Six areas, one free inspection
We work across Chicago and the Illinois suburbs. Pick your area to see what we find most in local chimneys and fireplaces.
Chicago & Near West
Bungalow Belt brick, two-flats and greystones. Berwyn (60.5%) and Oak Park (59.3%) have the highest shares of pre-1940 homes in our area, and 13.1% of Chicago's homes sit in two-unit buildings.
North Shore & Lake County
Evanston and Winnetka's prewar houses along the lake, the 1950s streets of Wilmette and Glenview, then newer subdivisions from Libertyville to Gurnee, where the November 2025 lake-effect band hit hardest.
Northwest Suburbs
Des Plaines and Park Ridge postwar brick (34.7% of Park Ridge homes date from 1940 to 1959), then Arlington Heights, Palatine, Schaumburg and Barrington, where gas fireplaces and factory-built chimneys take over.
DuPage County & West Cook
Elmhurst and La Grange brick from the 1940s and 50s, Hinsdale and Western Springs' older lots, and Naperville, where the median home dates from 1990.
Fox Valley & McHenry County
Old river-town cores in Aurora, Elgin, Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles, and McHenry County out to Woodstock, where inland winters bring more freeze-thaw cycles than the lakefront.
Southwest Suburbs & Will County
Oak Lawn and the Palos area, then Orland Park, Tinley Park, Lockport and Joliet. Will County's median home dates from 1992, so gas fireplaces and chase covers are as common as brick.
Lakefront versus inland
Two things change as you drive west from the lake. The housing gets younger: 38.8% of Chicago homes were built before 1940, against 2.5% in Naperville and 6.9% across Will County (Census ACS 2020–24). And the winters get harsher on masonry. Using NOAA's 1991–2020 normals, Midway sees about 67 freeze-thaw days a year, O'Hare about 78 and Rockford, well inland, about 86. Near the shore the risk is wind-driven snow off Lake Michigan; further out it is more nights below freezing.
Booking
From Waukegan down to Joliet the price list stays the same. Choose a 3-hour window, 8 to 11, 11 to 2 or 2 to 5, any day Sunday through Friday, and we phone the day before to confirm.
Don't see your town? Call (773) 754-4898 and we'll tell you whether we cover it.
Book online
Pick a day. We'll bring a ladder.
Free inspection in a 3-hour window: 8 to 11, 11 to 2, or 2 to 5. We call to confirm before we arrive.