Say what you have seen or heard at your Alhambra house, and we will call to set a time.
Fixing the symptom and leaving the top open just means another call next spring. For chimney inspection in Alhambra, Crosby Chimney Care looks for the way in as well as the damage, on 1920s spanish bungalows, craftsman cottages, and postwar single-story homes alike.
City on the job
Alhambra, CA
Postal codes on file
2
Also on this loop
Monterey Park and El Sereno
Roofs we see most
1920s Spanish bungalows, Craftsman cottages, and postwar single-story homes
Alhambra keeps many older bungalows with short brick chimneys close to the roof, so roof rats and pigeons reach the top with little effort. A chimney that has gone several winters without a fire is the kind animals move into.
Streets near you
The list below is a sample, not a boundary. If your block is in or next to Alhambra, a call settles it in a minute.
Expect animal entry points logged alongside cracks and gaps, level 1: visual check of the reachable flue and firebox, and level 2: video scan when a sale, quake or fire calls for it. Afterward you receive photos and a short note on what we found, what we did and what can wait, whether the job stayed simple or turned up a repair.
Inland heat bakes mortar dry and opens hairline gaps around the crown. After a long dry spell, the first rain is when owners tend to notice a damp, musty smell drifting out of the fireplace. Late summer, before the first fire, is the busiest window. Late spring, once nesting season ends, is the best time to get a cap on before next year's birds arrive.
Our crews cover Alhambra plus Monterey Park, El Sereno, and San Gabriel. Postal codes on the route: 91801 and 91803. On a border street? Ask when you call and we will check the map with you.
Many visits turn up a second problem, like a rusted cap during a sweep or a wet crown during a nest removal. These pages cover those jobs.
Brushwork, nest pulling and a close look at the cap, so a flue that gets swept also gets checked for whatever moved in.
Read this oneSplits, gaps and loose tiles that let rain and small animals in, repaired once we know where the trouble really starts.
Read this oneFirebox, damper and smoke chamber gone over from the room side, including the droppings and debris that say something visits.
Read this oneSticky dampers, crumbling firebrick and smoke rolling into the room, fixed after we know which of them is the real problem.
Read this oneCamera-on review of the whole flue, for a sale, after shaking, after a flue fire, or when debris keeps falling from somewhere unseen.
Read this oneSnug stainless caps with a mesh screen, sized to the flue tile so birds, raccoons, squirrels and leaves stay outside.
Read this oneDrips, ceiling stains and rusted metal where the chimney meets the roof, sealed with new flashing tied into brick and shingles.
Read this oneCrumbling joints and loose bricks give rats and wasps a way in; we repoint, swap bad brick and seal the stack.
Read this oneLeaning, loose or quake-cracked stacks taken down to sound brick and built back with a sealed crown and a screened cap.
Read this oneAsh, soot, old nest bits and glass haze cleared from firebox, doors and hearth, on wood, gas and electric fireplaces.
Read this oneCobwebs, dust and lint pulled from burners, pilot hoods and vents, with glass and logs cleaned so the flame looks right again.
Read this oneClicking with no flame, a pilot that will not hold, or a remote that does nothing: each part is tested before one is replaced.
Read this oneRefaced surrounds, new mantels and gas conversions, planned after we have checked the firebox and flue behind them.
Read this oneSteel boxes that slide into an old firebox and vent through a new liner, turning a drafty opening into a real heater.
Read this oneJammed feed, no glow, a rattling fan: pellet stove faults found one part at a time, with the exhaust vent cleared of fine ash.
Read this oneLeaky door seals, warped baffles and cracked firebrick replaced so the stove burns clean and the pipe above stays clear.
Read this oneLifelike log sets for a fireplace you rarely light, with the gas line, valve and burner sized to the firebox and the room.
Read this onePrices do not change from one town to the next. What changes is the trees, the roofs and the animals, and each page says how.
the oak-shaded streets between the Arroyo Seco and Chapman Woods
Hastings Ranch, our home base, sits in the northeast corner of Pasadena, and this page covers it along with the older blocks toward the Arroyo Seco. Oaks and sycamores shed onto crowns all autumn, and an older bungalow flue left open without a cap is an easy door for a squirrel, a bird or a raccoon. A Pasadena call often starts with scratching behind the mantel or twigs on the grate.
Open town pagethe foothill streets below Eaton Canyon and Echo Mountain
Altadena runs right up to the San Gabriel foothills, and raccoons, squirrels, birds and bats come down looking for a dry, quiet flue. The January 2025 Eaton Fire destroyed or damaged many homes here, and chimneys on houses that stayed standing can still hold ash and fallen debris inside.
Open town pagethe large-lot residential streets just south of Pasadena
A San Marino house may carry two or three chimneys, and the flue over the room nobody uses is the one birds and squirrels pick. Big trees on wide lots drop leaves onto every crown and into the gap behind each stack.
Open town pagethe wooded hillsides between the Arroyo Seco and the Angeles Crest Highway
La Canada Flintridge sits against the Angeles National Forest, with oaks overhead and brush on the slopes. Raccoons, squirrels and birds pass through the yards, and an open flue on a quiet house makes a ready den.
Open town pagethe Crescenta Valley streets around Honolulu Avenue
Montrose lies in the Crescenta Valley below the San Gabriels, with the Verdugos across the way, so wildlife drifts in from two directions. Squirrels and birds take over uncapped flues, and street trees stuff crowns with leaves each fall.
Open town pageIt will. Alhambra is a regular stop for Crosby Chimney Care, and the same trip often takes in Monterey Park and El Sereno. Tell us the street when you book and we will give you a window.
Expect animal entry points logged alongside cracks and gaps, level 1: visual check of the reachable flue and firebox, level 2: video scan when a sale, quake or fire calls for it. The final price depends on what we find at the top of the chimney and inside it, and anything beyond the visit is quoted on paper first.
Usually not. Small openings get bigger: a loose cap, a cracked crown or an empty nest left over winter tends to mean water damage or new tenants by spring. We see both across 91801, 91803.
