Level 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.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Liner & Rebuild Across Temple Hills
A chimney liner replacement or rebuild in Temple Hills typically runs $2,800 to $7,500 depending on the flue length, access, and whether we’re doing a partial or full rebuild. Most jobs we book in Temple Hills take one to two days on site, with the camera inspection done before we quote anything. Call (240) 358-4452 and Wendell will talk you through what your chimney actually needs, not what a franchise script says it needs.
Temple Hills homes are mostly brick Cape Cods, split-levels, and ramblers built between 1955 and 1975. That means 50 to 70 year old clay tile liners, cracked crowns, and a lot of flues that have never been looked at since the day they were laid. We know this housing stock because we’ve been inside it for over 25 years. When we pull up to a house off Old Branch Avenue or Brinkley Road, we already know what we’re likely to find before the ladder comes off the truck.
Why Top Hat Chimney Is Temple Hills’s Preferred Chimney Liner & Rebuild Company
Wendell Pike started Top Hat Chimney in 1999 and he still runs the jobs himself. That matters in Temple Hills, where homeowners have been burned by national outfits that send a stranger with a tablet, then quote one price on the phone and another at the door. Ask anyone on your street. The sweep who shows up here is the same person whose name is on the license, the invoice, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise we put on every job in writing.
Our calls are answered by a live person twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Not a voicemail box, not a call center in another state. It may well be Wendell himself picking up. When you call about a liner replacement in Temple Hills, you’ll get a real arrival window, a background-checked uniformed crew, and upfront pricing before a single tool comes off the truck. That number does not change at the door. Ever.
We get a lot of calls from Temple Hills homeowners who are up against a deadline. A pre-sale inspection is scheduled. The county inspector flagged the flue. The lender won’t close until the chimney passes. We understand that clock, and we won’t waste your time with a three-week wait. If we tell you we’ll be there Tuesday, we’ll be there Tuesday, and if something slips we call you ourselves.
Our Chimney Liner & Rebuild Services in Temple Hills
Stainless Steel Liner
Most Temple Hills chimneys we open up were built without a stainless liner. Clay tile sections from the 1960s are cracked, shifted, or missing mortar joints, and that’s a real safety problem when flue gases start finding their way into wall cavities. We install rigid and flexible stainless liners sized to the appliance and the flue, usually in a single day. A properly sized DuraFlex liner restores draft, contains the exhaust, and gives the Prince George’s County inspector something to sign off on.
Liner Replacement
Replacing a failed liner in Temple Hills often means removing a section of the old clay tile in pieces, sometimes through the thimble, sometimes from the top. The camera footage tells us exactly what we’re dealing with before we decide on the approach. If the old liner is intact but no longer code-compliant for a gas conversion or insert, we don’t tear out more than necessary. We’ll show you the video and give you a plain-English verdict. Every time, no exceptions.
Partial Rebuild
A partial rebuild in Temple Hills usually covers the section you can see from the street: the crown, the top few courses of brick, the flue cap. Freeze-thaw cycling cracks the crown and opens the joints, then summer humidity does the rest. We rebuild from the roofline up when the damage is concentrated there, and we leave the lower masonry alone if the camera shows it’s sound. No upsell. If the brick below is fine, we tell you it’s fine.
Full Chimney Rebuild
When a Temple Hills chimney is spalling badly, leaning, or the flue has collapsed from the inside, a full rebuild is the honest answer. We take it down to the firebox or the roofline and rebuild it right: new firebrick, new liner, new crown, staged so it passes inspection on reinspection day. It’s a bigger job, but on a 1960s rambler with a severely deteriorated exterior chimney, it’s often cheaper over ten years than patching the same wall every spring.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Temple Hills
We work with DuraFlex, Olympia Chimney, and Copperfield because these are the systems we trust in older homes. We keep common liner components and termination caps stocked so we’re not waiting on a shipment when a Temple Hills closing date is bearing down. Whether it’s a flexible stainless liner for a 1970s insert or a rigid section for a gas conversion, we install it to the manufacturer’s spec and the county’s code, and we stand behind it with the same 90-Day Done Right Promise as every other job we do. We also service and rebuild chimneys built around HeatShield and Famco components, so if you had one installed years ago by a different company and it’s now failing, we can tell you honestly whether it’s worth saving.
Common Chimney Liner & Rebuild Problems We See in Temple Hills Homes
- 1970s inserts without a proper liner extension. On a brick Cape Cod near Brinkley Road, we pulled a 1972 insert that had been shoved into the original firebox with no liner extension, just a short clay tile stub and a steel plate. The draft was so bad the smoke chamber was glazed with third-degree creosote, and the county inspector had already red-flagged it on the pre-sale report. We ran a DuraFlex stainless liner from the insert collar up to a new crown-mounted cap, rebuilt the smoke chamber with HeatShield, and the place passed reinspection the same week.
- Cracked postwar clay tile liners. Clay tile sections laid in Temple Hills in the 1950s and 60s are now decades past their service life. We regularly find cracked sections and missing mortar joints that let flue gas into wall cavities and drive moisture behind the exterior brick. That’s a fire risk and a carbon monoxide path, not just a cosmetic problem.
- Unlined flues failing gas conversion inspections. A split-level or rambler built between 1955 and 1975 often has an original unlined flue that never met modern code. Add a gas insert or a high-efficiency furnace, and the county now requires a proper liner. We see this exact scenario on a lot of Temple Hills refinance and renovation calls.
- Freeze-thaw and summer humidity doing damage year-round. Winter lows in Temple Hills hit the low-to-mid 20s, and every freeze-thaw cycle widens the cracks in your crown and mortar joints. Summer humidity then wicks through those openings and accelerates hidden spalling behind the brick veneer. Your flue doesn’t care how the fire looks. It cares how it breathes, and a cracked crown means it’s breathing water.
Pricing for Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Temple Hills, MD
Here’s what we actually quote Temple Hills homeowners, based on the jobs we’ve done in this area:
| Service | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Stainless steel liner install (single flue) | $2,800 - $4,500 |
| Liner replacement (clay tile removal + stainless) | $3,200 - $5,800 |
| Partial rebuild (crown, top courses, cap) | $1,800 - $3,500 |
| Full chimney rebuild (above the roofline) | $5,000 - $9,500 |
The price is set before we start, and it’s the number on your invoice. Nothing gets marked up because we’re on a ladder. For a home sale inspection repair, we can also quote directly from the inspector’s report so the lender sees exactly what was corrected. We offer $40 off any repair over $200, a free second opinion on any competing written estimate, no trip charge in our service county, and 10% off for seniors and veterans. Call (240) 358-4452 for an exact quote. Estimates are free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Temple Hills
If you’re just outside Temple Hills, we serve the same Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland corridors: Fort Washington, Clinton, Brandywine, and Accokeek. The housing stock is similar, the code concerns are similar, and the seasonal freeze-thaw issues are nearly identical. Whether you found us through Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Temple Hills or through our broader Chimney Liner & Rebuild service area, the same crew and the same promise apply.
Serving Temple Hills, MD - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Temple 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 - Chimney Liner & Rebuild in Temple Hills
Yes, in most Temple Hills homes, the answer is yes. The original clay tile liners in 1960s-era construction are now 50 to 70 years old, and we routinely find cracked sections, shifted joints, and missing mortar that allow flue gases into wall cavities. A stainless liner contains the exhaust, restores draft, and meets current Prince George’s County code for gas conversions and inserts. If your clay liner is actually sound, we’ll show you the camera footage and tell you so. Call (240) 358-4452 and we’ll give you an honest look.
Because Temple Hills was built out heavily during the energy-crisis era, so a lot of homeowners shoved inserts into original fireboxes without extending the liner up the flue. Prince George’s County code inspectors see this pattern constantly and now flag it as a fire hazard during mortgage and refinance appraisals. Neighboring jurisdictions don’t have the same concentration of this specific vintage of home, so they flag it less. The fix is usually a stainless liner from the insert collar to a new cap, which we can do in a day or two. Call (240) 358-4452 if you’re up against a closing date.
A partial rebuild covers the section above the roofline: the crown, the top courses of brick, the cap, and the uppermost flue section. It’s right for a Temple Hills chimney where the lower masonry is solid but freeze-thaw has chewed up the top. A full rebuild means taking the structure down to the firebox or the roofline and relaying it, which is the honest answer when the spalling is deep, the flue has collapsed, or the chimney is leaning. We’ll make that call from the camera footage and show you exactly why. Call (240) 358-4452 for a straight answer.
Humidity wicks through cracks in the crown and mortar joints, then condenses inside the flue where it attacks the clay tile and the masonry behind it. In Temple Hills, where summer humidity runs high from June through September, this means the damage compounds year-round instead of only during fireplace season. A cracked liner gets worse every humid August, not every snowy January. Once a year, burn or no burn. Call (240) 358-4452 and we’ll check it before the next cycle starts.
Usually, yes. On a 1960s brick rambler in Temple Hills, we can often remove the failed clay tile liners through the thimble or from the top, then run a stainless liner down the existing flue cavity without touching the exterior brick. If the masonry itself is sound, the liner replacement is the whole job. If the brick is spalling or the crown is failing, you may need a partial rebuild too, but we don’t tear down what doesn’t need to come down. That’s the honest way to work, and it’s the only way we know. Call (240) 358-4452 and we’ll walk you through it.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner at Top Hat Chimney, serving Temple Hills since 1999.