Chimney sweep near you
Yes, we cover Eastmoreland and Reed, where many chimneys are big ones: two- and three-flue brick stacks on 1910s to 1930s houses under tree cover, with moss, wet crowns and a furnace flue nobody uses anymore at the top of the list.
Updated
Eastmoreland is almost entirely single-family houses built between 1910 and 1961, named for Judge J.C. Moreland, the developer, and so thick with mature trees that many chimneys here spend the winter in shade.
The 1910s to 1930s Craftsman and period revival houses were typically built with a brick chimney serving a fireplace and a basement furnace, and on the larger houses two or three flues share one stack, sometimes with a second fireplace upstairs. The houses from the 1940s to 1961 that complete the historic district more often have a single tile-lined masonry fireplace.
Reed, north of the college, is a different place: about two-thirds renters, more multifamily buildings, and houses built after 1968 where Lambert Gardens used to be. Calls from Reed come from landlords and the college-adjacent rentals; calls from Eastmoreland come from owners who want the chimney to look right as well as work, since the neighborhood joined the National Register in December 2022.
An Eastmoreland chimney is often a wide brick stack with two or three clay-lined or unlined flues, with a decorative crown or corbel on many of the period revival houses.
Under the tree canopy the crown rarely dries between storms, moss holds water against the shaded face, and the top courses stay saturated into the freezing nights, which is how a wide crown splits and the brick below it spalls. Inside, one flue was often built for an oil furnace long since replaced, and it may now be cold, open and shedding mortar onto whatever still vents into it.
Big multi-flue stacks under big trees decide what an Eastmoreland or Reed chimney needs from us.
A wide crown spanning two or three flues on an Eastmoreland stack often cracks along the lines between the tiles, and under the trees it stays wet long enough each winter for the cracks to open further with every freeze. We remove the failed crown, pour a new one with a proper overhang and drip edge, leave expansion room around each tile, and seal the tile joints.
Moss on the shaded face holds water against the brick, and brick that stays wet spalls when it freezes. We clear the moss, let the masonry dry, and apply a breathable water repellent that sheds rain without sealing moisture in, which suits a historic-district chimney because it keeps brick looking like brick.
A sale, a long-cold fireplace or a second fireplace upstairs that nobody has used in decades gets a Level 2 camera inspection, flue by flue, since a three-flue Eastmoreland stack can have one sound flue, one cracked one and one that has been cold since the oil furnace left. Every flue gets scanned, and the footage comes with the report.
Repointing on a period revival chimney in Eastmoreland means matching the mortar color and the joint profile as well as fixing the joint, and replacing a decorative brick with one that looks like its neighbors. On a street where the whole block was built to a style, we photograph the finished work from the ground so you can judge the match yourself.
The 1940s to 1961 houses and the Reed rentals often have a single tile-lined fireplace that gets a yearly sweep and Level 1 look-over, with photos of the flue before and after. On the Reed side, landlords can book several houses for one afternoon and get a written note per address.
We reach Eastmoreland and Reed from McLoughlin Blvd (OR 99E) by way of SE Bybee Blvd or SE Holgate Blvd, with SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd, SE 28th Ave and SE Woodstock Blvd running through the neighborhood.
The streets in Eastmoreland are tree-lined, and the trees are the complication: a branch over the chimney side of the roof can decide which way we set the ladder, and a stack that rises well above a steep roof may need access from the opposite slope. Tell us when you book how many flues the chimney has, if you know.
Eastmoreland takes its name from Judge J.C. Moreland, a local real estate developer.
The 475-acre Eastmoreland Historic District, covering houses built from 1910 to 1961, was listed on the National Register on December 7, 2022, after the neighborhood association nominated it in 2017 to slow demolitions and owners filed thousands of objections through trusts in 2018.
The city lists Eastmoreland as a National Register district that it has not designated as a Historic or Conservation District.
Eastmoreland Golf Course dates to 1916 and Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden to 1923; Reed College, founded in 1908, sits on a 116-acre campus divided by the wooded Reed Canyon.
Lambert Gardens, in what is now the Reed neighborhood, gave way to housing in 1968, and Duniway Elementary, Berkeley Park and Holy Family Catholic School are the other landmarks residents name.
Yes, both neighborhoods and all of 97202 south of Holgate are covered. Eastmoreland and Reed share the 97202 ZIP with Sellwood and Brooklyn, and everything in Eastmoreland and Reed, from the college blocks to the golf course, is on our regular route at the posted price. Nothing is added for travel when you have the work done, whether the address is a Reed rental or a period revival house on the historic district blocks.
Only the ones that carry a fire. The fireplace flues that get used need a sweep as needed, usually yearly, and all three need the camera at least once so you know what each one serves and what shape it is in. A flue that once vented the oil furnace and now vents nothing should be capped and closed rather than swept, and a flue that still carries a water heater should be lined to its size.
Moss is a slow problem, not a cosmetic one, because it holds water against the brick. Under the Eastmoreland trees that face rarely dries out in winter, so the brick freezes wet and the faces spall while the mortar joints open behind the growth. We remove the moss, let the masonry dry, repoint what has opened, and apply a breathable repellent, treating old brick gently, with no pressure washing and no film-forming sealer that would trap water inside.
It changes how we match the work, not whether it gets done. Eastmoreland is a National Register district that the city has not designated as a local historic or conservation district, and which repairs need any review is a question for the city permit desk before work begins. On our side, repointing is matched to the original mortar color and joint, replacement brick is chosen to match, and a cap is picked to suit the chimney.
Not unless your household holds a Multnomah County exemption, which is given on grounds such as sole-source wood heat or qualifying income and must be renewed each September 30. A red day shuts fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and outdoor fires from noon to noon the following day, and the county can call one in any month the forecast says poor air. A yellow day is advisory. The wood burning rules guide on this site has the current details.
Yes, that is how we handle Reed rentals. We book the two houses back to back, scan each flue with the camera, sweep what needs sweeping, and send a report per address with its own photos so each file stands on its own. Where a fireplace in a rental should stay unused, we say so plainly and quote a top-sealing damper or a cap to close it rather than leaving an open hole.
Our contractor-check guide explains the state lookup and what to make of the results. For an Eastmoreland chimney, add two questions: will you show me the camera footage of each flue, not just one, and can you match the mortar and brick on a period revival stack. A posted price before the visit is the third thing to ask for, and it is the one that stops surprises.
The crew that covers Eastmoreland and Reed also works Sellwood to the west, Woodstock up the hill to the east, and Brooklyn and Richmond to the north.
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.