Fireplace and Chimney Service in Tempe, Arizona

Tempe started as Hayden's Ferry, a river crossing on the Salt run by Charles Trumbull Hayden, and the town site dates from 1871. In 1885 the territorial legislature put its Normal School here, the school that grew into Arizona State University. That long head start shows in the housing. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey the median Tempe home was built in 1984, and 41 percent of homes went up before 1980, close to the figure for the city of Phoenix itself.

The second number that matters here is ownership. Only 42 percent of Tempe homes are lived in by their owners, the lowest share anywhere in our service area, so a big part of our Tempe work is for landlords, property managers and tenants who just want to know whether the fireplace in a rental is safe to use. We do the same free inspection for all of them, with photos and a written price before anything is touched.

Ranch houses with real brick

Neighborhoods such as Maple-Ash, Mitchell Park and the Optimist Park sections north of the university were built long before Arizona's clean-burning fireplace law took effect at the end of 1998. Plenty of houses there still have a site-built masonry fireplace with a clay-lined flue, a damper that may not have moved in years, and a brick crown that has spent decades under the desert sun.

Those are the fireplaces that still need a sweep, a working damper and a sound crown. We check the firebox mortar, look up the flue with a light, and go up to the cap. If a hidden problem is suspected, a camera scan is priced at the inspection. When the owner would rather stop hauling wood, a gas insert or log set is the usual next step; HomeGuide's 2026 range for a wood-to-gas conversion is $1,500 to $8,000.

Fireplaces in rentals

A rental fireplace tends to fail in one of two ways: nobody has opened the damper since the last tenant, or someone burned the wrong thing in it. Maricopa County's year-round rule allows only seasoned wood with no more than 20 percent moisture, never cardboard, painted lumber or trash, and a firebox that has had pizza boxes in it shows the evidence.

For landlords we write up what we see in plain language, so the report can go into a property file or be handed to a tenant. Some owners decide to retire the wood side altogether; capping the flue, adding gas logs or removing the unit are all options, and fireplace removal runs $500 to $2,500 in HomeGuide's guide.

Electric houses, gas fireplaces

About 78 percent of Tempe homes heat with electricity, which is a higher share than in Phoenix or Mesa. That matters when someone wants a gas fireplace or a fire pit: the house may not have a gas meter at all, or the line may stop at the water heater. Extending a gas line typically runs $350 to $2,000 in HomeGuide's guide, and we check what your city requires before any gas work starts.

No Burn Days near the lake

Tempe is inside Maricopa County, so the county's No Burn Day ordinance applies here. On a declared day a wood fireplace, chiminea or wood fire pit can't be used, while gas logs and gas fire features stay legal. Fines start with a warning, then $50, $100 and $250. Declarations come mostly in the cooler months, often around the holidays, and are posted on the Clean Air Make More app at least three hours ahead.

Where we work in Tempe

Maple-Ash · Mitchell Park · Kiwanis Park · Optimist Park · Dava-Lakeshore · Neighborhoods around Tempe Town Lake · South Tempe near the Chandler line