Level 2 Inspections for Escrow

The Rule Behind the Request

When a house with a fireplace goes into escrow, someone usually ends up asking for a "Level 2." The request comes from NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents. It lists the sale or transfer of a property as one of the occasions that call for a Level 2 inspection, alongside a change of fuel or appliance, a chimney fire, and an event like an earthquake.

The buyer's home inspector checks the fireplace opening from inside the house and views the chimney from the yard or the roof. When anything looks off, writes a line recommending evaluation by a chimney professional. That line is often where we come in. A Level 2 answers the question the general inspection could not, because it looks inside the flue.

What a Level 2 Covers

• - Everything in a Level 1: the firebox, damper, smoke chamber, accessible flue, and the chimney exterior.
• A camera run through the full height of every flue.
• The chimney where it passes through the attic, checked for clearance to wood framing and for water.
• The roof and the top of the chimney: crown, cap, spark arrestor, flashing.

The camera is the part that matters for a sale. Cracked or offset flue tiles, gaps in the liner, heavy creosote glaze and damage from an old chimney fire are invisible from the firebox. They are also the findings that carry real repair costs.

What It Costs and Why It Varies

Our Level 2 inspections run $330. A two-story chimney with two or three flues, a steep or tile roof, or a chimney enclosed in finished walls with no access takes longer than a one-story house with a single flue and an attic hatch, so mention it when you book.

The number of flues surprises people. Many Sherman Oaks houses from the 1950s and 1960s have a fireplace flue and a separate flue for an old furnace or water heater in the same chimney, and each one gets scanned. If a flue is so coated with creosote that the camera cannot read the tile, it may need a sweep first, which starts from $220.

To get the right figure, send the listing address and the inspection deadline through the form. Note how many stories the house has and whether the listing photos show more than one fireplace. We will reply with the price and the soonest slot that fits the contingency period.

Why the Valley Makes This Inspection Worth Doing

Sherman Oaks sat close to the epicenter of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Many chimneys here cracked or fell, and many of the ones still standing had their flue tiles knocked out of line inside. Some were repaired at the top only. A house that has changed hands twice since then may never have had a camera down the flue.

Wildfire adds a second reason in the hills south of Ventura Boulevard. Buyers' insurers in those zones increasingly ask about the chimney top, and a Level 2 report with photos of a code-compliant spark arrestor answers that question during escrow, when it is easiest to settle.

Reading the Report as a Buyer

A useful report gives you three things:

1. Each finding with a photo and a location. "Open mortar joint in flue tile, 11 feet from the top" is a finding. "Liner has some issues" is not. 2. A verdict on use. Safe to use, use after repair, or do not use. 3. Repairs quoted separately. The findings and the price of fixing them should be two documents, so you can get competing bids on the same findings.

That separation is how we write ours. A buyer can hand the report to any chimney contractor and ask for a price on the same scope.

What Buyers Usually Do With It

If the report is clean, nothing. It goes in the file and the fireplace can be used.

If it shows repairs, the buyer can ask the seller to complete them before closing, ask for a credit, or accept the house as is with a clear idea of the cost. Common findings in Sherman Oaks include a cracked crown, a missing or rusted cap, open joints in clay tile liners and clearance problems in the attic. Larger findings, such as a damaged liner that needs relining or a chimney loose above the roof, change the conversation and are worth knowing about before the contingency expires.

Reading the Report as a Seller

Sellers who order a Level 2 before listing tend to have smoother escrows. The chimney's condition is known, minor repairs can be done ahead of time, and anything larger can be disclosed and priced up front instead of discovered by the buyer's side with a week left on the clock. A clean report, or a report with completed repairs and photos, is a simple attachment to the disclosure package.

If you have a permitted insert, a recent rebuild or a new cap, gather that paperwork too. Permits and invoices answer questions before they are asked.

Timing Inside a Contingency

Inspection contingencies are short. The usual delays are scheduling and roof access. A few things help:

• - Book as soon as the offer is accepted, not after the general inspection.
• Tell us whether the sellers are living in the house, so access is arranged.
• Make sure the fireplace has not been used in the day before, so the firebox is cool.
• If the roof is tile, mention it so we bring the right gear.

Book the Inspection

If you are buying or selling in Sherman Oaks or anywhere nearby in the Valley, call us using the button on this page and say it is for escrow. Give us the deadline, and we will build the visit and the report around it.