Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
Masonry repair
Gas fireplace serviceLevel 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning in Claremont, CA | Ontario Chimney
We provide independent DuraFlex cleaning and service across Claremont, CA. Most of the DuraFlex liners we open in Claremont aren’t packed with creosote from heavy winter burning. They’re packed with oak and eucalyptus leaves, squirrel nests, and years of slow, unnoticed corrosion at the cap and top plate. That’s the difference between a quick sweep and actually understanding what a DuraFlex system needs in this specific town.
Our techs work with DuraFlex liners every week. We know the twist-lock joints, the insulation wraps, the top plates, and the failure points from pulling them apart across the Pomona Valley. We sell and service the system, which you can read about on our DuraFlex sales & service page. For anything chimney-related in this city, our Claremont service area page covers what we do here.
If your DuraFlex liner has a clogged cap or you want an honest inspection, call (833) 467-7685 for a free estimate.
Why Claremont Residents Choose Us for DuraFlex Service
Most chimney companies in Claremont can run a brush through a flue. Fewer can tell you whether that DuraFlex liner is actually sound or just hasn’t failed spectacularly yet. Al Vickers, who runs Ontario Chimney, has spent the better part of three decades watching what Inland Empire weather does to chimneys. He grew up in the Sultana neighborhood of Ontario and learned combustion fundamentals at Chaffey College before getting his hands dirty on real jobs across the San Bernardino Valley, including DuraFlex repair in Upland. That background matters when a homeowner asks whether a liner can be repaired or needs full replacement.
We’re an independent DuraFlex service provider, not a manufacturer-authorized shop. That matters more than it sounds like it does. Our loyalty is to the flue in front of us, not to moving product. We’ll tell you when your DuraFlex liner is still serviceable, and we’ll tell you plainly when it isn’t. When repairs are needed, we match OEM DuraFlex components: liner sections, top plates, caps, and connectors. Mixing brands at the joints is where leaks and separations start, and we don’t do that.
Claremont homeowners call us because we show them what we found. A cap that’s failing, a joint that separated, a liner section that got crushed. You see it on camera before you spend a dollar you don’t have to.
Styles & brands we work with
Common DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning Problems We Solve in Claremont
- Corroded top plates and cap screens. Claremont’s oak and eucalyptus canopy drops a lot of leaf litter. When those leaves sit against stainless steel at the crown, they hold moisture. Given enough time, that’s how a DuraFlex top plate or cap screen starts to pit and corrode, even in a dry climate.
- Compressed or crushed corrugated liner sections. Fireplaces in Claremont often sit dormant for months, sometimes years, with only occasional decorative use. Debris settles, and when someone finally runs an oversized brush through, a corrugated DuraFlex section can compress or crush. We see this on older liners that haven’t been inspected in a long time.
- Loose or separated twist-lock joints. Older Claremont masonry chimneys can settle slightly over decades. When an insert gets swapped or a connector gets pulled without resetting the liner, DuraFlex twist-lock joints can separate. You won’t know until smoke backs up or an inspection finds it.
- Failed insulation wrap and torn cap screens. Birds and squirrels find their way behind DuraFlex top plates in tree-lined neighborhoods near the Claremont Colleges. Torn screens and degraded insulation wrap give them an opening. We pull nests out of liners here more often than we pull heavy creosote.
- Leaf-packed caps on homes near the Village. The mature trees that make Claremont beautiful also drop directly onto chimney crowns. A leaf-packed cap restricts draft, and a spring or early-fall check for blockages is as common a call here as a winter sweep.
DuraFlex Service in Claremont: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
Here’s the thing about Claremont that doesn’t show up in generic chimney advice: the housing stock is mostly 1920s through 1960s single-family homes, many with original brick or stone masonry fireplaces that have never been relined. These aren’t workhorse wood-burning setups. They’re decorative fireplaces in a warm, dry Mediterranean climate that get lit a handful of times each season. That means creosote buildup isn’t the primary problem here. The problem is neglect. A DuraFlex liner installed in a Claremont home — or a nearby DuraFlex in Montclair installation — can sit untouched for years while oak leaves pack the cap and squirrels build behind the top plate. When you finally go to light a fire in December, the draft is dead, or worse, the liner has been corroding quietly at the top where moisture collected.
This is why an inspection matters more than a sweep for most DuraFlex owners in Claremont. A Level 2 inspection shows us what’s happening inside the liner: joint separation, corrosion-through, crushed sections, nesting debris. We don’t guess, and we don’t tell you a liner needs replacement without camera evidence you can look at yourself.
DuraFlex Models & Products We Service in Claremont
We service the full DuraFlex lineup: the standard corrugated stainless liner with insulation wrap, the DuraFlex SW smooth-wall kit, the DuraFlex Pro relining system, and the top plates, caps, and connectors that go with each. If your liner is a DuraFlex product, we match OEM parts for any repair. No bargain-bin substitutions and no mixing brands at the joints.
We stock common DuraFlex top plates, cap screens, and connector components for faster turnaround in Claremont. Full liner sections for relines usually come in on order, but common failure parts are typically on the truck. If you’re wondering whether your setup is even a DuraFlex system, call and ask. We can usually tell you from what we see at the cap.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterDuraFlex Service Pricing in Claremont
DuraFlex chimney cleaning in Claremont typically runs between $180 and $340, depending on what’s actually going on inside the liner. A clean, well-maintained flue is a straightforward job. A liner packed with leaves, a failed cap, or a separated joint takes more time, and the price reflects that.
| Service | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| DuraFlex chimney cleaning (standard inspection + sweep) | $180 – $340 |
| Level 2 camera inspection | $250 – $450 |
| DuraFlex cap replacement (OEM parts) | $300 – $700 |
| Top plate replacement | $350 – $800 |
| Chimney waterproofing | $250 – $500 |
| Full DuraFlex reline (installed) | $2,500 – $6,000+ |
What drives the cost: access, liner condition, cap condition, and whether we’re repairing a component or replacing the entire liner. Every estimate includes a camera look at what we’re dealing with. No charge for the estimate. Call (833) 467-7685 and we’ll give you a number, not a vague range.
Serving Claremont, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Claremont area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, including those needing DuraFlex service in La Verne, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning in Claremont
If the flue is unlined or the original clay tile is cracked, yes, you need a liner regardless of how often you light a fire. Unlined masonry flues allow heat, gases, and moisture to work on the mortar joints and surrounding structure. A DuraFlex stainless liner is the practical solution for offset flues in older Claremont homes that rigid liners can’t snake through. But we won’t push a reline without showing you why it’s needed on camera. Call (833) 467-7685 for a Level 2 inspection and we’ll walk you through what’s actually there.
Because Claremont’s tree canopy, especially near the colleges and older neighborhoods, drops leaves directly onto chimney crowns, and torn cap screens or degraded insulation wrap give birds and squirrels an opening. The fix is usually a proper OEM DuraFlex cap with intact screening, plus trimming any branches overhanging the chimney. A spring or early-fall check will catch this before it becomes a draft problem. Call (833) 467-7685 and we’ll take a look.
You can’t tell from the outside, and honestly, neither can we without putting a camera up the flue. What we look for: corrosion through the stainless, crushed or compressed sections, separated twist-lock joints, and liners undersized for the appliance. If the liner is sound and only the cap or top plate failed, we repair with OEM parts. If the liner itself is compromised, we’ll show you the footage and quote a replacement. No guesswork.
No, and here’s why: the mild climate is exactly what lets problems accumulate unnoticed. No freeze-thaw cycles shaking things loose doesn’t mean no deterioration. It means slower, quieter deterioration. Animal nests, leaf pack at the cap, corrosion where moisture collects. An annual inspection in Claremont is more about catching dormant damage than cleaning heavy creosote. A clean flue isn’t a luxury – it’s just how the thing is supposed to work.
We remove the failed top plate or cap, assess the crown underneath, then install OEM DuraFlex components matched to the existing liner system, sealing the junction properly so water and debris can’t get behind it. If the crown itself has cracked, we’ll talk with you about waterproofing while we’re up there. The job usually takes a couple of hours on a standard Claremont masonry chimney. Call (833) 467-7685 for a specific number based on your setup.
Service Areas Near Claremont
We run DuraFlex service through Claremont and the surrounding Pomona Valley. DuraFlex service in Pomona covers homes just west of the 57. DuraFlex service in San Antonio Heights takes us up against the foothills. We also work regularly in Upland, Montclair, and Chino on the same DuraFlex systems.
Book Your DuraFlex Service in Claremont Today
If your DuraFlex cap is clogged, your liner hasn’t been inspected in years, or you’re buying an older Claremont home and want to know what you’re walking into, call us. Free estimate. We’ll tell you what we found and what it actually needs. (833) 467-7685.
Written by Al Vickers, Owner at Ontario Chimney, serving Claremont and the Pomona Valley for nearly three decades.