Blog
Notes from the roof
San Francisco and Bay Area chimney questions, answered plainly: each article links to one service page and nowhere else.
What San Francisco’s fog actually does to a chimneySan Francisco’s chimneys age on fog-hours, not rainfall. Here is the mechanism, which neighborhoods see it worst, and what stops it.
Spare the Air days and your fireplaceBAAQMD’s Spare the Air program can ban wood burning across the Bay Area on a single winter day. What it restricts, who is exempt, what it does not.
Unreinforced masonry chimneys and San Francisco’s earthquake riskA pre-1940s San Francisco brick chimney predates any seismic bracing code. Why that matters, and what the San Andreas and Hayward faults mean for it.
Spark arrestor rules in wildfire-era CaliforniaCalifornia’s wildfire-era fire code sets real, specific requirements for a spark arrestor — what it requires and what it means for a cap.
When chimney work in San Francisco needs a permitMost routine chimney repointing in San Francisco does not need a permit. Structural or framing-connected work usually does. Here is where the line sits.
Eucalyptus, Monterey pine and why Bay Area caps clog earlyEucalyptus and Monterey pine shed resinous debris year-round across the Bay Area, clogging caps faster than seasonal leaf litter. Here is why.
What changes the scope of a chimney repairThe same-looking crack can mean very different repair scopes. Here are the actual factors that change the size of a chimney repair job — no prices, no ranges.