Masonry repair
Sweep & inspection
Caps & crowns
Flue relining
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.
Fast, Reliable Gas Fireplace Repair Across Lost Creek
Gas fireplace repair in Lost Creek typically runs $185 – $650 depending on what’s actually wrong, and most jobs are completed in a single visit. We know the chimneys in Lost Creek because we’ve been up on top of them: steep drives off Lost Creek Blvd, oversized 1970s masonry stacks, and gas appliances vented into flues that were built for wood fires. If your fireplace won’t stay lit or you smell something odd when it runs, call (361) 420-8585 and a live person answers, day or night.
Lost Creek’s hilltop homes present a specific set of gas fireplace problems you won’t find in flat-lot neighborhoods across Austin. The original clay tile flues crack from decades of thermal cycling, dampers rust into position from humid summers, and the dense live oak canopy means wildlife finds its way into chimneys that sit unused from March to November. We come prepared with roof anchors, extension ladders, and camera equipment so you can see exactly what we see before any repair is recommended.
Why Alcott Chimney Austin Is Lost Creek’s Preferred Gas Fireplace Repair Company
Ruben Castellano leads our team, and he built Alcott Chimney Sweep in 2002 on a simple rule: show the homeowner the problem before asking for a dollar. That matters in Lost Creek, where chimney companies sometimes see a 45-year-old masonry stack and start quoting liner replacements sight unseen. Our technicians arrive with camera scopes and don’t recommend anything until the footage is on the screen in front of you.
Every technician who comes to your Lost Creek door is background-checked and identity-verified under the Threshold Standard. You’ll see the technician’s name and photo before we arrive, and they’ll show a photo ID badge at the door, every time. No exceptions. That’s not an upsell or an add-on; it’s how we’ve operated since 2002 as part of the Threshold Group family.
We’re scheduled out of our metro office and serve Lost Creek locally with crews who know the neighborhood. We’ve worked on 1970s chimneys throughout the Westlake area, up and down the hills around Lost Creek Country Club, and along the twisty sections of Lost Creek Blvd where driveway access calls for a 32-foot ladder and a good set of roof anchors. You get a written price before any work begins, and every repair carries our written guarantee. If the repair fails within the coverage period, the second visit is free. That’s the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and we don’t make exceptions for it.
Styles & brands we work with
Our Gas Fireplace Repair Services in Lost Creek
Gas Fireplace Smoke & Draft Correction
When a gas fireplace in Lost Creek smokes into the room, the cause is almost never the gas itself. It’s a flue problem. Original 1970s chimneys in this neighborhood were sized for open wood fires, and when a gas log set or insert vents into that oversized flue, the draft never develops properly. Add a rusted half-open damper and you get smoke rolling back into the living room. We correct the draft by resizing or relining the flue where needed, and we always camera-scope the stack first so you see the obstruction or the sizing problem with your own eyes.
Damper Repair & Replacement
Lost Creek’s humid summers are rough on dampers. We regularly find top-sealing dampers and throat dampers rusted solid in 1970s fireplaces that sat unused from April through October. When the damper won’t open, the fireplace either smokes or the pilot light won’t stay lit because there’s no airflow. We replace rusted dampers with top-sealing units that stop the chimney from acting like an open hole in your roof when the fireplace isn’t in use. On a steep Lost Creek lot, we bring the ladders and anchors to access everything safely.
Chimney Crown Repair & Flashing
Spalled brick and cracked crowns are common on the oversized masonry chimneys of Lost Creek because gas exhaust condenses on cool clay tiles and accelerates the deterioration. Water runs down the outside of the flue, rusting out the firebox and rotting the chase. We repair crowns with proper overhang and drip edges, replace failed flashing with Copperfield products, and stop the water where it enters. Nothing gets slathered in sealant and called fixed; the repair is mechanical and it lasts.
Gas Log Set & Burner Service
Many Lost Creek homes converted from wood to gas decades ago, and the log sets and burners are original to that conversion. Clogged burner ports, misaligned logs, and failing thermocouples are all routine for us here. We service and install gas log sets and burners, and we’re careful to verify the flue is actually safe for gas venting before we touch the appliance. If the flue isn’t right, we say so plainly and show you the camera footage.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Lost Creek
We install and service gas fireplace components from Olympia Chimney, Gelco, and Famco because these are the brands chimney professionals specify, not box-store substitutes. When a Lost Creek customer needs a new damper, a replacement cap, or liner components, we arrive with the right part on the truck because we know this neighborhood’s chimneys well enough to stock for them. If your gas fireplace was built or converted decades ago, we’ll find the replacement components that fit without jury-rigging.
Common Gas Fireplace Repair Problems We See in Lost Creek Homes
- Cracked clay tile flues from gas exhaust condensation. Gas burns cooler and wetter than wood, and the condensate soaks into old clay tiles, then the heating and cooling cycles crack them. That’s how carbon monoxide finds a path into stud cavities, and it’s usually invisible until we camera-scope the flue.
- Dampers rusted in place from humid summers. A 1978 fireplace off Lost Creek Blvd sat unused through a decade of Austin humidity and the damper froze in a half-open position. The fire wouldn’t stay lit and smoke backed into the room. We replaced it with a top-sealing unit and capped the flue properly.
- Animal intrusion from the greenbelt canopy. The dense oaks around Lost Creek mean squirrels and raccoons find their way into unused chimneys. We’ve pulled nests out of flues that hadn’t been used since the last big freeze. A chimney cap is the permanent fix.
- Spalled crowns and failed flashing on hillside chimneys. Water entry at the top of the chimney rots the chase and rusts the firebox from the inside. On steep Lost Creek lots, that water also saturates the surrounding masonry and worsens the spalling year over year.
See the difference
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After
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AfterPricing for Gas Fireplace Repair in Lost Creek, TX
A standard gas fireplace service call in Lost Creek runs $185 – $325, which includes diagnosis and minor adjustments like cleaning the thermocouple, clearing the burner ports, and verifying the pilot assembly. Damper replacement typically falls between $350 – $650 depending on the flue size and whether we’re installing a top-sealing or throat-mounted unit. Chimney crown repair and flashing work usually runs $450 – $900, and that price includes the materials and the labor to do it right on a steep, hard-to-access roofline. If a stainless liner is genuinely needed, you’re looking at $2,500 – $4,500 installed, and you’ll see the camera footage that justifies it before you spend a dollar. Every repair comes with a written price before work starts and our written guarantee. Call (361) 420-8585 for an exact quote, and the estimate is free.
We Also Serve Cities Near Lost Creek
Our crews serve Lost Creek and the surrounding communities including Gas Fireplace Repair in Lost Creek, Austin, Leander, Pflugerville, and Brushy Creek. If you’re on the edge of Lost Creek or just down the hill, you get the same written pricing, the same vetted technicians, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Serving Lost Creek, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Lost Creek area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Gas Fireplace Repair in Lost Creek
That burning plastic odor is almost always dust, pet hair, or debris that settled on the burner and log set during the months the fireplace sat unused. Lost Creek’s mild winters mean gas fireplaces here sit idle for nine months at a stretch, and the first fire of the season cooks off whatever settled inside. If the smell persists past 15 – 20 minutes, or it smells more like gas than hot dust, shut it down and call (361) 420-8585. A camera inspection will show us exactly what’s on the burner and whether the flue is venting properly.
Yes. We arrive with extension ladders, roof anchors, and harness equipment for steep Lost Creek driveways and rooflines. We work on chimneys along Lost Creek Blvd and the hillside streets throughout the neighborhood every week. The damper itself is replaced from inside the firebox in most cases, but if the roofline access is tight we’re set up for that too. Call (361) 420-8585 and describe your roofline; we’ll tell you exactly how we’ll approach it.
Because propane doesn’t smoke, the smoke you’re seeing is from a draft failure, not the fuel. Your 1970s chimney was sized for a wood fire, and the gas appliance venting into it can’t establish a proper draft through that oversized flue. A cracked clay tile or a rusted half-open damper makes it worse. We diagnose it with a camera scope and correct it by resizing or relining the flue, and we only do the liner work if the footage proves it’s necessary. Call (361) 420-8585 and we’ll camera-scope it before we quote any repair.
If the fireplace vents into an original 1970s clay-tile flue, yes, an annual inspection is cheap insurance. Gas exhaust is corrosive to old clay tiles, and the damage happens whether the fireplace runs twice or twenty times a year. An annual inspection in Lost Creek runs $185 – $225, and it includes the camera scope that shows you what’s happening inside the flue. That’s a lot less than the $2,500 – $4,500 liner replacement that catches up with you when the cracks finally open.
Fix the damper first. A rusted or stuck damper is the most common problem we see in Lost Creek, and it causes everything else: smoking, pilot issues, heat loss, and animal intrusion. Once the damper seals properly, the flue stops acting like an open vent pulling conditioned air out of your house all year. After that, have the flue camera-scoped to see whether the clay tiles are still intact. Call (361) 420-8585 and we’ll walk you through it without any pressure.
What Sets Us Apart in Lost Creek
Lost Creek’s chimneys are different from the rest of Austin because the houses were built on a hillside with dense tree cover, oversized masonry, and gas retrofits that were bolted on decades after the original wood-burning fireplaces. The failures we see here are predictable: cracked clay tiles, rusted dampers, spalled crowns, and flues full of creosote from the wood-burning decades before the gas conversion. Where the industry’s worst players see an opportunity to sell a $4,000 liner you may not need, we see a chance to show you the camera footage and let the evidence do the talking.
We carried a 32-foot extension ladder up a steep Lost Creek drive off Lost Creek Blvd to inspect a 1978 masonry chimney serving a gas log set. The damper was rusted in a half-open position, the clay-tile flue had third-degree creosote from decades of wood burning before the gas conversion, and the chimney crown was spalled enough that water was running down the flue liner. We camera-scoped the stack, showed the homeowner the footage, and replaced the damper with a top-sealing unit plus a custom stainless chimney cap. No liner work until we verified the existing clay tiles were still intact. That’s how we work.
When you call (361) 420-8585, a live person answers. You’ll get a written price before any work begins, and every repair is backed by our 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the repair fails, the second visit is free. You’ll know your technician’s name and see their photo before they arrive. That’s the standard we’ve held since 2002, and it’s what Lost Creek homeowners deserve.
Written by Ruben Castellano, Owner at Alcott Chimney Austin, serving Lost Creek since 2002.