time, not a four-hour guess.
- 2
Inspection and camera documentation. The tech checks the cap, crown, flashing, masonry, and flue from both roof and firebox. We run a high-resolution camera up the flue and show you the footage on site.
- 3
Written price before any work begins. You get a line-item quote and a photo report of what we found. If something can wait, we say so, and we don’t upsell.
- 4
Repair and live progress updates. Our crew does the work with the materials and brands specified in the estimate. You’ll see photos of the finished repair, not a vague “all done” note.
- 5
Post-repair inspection and digital invoice. We test the fix, document the completed job, and send a digital invoice you can pay from your phone. The written guarantee is yours for 365 days.
How Much Does Chimney Repair Cost in Austin?
A typical chimney repair in Austin runs $350 to $2,900 depending on what’s wrong. A chimney cap installation or replacement is the most affordable fix at $225 – $600. Flashing repair falls between $300 and $800. Crown repair runs $450 – $1,100. Liner installation is the biggest investment at $1,800 – $4,200, and masonry repair lands between $400 and $3,500. What moves the price is the condition of the flue, the roofline access, and whether the damage is original to the home or the result of deferred maintenance. Avoiding overpaying means asking one question: can you show me the damage before I pay for the fix? We can, and we do, on every single job. Our estimates are free, in writing, and come with photos.
Our Service Area Near Austin
We run repair crews across Greater Austin and the surrounding Hill Country, including Chimney Repair in Cedar Park, Chimney Repair in San Marcos, Jollyville, Buda, Lockhart, Elgin, Lago Vista, Shady Hollow, Lost Creek, Hornsby Bend, and Wells Branch. Our techs are on the road daily and arrive in a tracked window, not a four-hour guess. We schedule by neighborhood cluster, so a home in Hornsby Bend gets the same documented service and written guarantee as a home in Central Austin.
Serving Austin, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Austin area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chimney Repair in Austin
Chimney repair is any fix that restores the structural or functional integrity of your chimney, including cap, crown, flashing, masonry, and liner work. Most repairs we do in Austin involve water intrusion or flue liner failure. We diagnose with a camera inspection and always document what we find before we quote.
Most Austin chimney repairs are done in a single visit of 2 to 6 hours, depending on the work. Cap and flashing repairs are usually the fastest. A full liner installation may take most of the day, and we’ll tell you before we start so you can plan around it.
Chimney repair in Austin runs $350 – $2,900 for most jobs, with cap work at the low end and liner installation at the high end. The exact price depends on flue condition, roofline access, and the materials your home needs. Our estimates are free, written, and come with photos, so call (361) 603-5116 to get a specific number for your chimney.
We repair and replace components from Gelco, Olympia Chimney, Copperfield, and others. If you know your cap or liner brand, mention it when you book, and we’ll have the right parts on the truck. If it’s an older, unidentified component, we’ll photograph it, identify it, and quote the right replacement.
We answer the phone 24/7, and we’ll prioritize a chimney that’s actively leaking or smoking into the house. Emergency scheduling depends on tech availability in your neighborhood, but our dispatchers will give you a straight answer, not a callback queue. Call (361) 603-5116 and tell us what’s happening.
Yes. Every repair we make is backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise, which includes a written guarantee on every repair and a free second visit if the repair fails. That’s a standing commitment, not a seasonal promotion.
Clear the area around the fireplace so the tech has room to work, and move anything fragile off the mantel. If you have a specific leak or smell you’ve noticed, write down when it happens, because that clue helps us trace the source faster. We handle the rest, and we’ll show you everything we find.
Schedule Your Chimney Repair Service in Austin Today
If your chimney’s showing signs of trouble, get a documented diagnosis before it gets worse. Call (361) 603-5116 to speak with a live person, 24/7, and book a tracked arrival window with a written price before the work starts. You’ll get photos of the damage, photos of the fix, and a written guarantee on every repair.
Written by Cory Mitchell, Owner at Hadley Chimney Austin, serving Austin since 2003.