The short answer
Nexora Chimney Services repairs chimney masonry, crowns, flashing, caps and flue liners for homes and apartment buildings in Stuyvesant Town and nearby Manhattan neighborhoods. Every repair starts with an inspection so you know exactly what is wrong and why. We can also evaluate and reline chimneys when a building converts its boiler from oil to gas.
Nexora Chimney Services repairs chimneys for homeowners, co-op boards and building managers in Stuyvesant Town and the surrounding East Side. Our office is right in the neighborhood at 304 E 20th St, so our certified technicians can get to your building, look at the problem in person and explain what needs fixing before any work begins. We handle masonry, crowns, flashing, caps, dampers and flue liners on everything from large apartment buildings to rowhouses and brownstones. This page covers the repairs we see most often in this part of Manhattan and how we approach them.
Chimney Problems We Repair in Stuyvesant Town
Manhattan chimneys face constant exposure to wind, rain and repeated freezing and thawing through the winter. Water is behind most of the damage we find. Once moisture gets into brick, mortar or a cracked crown, each freeze widens the gap and the chimney deteriorates faster. On taller apartment buildings, chimneys often go unseen for years, so small problems can grow before anyone notices.
These are the repairs we handle most often for buildings and homes in the area:
- Repointing worn or missing mortar joints
- Replacing cracked, crumbling or spalled brick
- Rebuilding or sealing cracked chimney crowns
- Repairing or replacing flashing where the chimney meets the roof
- Installing or replacing chimney caps to keep out rain, debris and animals
- Repairing or relining damaged flues, including clay tile and masonry flues
- Fixing stuck, rusted or warped fireplace dampers
- Repairing smoke chamber and firebox masonry in working fireplaces
Inspection Comes Before Any Repair
We don't guess at repairs. The NFPA 211 standard calls for chimneys, fireplaces and vents to be inspected once a year, and it lays out three inspection levels. A Level 1 inspection fits when nothing about the system has changed. A Level 2 inspection is used when the system changes, for example a new appliance or a switch of fuel, or when the home is sold. A Level 3 inspection is reserved for cases where a hidden hazard can only be reached by opening part of the chimney or the building.
After the inspection, we walk you through what we found and which repairs are urgent. We also tell you which issues can be monitored. For co-ops and condos, we can put our findings in writing so the board or managing agent has a clear record when deciding on the work.
Oil-to-Gas Conversions and Chimney Liners
Many buildings in this part of Manhattan have switched, or are planning to switch, their boilers from oil to gas. When a New York City building converts from oil to gas, the chimney has to be evaluated as part of the work. A new liner is often needed because gas exhaust produces acidic condensate that can corrode a masonry flue from the inside.
We inspect the existing flue and confirm whether it is sized and built for the new equipment. If it isn't, we install a properly fitted liner. We are glad to coordinate with your heating contractor so the chimney work and the boiler work line up.
Time for your annual chimney check?
Planning Repairs Around NYC Heat Season
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. If the chimney serving your boiler needs repair, shutting the system down in the middle of winter can create real problems for residents.
Where possible, we recommend scheduling inspections and larger repairs in the late spring and summer, when the heating system can be taken offline without affecting tenants. Some problems can't wait, such as a blocked flue, a failing liner or loose masonry. In those cases we work to make the chimney safe and keep downtime as short as we can.
Serving Stuyvesant Town and Nearby Neighborhoods
Because our office is in Stuyvesant Town, we work across the surrounding East Side every day. Besides Stuyvesant Town, we handle chimney repair in Peter Cooper Village, the East Village, Gramercy, Murray Hill and Kips Bay. The housing in these neighborhoods ranges from large apartment complexes and pre-war buildings to brownstones and rowhouses. Each type comes with its own access challenges and its own kind of chimney.
Whether you own a single fireplace or manage a building with a shared boiler flue, we start the same way. We look closely, explain the issue plainly and recommend only the repairs the chimney actually needs.
More services in Stuyvesant Town
- Chimney Sweep in Stuyvesant Town
- Chimney Inspection in Stuyvesant Town
- Air Duct Cleaning in Stuyvesant Town
- Chimney Liner Installation in Stuyvesant Town
