Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 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.
Gelco Chimney Cleaning in Burbank, CA | Flint Chimney Co Pasadena
We provide independent Gelco chimney cap and chase cover service across Burbank as your local Burbank Chimney Sweep, and we’re not affiliated with the manufacturer. What makes our Gelco work different here is simple: we’ve spent years on Burbank rooftops and know that a Gelco cap on a 1950s ranch or a hillside custom home behaves differently than the same cap in Pasadena or Glendale. The wind patterns, the nesting pressure, and the age of the flues under those caps all shape what needs to happen during a cleaning. Call (626) 657-5513 for a written price before any work starts.
Why Burbank Residents Choose Us for Gelco Service
Our techs see Gelco chimney caps and chase covers on Burbank hillside and ranch homes every week. We know the weaknesses of Gelco’s multi-flue and custom cap designs and the debris patterns they accumulate under Santa Ana winds. Hank Delano, our owner, grew up in Los Angeles and spent his early twenties learning the trade through the HVAC and sheet metal program at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. He’s been cleaning and inspecting chimneys for going on eighteen years, and his crew has worked jobs from Craftsman bungalows near the Arroyo Seco all the way across the San Gabriel Valley. When a Burbank homeowner calls about a rattling Gelco cap or a smoky fireplace that hasn’t been used since last winter, we don’t guess. We get on the roof and look. The flue either draws or it doesn’t. Let’s find out which.
We carry OEM Gelco caps and covers when matching the existing footprint matters, but we’re also straight about when an aftermarket stainless cap does the same job for less. Every job gets a written price before we touch a tool, and every repair carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. You can learn more about our broader Gelco sales & service work, or keep reading for what Burbank-specific conditions mean for your equipment.
Styles & brands we work with
Common Gelco Chimney Cleaning Problems We Solve in Burbank
- Wind-driven leaf and twig packing under multi-flue caps. Gelco multi-flue caps on hillside homes collect eucalyptus leaves and small twigs under the hood during Santa Ana events. The debris sits on the mesh, restricts draft, and the first cold night of the year the fireplace smokes back into the living room. We pull the cap, clear the screening, and check what fell through.
- Fine mesh clogged with low-emission wood ash on single-flue caps. Burbank’s South Coast AQMD rules push residents toward low-emission burning practices, which produce finer particulates. On 1950s ranch fireplaces with Gelco single-flue caps, that fine ash and soot loads up the mesh fast. The symptom is usually a weak draft or smoke backing up on startup. We clean the mesh and, if it’s near the end of its life, quote a replacement on the spot.
- Rust-through at welded corners on chase covers. Gelco chase covers on remodeled hillside chimneys show rust first at the welded corners. Morning marine layer moisture settles there, and Burbank’s rare rain events find the weak points. We see this most on homes above Glenoaks where the cover gets full morning exposure. A rusted-through chase cover is a replacement job, not a patch job.
- Loose custom caps after minor seismic shifts. Custom Gelco caps sized for odd-shaped Burbank flues can sit loose after small earthquakes or years of thermal cycling. A loose cap lets birds in during the long stretches when the fireplace isn’t used. We re-secure or rebuild the cap, and check whether anything moved in underneath.
- Birds nesting under caps on infrequently used fireplaces. Burbank’s mild Mediterranean climate means fireplaces sit idle most of the year. That makes them prime nesting spots. A Gelco cap with a damaged screen or an imperfect fit is an open door. We remove nests, clean the flue, and repair or replace the cap so it doesn’t happen again.
Gelco Service in Burbank: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Burbank’s hillside neighborhoods above Glenoaks have many chimneys with cracked crowns and spalling brick that predate Gelco’s later cap designs. It’s a specific Burbank condition: sun exposure on south-facing brick, decades of thermal cycling, and original 1940s-to-1960s masonry that was never built for modern cap systems. We often find Gelco caps installed on chimneys with unlined or deteriorating clay flue tiles. A cap that looks fine from the street can be covering a flue that’s actively shedding clay fragments. That’s why we pair cap work on older Burbank homes with our Chimney Inspection in Burbank. You don’t seal off the top of a chimney without knowing what’s below it. That’s not a sales tactic. It’s how you avoid putting a new $300 cap on a flue that needs a liner.
Up on Viewcrest Drive in the Burbank hills, our tech removed a rusted Gelco multi-flue cap from a 1962 custom home. The screening was packed with eucalyptus leaves from the last Santa Ana wind, and the flue below had a birds’ nest from infrequent use. We cleaned the flue, repaired spalled brick at the crown, and installed a new stainless steel custom cap matched to the Gelco footprint, then confirmed draft with a smoke test. That’s the sequence: cap off, flue checked, crown repaired, cap replaced, draft verified. The cap is only as good as the chimney it sits on.
Gelco Models & Products We Service in Burbank
We work on the full Gelco lineup: Multi-Flue Chimney Caps, Single-Flue Chimney Caps, Custom Chimney Caps, and Chase Covers. On the parts side, we use OEM Gelco caps and covers when matching the existing footprint is critical, like when a homeowner wants a direct swap with no masonry modification. But for most Burbank repairs, we recommend quality aftermarket stainless steel caps that replicate the Gelco profile at lower cost. Stainless holds up better against the marine layer moisture and sun exposure Burbank dishes out. If the Gelco unit is rusted through or more than 10 years old, replacement is usually cheaper than rebuilding. We keep common cap sizes and stainless sheet stock ready for fast Burbank turnaround.
See the difference
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After
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AfterGelco Service Pricing in Burbank
A Gelco cap cleaning alone typically runs $149 to $229 when bundled with a standard chimney sweep. Cap replacement on a Burbank ranch with a single-flue Gelco cap runs $275 to $450 installed, depending on the flue dimensions and whether we need custom fabrication for an odd footprint. A stainless custom cap matched to an original Gelco multi-flue layout generally lands between $450 and $750. Chase cover replacement on a hillside home runs $800 to $1,400 depending on the chase size and whether we’re fabricating from stainless or copper. Camera inspection, if needed, is included at no extra charge when we’re already on the roof replacing a cap. Every estimate is a written flat price delivered before work starts. Call (626) 657-5513 and we’ll put the number in front of you.
Serving Burbank, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burbank 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 – Gelco Chimney Cleaning in Burbank
Loose mounting hardware or a cap that was never sized properly for the flue. Santa Ana winds hit hillside homes hard, and over time the mechanical fasteners back out. We re-secure or replace the cap, and while we’re up there we check whether the cap is actually the right footprint for the flue, not just close enough. Call (626) 657-5513 for a written quote.
Only if the screen is intact and the cap fits the flue correctly. A Gelco cap with a torn screen or a loose custom fit is an open door for nesting birds during the long stretches when a Burbank fireplace sits unused. If you hear scratching or chirping above the firebox, we need to pull the cap, remove the nest, and fix the entry point. Call (626) 657-5513 and we’ll get on the roof.
Yes. Rust-through at the welded corners is the most common failure we see on Burbank chase covers, driven by morning marine layer moisture and rare rain. We fabricate a stainless steel replacement matched to the existing footprint, install it, and the repair carries our year-long written guarantee. Call (626) 657-5513 for an accurate price.
South Coast AQMD rules push toward low-emission burning, which produces finer ash and soot. That fine particulate loads up Gelco single-flue cap mesh faster than the coarse creosote you’d see in colder climates. The cap screen clogs, draft weakens, and smoke backs up. We clean the mesh during a standard sweep and flag it for replacement if the screen is near end of life. Call (626) 657-5513 to schedule.
Because the cap is only the top of the system. Many 1950s Burbank ranch fireplaces have original clay flue tiles that are cracked, spalled, or missing entirely. A perfectly good Gelco cap can be sitting on a flue that’s actively failing. We run a Level 2 camera inspection before recommending any repair, and we show you the footage. You see what we see. Call (626) 657-5513 and we’ll put it in writing.
Service Areas Near Burbank
We run Gelco service across the San Gabriel Valley and northeast Los Angeles. If you’re in Pasadena, we cover that through our Gelco service in Pasadena page. Glendale homeowners can find the same documented pricing and guarantee on our Gelco service in Glendale page. We also serve Arcadia, Highland Park, and East Los Angeles. Our full coverage area is on the Burbank service area page.
Book Your Gelco Service in Burbank Today
We’ll put a written price in front of you before any work starts, and every repair carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise. Call (626) 657-5513 for a free estimate on Gelco cap cleaning, replacement, or chase cover work in Burbank. A live person answers day or night.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Co Pasadena, serving Burbank since 2002.