Chimney Service in Ocean County

Ocean County has the newest housing in the state. The Census Bureau's 2024 survey puts the median home at 1982, and fewer than 4 percent were built before 1940; in Toms River, the county seat, it is under 3 percent. Ocean is also the fastest growing county in New Jersey, with 637,229 people in 2020 and Lakewood alone at more than 135,000. Newer homes in Brick, Jackson and Barnegat often have factory-built fireplaces with metal flues in a framed chase.

Superstorm Sandy hit hardest here in 2012. FEMA estimated about 72,000 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed in New Jersey, more than 40,000 of them in Ocean County. Long Beach Island had up to four feet of sand in its streets, and Mantoloking, Ortley Beach and Seaside Heights were badly damaged. Many shore houses were rebuilt or raised since, and their chimneys, chases and caps are different from what stood before.

Rusted chase covers and salt air

On a factory-built fireplace, the metal chase cover at the top keeps rain out of the framed chase. Near the bay and ocean, salt rusts it faster, and once it holds water it leaks into the walls and firebox. A new chase cover typically runs $300 to $700 and a cap $250 to $850. NOAA's normals for Toms River count 52 inches of precipitation a year, the most of the New Jersey stations we compared, and about 104 freeze-thaw days.

Gas heat and gas fireplaces

About 81 percent of Ocean County homes heat with utility gas. Gas fireplaces need a yearly check of the pilot, burner, glass seal and vent; the service typically runs $150 to $350. When a gas furnace or water heater is replaced, New Jersey requires a chimney verification on form F-370 unless it is a direct-vent unit replacing another direct-vent unit.