The short answer
Yes, Nexora Chimney Services covers all of Greenpoint, Brooklyn (ZIP 11222), about 2 miles from our Gramercy office. We handle chimney sweeping, inspections, repairs, liners, rebuilding, and dryer vent and air duct cleaning for the neighborhood's rowhouses, frame houses, and pre-war buildings.
Nexora Chimney Services works throughout Greenpoint, Brooklyn (ZIP 11222), about 2 miles east of our office in Gramercy, Manhattan. The neighborhood's housing is mostly older rowhouses, frame houses, and small pre-war apartment buildings. Many have masonry chimneys serving fireplaces, boilers, or water heaters, and many have dryer vents and duct runs added long after the building went up. Our certified technicians sweep, inspect, and repair chimneys, install liners, and clean dryer vents and air ducts. We explain what we find in plain terms so you can decide what to do next.
Chimney Services for Greenpoint's Older Homes
Most Greenpoint homes were built long before modern venting standards. Their chimneys have been through decades of use, fuel changes, and New York weather. A rowhouse chimney may share walls with the house next door. A small apartment building may run its boiler and water heater through one flue. Frame houses often have a single brick chimney that has been patched over the years.
We start by looking at how your system is actually used today, then recommend only the work it needs. Services available in Greenpoint include:
- Chimney sweep for wood-burning fireplaces and appliance flues
- Chimney inspection at the level your situation calls for
- Chimney repair, including mortar joints, crowns, and flashing
- Chimney liner installation for gas, oil, and wood appliances
- Chimney cap and chase cover installation
- Chimney waterproofing
- Fireplace and damper repair
- Chimney rebuilding when masonry is too far gone to repair
How Brooklyn Weather Wears on a Chimney
Greenpoint gets cold, wet winters with repeated freeze-thaw cycles, plus nor'easters that drive rain sideways into masonry. When water soaks into brick and mortar and then freezes, it expands and pushes the material apart. Over a few seasons that shows up as crumbling joints, cracked crowns, flaking brick faces, and leaks around the flashing. Humid summers keep a damp chimney damp, which can lead to odors and rusted dampers.
An uncapped flue lets rain, leaves, and birds straight in. A properly fitted chimney cap, a sound crown, and a breathable waterproofing treatment slow this damage down. They are usually far less disruptive than rebuilding a chimney top later.
Inspections, Heat Season, and Oil-to-Gas Conversions
The NFPA 211 standard calls for chimneys, fireplaces, and vents to be inspected once a year. A Level 1 inspection fits when nothing has changed. A Level 2 inspection is called for when the system changes, such as a new appliance or a switch of fuel, or when the home is sold. A Level 3 inspection is used when a hidden hazard can only be reached by opening part of the chimney or building.
New York City's heat season runs from October 1 through May 31. During those months, building owners must keep apartments heated to the city's minimum temperatures. Owners of Greenpoint multifamily buildings are better off scheduling boiler flue inspections and repairs before October than finding a problem in January.
If your building is converting its boiler from oil to gas, the chimney has to be evaluated as part of that work. A new liner is often needed, because gas exhaust produces acidic condensate that can corrode a masonry flue.
Time for your annual chimney check?
Dryer Vent and Air Duct Cleaning
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, failure to clean is the leading factor contributing to clothes dryer fires in homes. In Greenpoint, dryers are often tucked into basements or closets with long or crooked vent runs to an outside wall. Those runs collect lint quickly. Signs you need a cleaning include clothes taking longer to dry, a hot laundry area, or a burning smell. We clean the full run and check the exterior termination.
For air ducts, we follow the U.S. EPA's guidance. Cleaning makes sense when there is substantial visible mold growth, vermin, or excessive dust and debris. Duct cleaning has not been shown to prevent health problems, and we won't claim otherwise. We also don't push chemical treatments. The EPA advises researching the process before responding to very cheap advertised offers, and we're glad to walk you through ours.
Other Areas We Serve Nearby
Besides Greenpoint, our technicians work regularly across the East River in Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, Murray Hill, Kips Bay, and the East Village. These Manhattan neighborhoods sit between our Gramercy office and Brooklyn.
ZIP codes we serve
- 11222
