What is a Level 2 chimney inspection and do I need one when buying a house?
In Black Mountain, a Level 2 inspection is the buyer's step before closing on a fireplace home — it adds a video scan of the whole flue and an inspection of the accessible attic, crawlspace, and roof to the basic visual check. Swannanoa Valley inversions make mornings 10 to 15 degrees colder than Asheville, so the chimney you're inheriting will work hard, and you want to know it's sound.
Cold mornings, colder flues
Temperature inversions pool cold air in the Swannanoa Valley, and a cold flue behaves like a plug — draft struggles, and a chimney with a hidden crack or blockage becomes a real hazard exactly when you're leaning on it. Late frost dates stretch the burning season, too. A Level 2 camera pass and roofline check tell you whether the flue is clear and intact before the first cold snap after you move in.
What the camera finds in wooded lots
Montreat and the surrounding wooded lots keep houses shaded, cool, and damp, which is hard on masonry and easy to miss from inside. The scan hunts for creosote glaze from years of wood fires, cracked flue tiles, and moisture damage up in the chimney — none of it visible from the firebox. You have no record of how the last owner burned, so the camera is the only honest history you get.
Fifteen minutes from the showroom
Black Mountain sits 15 minutes east of our Asheville showroom at 629 Emma Rd, so scheduling a Level 2 inside your due-diligence window is easy. Get the findings in writing and you can negotiate a reline or repair before closing. If the report calls for a liner or gas-line work, we pull the Buncombe County permit and meet the inspector as a licensed gas contractor. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Black Mountain
We install and service fireplaces throughout Black Mountain and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Does a standard home inspection cover the fireplace and chimney?
- I'm buying a house with a fireplace — what should I have inspected?
- Does my chimney need to be inspected or cleaned before a conversion or insert installation?
- Is it safe to use the fireplace in a house I just bought before having it serviced?
- Will my homeowner's insurance have issues with an existing wood stove in a house I'm buying?