For our homeowner's insurance, we needed proof. They did a full check with photos and video, cleaned the flue, fixed some small problems with the mortar, and sent a professional report the same day. The insurance company agreed to cover…
Chimney sweep and repair in Bernards Township, NJ
Bernards Township, most of it known locally as Basking Ridge, is the least masonry-heavy town we cover in Somerset County. Over 70 percent of its housing went up after 1980, and better than half of that in named developments from the 1980s building boom like The Hills, Spring Ridge and Society Hill, where the chimney is a framed chase over a listed metal firebox, not a brick stack.
5.0from 24 Google reviews
The short answer
We inspect and service the framed chases and metal fireboxes common across Basking Ridge’s developments, handle the long dryer-duct runs typical of its townhouse rows, and cover the small pockets of real masonry around Franklin Corners and Liberty Corner.
What we find on Bernards Township jobs
Bernards Township is the most thoroughly post-1980 town we cover, and that decade did more than set the housing age, it set the chimney type. Better than half the stock went up in named 1980s developments like The Hills, Spring Ridge and Society Hill, and in nearly all of them the chimney is a listed metal firebox behind a framed, sided chase rather than a masonry stack. The recurring finds are the ones that go with that construction: chase-cover seams working loose, flashing failing at the roofline, not mortar or tile problems. Better than 45 percent of Bernards housing is attached or multi-family, townhouses and condos where the dryer vent often has to run a long way to reach a roof or gable termination, right up against the length limit the code allows once you count the elbows. Fuel oil is nearly gone here compared to the rest of the county, so what’s left of that work is appliance replacement inside an already-converted gas system. The real masonry sits in two small historic districts, Franklin Corners and Liberty Corner, plus the old Basking Ridge village core, and nowhere else.
Where the van goes in Bernards Township
- Basking Ridge
- Liberty Corner
- Lyons
- The Hills
- Franklin Corners
- West Millington
- Mount Horeb
- Madisonville
- Hardscrabble
- Stone House
- White Bridge
- Somerset Mills
Everything we do in Bernards Township
- Chimney sweepingThe camera goes down before any brush does
- Chimney inspectionTwo inspection levels, one written report
- Chimney repairCrowns, caps, flashing and liners — stopping the water
- Fireplace & stoveStubborn pilots, seized dampers, worn gaskets
- Dryer vent cleaningEvery foot of the lint run, cleared
- Air duct cleaningWith an honest no when it will not help
- Duct repair & replacementCrushed, split or dropped runs put right
What homeowners say on our Google listing
5.0
24 reviews on Google
Read on
Excellent communication throughout the process. I received a text when the tech was on his way, and he arrived exactly when promised to do the sweep.
After it rained a lot, we saw wet spots on the wall next to the chimney. A broken crown and worn-out flashing were found by the team. They put in new lead boots instead of flashing, poured a new sloped crown, sealed all the joints, and…
Questions from Bernards Township
We live in one of the 1980s developments. What kind of chimney do we actually have?
Almost certainly a listed metal firebox inside a framed, sided chase rather than a masonry fireplace. That’s the standard setup in developments like The Hills, Spring Ridge and Society Hill, and the recurring issues are chase-cover seams and roofline flashing, not mortar or a cracked crown.
Our dryer takes forever to finish a cycle. Could the vent run be an issue in our townhouse?
It’s worth checking. A lot of Bernards Township’s housing is attached or multi-family, and a dryer vent in a townhouse row often has to travel a long way to reach a roof or gable termination. Code sets a maximum length that shrinks with every elbow in the run, and a long, restricted duct is a common cause of exactly that symptom.
Our house is in the historic part of Basking Ridge. Is that different from the rest of the township?
It usually is. The old village core, along with the Franklin Corners and Liberty Corner historic districts, holds nearly all of the township’s pre-1940 housing, and that’s genuine masonry rather than the framed chases common in the 1980s developments. Confirm any exterior work with the township before scheduling.
We still have an oil furnace. Is that unusual out here?
It’s less common in Bernards Township than almost anywhere else we cover, most of the conversion wave already happened, but there’s still a residual group on oil. When that furnace is eventually replaced, the installer verifies the flue is correctly sized for the new appliance as part of the swap.
Find us on Google
See the reviews behind our 5.0 rating from 24 Google customers before scheduling work at your Basking Ridge address.