Fireplace and chimney service in Louisville

Louisville started as a coal town. The Welch Mine opened in 1877, the town was incorporated in 1882, and about 30 mines worked inside today's city limits before the last closed in the 1950s. The miners' houses of Old Town are still there, but most of Louisville came later. The Census Bureau's 2024 survey puts the median home at 1991, with about 54 percent built in the 1980s and 1990s. Gas heats about 76 percent of homes, and two thirds are detached houses.

Then came the Marshall Fire. On December 30, 2021 it destroyed 550 homes in Louisville, and the city reported in August 2026 that 532 of them have been rebuilt or have started. That gives the city a large group of brand-new houses, nearly all with new gas fireplaces. At the free inspection we check the fireplace, vent and chimney from the roof and from inside, take photos and write down the price of anything that needs doing.

New gas fireplaces in rebuilt homes

A new gas fireplace still needs a yearly check of the pilot, burner, glass seal and vent, and it needs to be set up for altitude. Gas appliances usually lose about 4 percent of their input for every 1,000 feet above 2,000 feet, roughly 14 percent at Louisville's 5,401 feet. A yearly service typically runs $150 to $350.

Colorado requires a carbon monoxide alarm within 15 feet of every bedroom after permitted work such as installing or replacing a gas appliance, and when a home with a fireplace or gas appliance is sold. Any fireplace installed in Boulder County must be gas, electric, a certified wood stove or insert, or an approved pellet unit.

Old Town Louisville chimneys

Old Town's oldest houses date from the coal-mining years, and their chimneys show their age: open mortar joints, cracked crowns and flues that were never lined. Louisville runs a voluntary landmark program for Old Town, paid for by a preservation sales tax, with grants and loans for landmarked homes reviewed by the city's Historic Preservation Commission. If your house is landmarked, ask the city before changing how the chimney looks.

Typical ranges: repointing $500 to $2,500, crown $600 to $2,200, rebuilding the top few courses $1,000 to $3,500.

1980s and 1990s homes: chase covers and hail

In the 1980s and 1990s subdivisions, many fireplaces are factory-built, with a metal chimney in a framed chase and a sheet-metal chase cover on top. Hail dents it, water pools and rust follows. A new chase cover typically runs $300 to $700. We photograph hail damage for your insurance adjuster.

Where we work in Louisville

Old Town · North End · Steel Ranch · Coal Creek Ranch · Harper Lake · The Enclave