★★★★★ 5.0 RATED · CHICAGO + CHICAGOLAND METRO

ChimTech — Chimney Services in Chicago

Every service from cleaning to full restoration — one dedicated crew for Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

WHAT WE DO

Chicago Chimney Services — Thirty Specialties, One Dedicated Crew

ChimTech handles every chimney service a Chicago home requires — one crew, one standard, documented results — across Chicagoland.

ChimTech is a full-service chimney company. A chimney system is the complete vertical assembly of firebox, smoke chamber, flue, liner, crown, cap, and flashing that vents combustion gases out of a home. We cover the full range: cleaning, all three inspection tiers, leak diagnostics, masonry repair, waterproofing, relining, installation, and exterior restoration.

Every one of those thirty services is handled by the same 10-person crew, working across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. No split territory, no outside labor brought in by job type. The same team that assesses crown damage in Beverly in October is the same team pouring a new crown in Berwyn the following spring.

Brian Dobuis founded ChimTech in 2026 with a single operational commitment: every job produces written documentation — a pre-work scope, a condition summary, and a post-service record — whether it’s a routine annual sweep or a multi-component exterior restoration. That standard applies to every visit.

Chimney Cleaning

Top-down or bottom-up sweeping, with creosote documented by stage.

Inspections — 3 Tiers

Level 1, 2, and 3 inspections matched to your situation.

Leak Diagnostics

Pinpointing exactly where water enters before any repair.

Masonry Repair

Repointing and rebuilds using mortar compatible with older brick.

Waterproofing

Vapor-permeable sealing that keeps water out without trapping it in.

Relining

Liner installation sized and specified to the appliance and flue.

Installation

New components installed and documented to current code.

Exterior Restoration

Crown, cap, flashing, and masonry restored as one project.

Person Chicago Crew

Chimney Services

6 Months

Chicago Heating Season

Metro

Chicagoland Coverage

ROOTED IN CHICAGOLAND

What a Focused Chicagoland Territory Means for Your Chimney

Staying close to home means the crew knows exactly what Chicago-area chimneys deal with every winter.

Homeowners across Chicagoland often don’t see chimney damage until a water stain appears near the chase or bricks show up on the ground in April. By then, the damage has already run through several seasons of progression. Winter here works on masonry in a specific way: water soaks into the brick and mortar through fall rain, then freezes and expands inside the pore structure every time the temperature crosses back over. Lake Michigan makes it worse on the east-facing side of a stack, where wind-driven moisture loads the masonry for weeks at a time. For a full explanation of how that mechanical process works and what it does to masonry over time, see our freeze-thaw chimney damage resource.

ChimTech’s crew works Chicago and the surrounding suburbs year-round. The early-to-mid 20th-century housing stock that defines so much of the city and the inner-ring suburbs — Chicago bungalows, greystones, two-flats, and workers cottages with original clay tile liners and lime mortar joints — isn’t an exception on the schedule. It’s the majority of it. What those original construction methods mean for ongoing chimney maintenance is covered in depth on our older home chimney resource page.

A focused Chicagoland footprint means the crew is in the region’s neighborhoods daily — close to the homes we serve, from the city out through the suburbs. One region, one team.

FROM THE FOUNDER

How Brian Dobuis Reads a Chicago Chimney Before Anyone Calls for Help

Every Chicago chimney tells a story before a single tool comes out of the truck.

Brian Dobuis

Founder, ChimTech

I’m Brian Dobuis, founder of ChimTech. When I pull up to a Chicago home, I’m reading the chimney before I’m out of the vehicle.

The house gives context immediately. A Chicago bungalow built in 1922 has original lime mortar joints — softer, more vapor-permeable than anything poured after 1970, and designed to erode before the brick does. That’s not a defect. It’s how the system was engineered. And because the bungalow is solid masonry rather than brick veneer over frame, the chimney is bonded into the wall assembly itself. After a hundred winters, those joints are often recessed enough that water enters freely at the mortar line before the heating season ends.

A two-flat from the same era might have three or four flues — one per unit for the fireplace, one for a furnace that hasn’t run since the gas conversion, one that last served a kitchen range decades ago. The abandoned flue — a chimney flue no longer connected to any active heating appliance — still admits cold air and moisture every winter. It still requires maintenance. Most homeowners have no idea it’s there.

I walk the exterior first. Crown condition from the ground. Any brick fragments near the base. Mortar joint depth on accessible courses. Counter flashing — the upper flashing layer embedded into the mortar joint — seated flat or pulled away from the chimney face.

Then we go inside. Firebox condition. Smoke shelf. What the damper shows when it opens fully.

By the time I’ve done that walk, I know whether this visit is a routine annual service or whether something needs documentation before we put tools on it. That assessment gets written up either way.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Why a 10-Person Chicago Crew Produces Consistent Accountability

Same crew every time means the person doing the work is the person who answers the follow-up.

Same Crew, Every Job

When a homeowner on the Southwest Side schedules a cleaning, ChimTech sends the same crew that would handle a liner installation in Avondale or a repointing job in Portage Park. No rotation of unfamiliar faces based on which crew has availability.

The Record Matches the Work

If a condition is flagged during a visit and the homeowner calls back six weeks later, the crew member who noted it can answer directly. The written record matches what was observed. Nothing was verbal-only.

Working Knowledge, Not Background Reading

ChimTech is a service-area business. The crew dispatches to your property anywhere in Chicagoland — there is no showroom to visit and no counter to walk into. The housing stock, the permit process in each municipality, and what a Chicago winter does to masonry — that’s working knowledge.

DOCUMENTATION

Job Records on Every Visit — What the Documentation Actually Contains

The written record ChimTech produces on every visit is structured the same way across all thirty services.

Pre-Work Scope

Written before any work begins, confirming what will be done and what conditions were observed on arrival.

Condition Summary

A record of what was found during inspection or cleaning, noting every surface or component assessed.

Post-Service Record

Confirmation of what was completed, materials used where relevant, and any follow-up recommendations.

Sizing & Specification

For liner installations, crown pours, and repointing, the materials and measurements used are recorded in the job file.

Permit & Inspection Records

Where work requires a permit, ChimTech identifies the authority having jurisdiction for your address — the City of Chicago Department of Buildings, or your suburb’s building department — files there, and delivers the passed inspection record.

The structure of that record is consistent because the purpose is consistent: the homeowner leaves every visit with a complete account of what was found and what was done. That applies whether the job was a thirty-minute sweep or a two-day exterior restoration.

THE PROCESS

How ChimTech Handles a Service from First Call to Final Record

The process runs the same way on every job — from first contact to delivered documentation.

Diagnostics

The first contact establishes the service type and collects basic property information: address, system type (wood-burning or gas), last known service date, and any visible symptoms. If you haven’t had service in several years, ChimTech recommends starting with the appropriate inspection tier — confirming the flue liner is sound before further work proceeds.

Implementation

Visits run on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood schedule across the metro. Drop cloths in, assessment first, then the scope confirmed in writing. Repair work follows a top-down sequence — crown and cap before flashing, flashing before mortar, mortar before liner — so an upstream entry point can’t undermine a downstream repair. Creosote is documented by stage when found, not summarized verbally.

Post-Service Testing & Documentation

After the work is complete, ChimTech confirms the results: damper travel, flue clearance, draft behavior, or visual confirmation of the repaired surface. The written record is provided before the crew packs up. For inspections, the condition summary names every surface assessed — pass and flagged findings both. Nothing is left to memory.

WHERE WE WORK

Where ChimTech Schedules Chimney Services Across Chicagoland

ChimTech schedules chimney services across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs directly.

The crew works throughout the city — from the West Loop and Avondale to Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Lincoln Square, Logan Square, Beverly, and the bungalow-dense blocks of the Northwest and Southwest Sides — and out across Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry counties. Homes in zip codes 60618, 60630, 60634, 60641, and 60643 are on the regular rotation. Call to confirm your neighborhood is on the schedule.

West Loop & Avondale

Downtown-adjacent and the Northeast arts district.

Portage Park & Jefferson Park

Northwest Side bungalow belt · 60630

Logan Square & Lincoln Square

Two-flats and greystones · 60618, 60625, 60647

Beverly

Far Southwest Side · 60643

Norwood Park & Edison Park

Bungalow-dense streets · 60631

Greater Chicagoland

Oak Park, Evanston, Naperville, Berwyn and the wider suburbs — call to confirm.

Call (312) 768-8940 or email office@chimtech.org to confirm your neighborhood.

GET STARTED

Ready to Schedule? Here's How to Reach the ChimTech Crew

Booking a chimney service anywhere in Chicagoland takes one phone call or one email. Have your property address, system type, and last known service date ready — it makes the scheduling conversation faster for both sides.

Call or Text

(312) 768-8940

office@chimtech.org

Hours

Mon–Sat · Open until 7:00 PM

The person answering is part of the local Chicago-based crew — not a call center, not an automated routing system. If you’re not sure which service applies, that’s a normal first call: Brian Dobuis or a crew member will walk through the symptoms and confirm the right starting point.

Request a Service Window

Tell us about your home and we’ll confirm a time. The crew that answers is the crew that shows up.

FAQ

Common Questions About ChimTech's Chicago Chimney Services

How often should a Chicago chimney be inspected?

At least once a year. Water soaks into the masonry through autumn, then freezes and expands inside the brick and mortar every time the temperature crosses back over — and that works on the structure season after season, usually invisibly, until a water stain or a loose brick appears. East-facing stacks take the worst of it, because wind off the lake drives moisture into the masonry for weeks at a time. An annual inspection catches that progression early, while a repair is still small. If you burn wood often, recently bought the home, or have not had service in several years, an inspection should come before any cleaning or repair work.

What are the three inspection levels, and which one do I need?

A Level 1 inspection is the standard annual check of the readily accessible portions of the chimney and flue, appropriate when nothing about the system has changed. A Level 2 adds a video scan of the flue interior and is used for real-estate transactions, after a system change such as a new liner or appliance, or following an event like a chimney fire or storm. A Level 3 is reserved for cases where a hidden hazard is suspected and may require removing a component to reach concealed areas. On the first call we match the right level to your situation.

My home is from the 1920s with original mortar — does that need special handling?

Yes. Homes from the early-to-mid 20th century were built with lime mortar that is softer and more vapor-permeable than modern mixes, and it was designed to erode before the brick does. After roughly a hundred winters, those joints are often recessed enough that water enters freely at the mortar line. Repointing older masonry calls for a compatible mortar, not a harder modern mix that can trap moisture and damage the original brick — which is exactly how our crew approaches the region’s older housing stock.

Do unused or abandoned chimney flues still need maintenance?

They do. An abandoned flue — one no longer connected to an active heating appliance — still admits cold air and moisture into the home every winter, and it can still deteriorate. Many older Chicago homes have two or three flues where only one is in active use. We assess every flue on the chimney, active or not, and note its condition in the written record.

What documentation do I receive, and do you handle permits?

Every visit produces a written record: a pre-work scope before anything begins, a condition summary of what was found, and a post-service record of what was completed. Liner installations, crown pours, and repointing also include the materials and measurements used. For work that requires a local building permit (Chicago or a suburban municipality), ChimTech files directly and delivers the passed inspection record to you.

What should I have ready when I call to schedule?

Three things make the call faster: your property address, the system type (wood-burning or gas), and the last known service date. If you’re not sure which service you need, that’s a normal first call — a crew member will walk through the symptoms with you and confirm the right starting point. The person who answers is part of the local crew, not a call center.

Schedule Your Chicagoland Chimney Service

One crew, one standard, documented results across Chicagoland. Call or email and the person who answers is part of the crew that will do the work.