One office on Union St, four places on the map.

The chimneys this office works on

Most of what we see from New Bedford was built a long time ago. The Census Bureau’s survey puts about half of the city’s housing units before 1940, and nearly as many in buildings of two, three or four units. The Massachusetts Historical Commission’s survey of the city describes whaling-era brick houses with tall end chimneys, cottages on raised basements with chimneys inside the walls, and, from the 1890s, whole streets of three-deckers along Cove Street and Acushnet Avenue.

Across the harbor, Fairhaven’s town center is full of Federal houses with interior chimneys. Dartmouth and Acushnet add center-chimney houses from the 1700s alongside many houses from the 1960s and ’70s. Four in five occupied homes in the city now heat with gas, while oil still heats a large share of homes in Acushnet and Dartmouth. Each of those mixes asks something different of a flue, which is why each town has its own page with the sources listed.

What we do on every job

Look before advising. Most of a chimney is out of sight, inside the walls or above the roofline, so we photograph what we find and show you the pictures. You hear which parts are sound, which need attention before the next fire, and which can be planned for later. Repair work starts once you have agreed to the scope, and not before; what to expect walks through a visit step by step.

Some calls belong partly to someone else, and we say so when they do. Whether a job needs a permit is decided by the local building department. Certain animal cases call for a wildlife-control specialist licensed by the state, and wiring a draft fan is normally work for an electrician.