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 The Hills, TX | Boardwalk Chimney Sweep
We provide independent DuraFlex chimney cleaning and liner service across The Hills, TX (78738). What makes our DuraFlex work different here is simple: The Hills’ live-oak canopy drops enough acorns, leaves, and cedar pollen into uncapped or poorly capped flues that a DuraFlex liner can pack solid even when the fireplace barely gets used. If your stone-clad chimney needs a debris pull, cap replacement, or liner inspection, call Boardwalk Chimney Sweep at (877) 274-1247.
Why The Hills Residents Choose Us for DuraFlex Service
DuraFlex is the most widely installed stainless steel flexible liner in the Hill Country, and our crew has pulled, inspected, and relined hundreds of them in The Hills Chimney Sweep service area stone chimneys. We know how their corrugated walls collect oak litter, how their caps fail under hail, and how a liner that looks fine from the firebox can be hiding a separation three elbows up. Brent Holloway, our owner, has lived in the Lake Travis Highlands area long enough to remember when half these lakeside neighborhoods were still cedar scrub. He learned flue systems through the HVAC and building systems program at Austin Community College’s Riverside Campus, then spent years working every kind of liner you find in Hill Country homes: clay tile, stainless inserts, and those old double-wall metal systems from the eighties. These days he’s the guy neighbors call when they want a straight answer about creosote or whether a prefab firebox can handle another season.
We are an independent DuraFlex service provider, not authorized by DuraFlex, but our hands-on experience with their product line is unmatched in 78738. For broader DuraFlex sales & service information, that page covers the full scope of what we work on. Here in The Hills, the job is usually debris, caps, and inspection, not heavy creosote scraping.
Styles & brands we work with
Common DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning Problems We Solve in The Hills
- Live oak and cedar debris packed into corrugated liner walls. DuraFlex liners have ribbed, corrugated walls, and in The Hills those ribs catch acorns, leaf fragments, and cedar pollen that blow or fall straight down uncapped or under-screened flues. We routinely pull a full bucket of material from a liner that looked clear from the firebox.
- Hail-dented and wind-loosened caps. Spring storms off the limestone ridge bring hail and high wind that dent DuraFlex caps, bend screens, and loosen mounting hardware. A loose cap lets water run down the liner wall and sit in the corrugations, which is how corrosion starts in a liner that’s otherwise sound.
- Draft problems from improperly sized liners on tall exterior chimneys. Many The Hills homes have tall, exterior-mounted stone chimneys. When a DuraFlex liner is slightly oversized for the fireplace it serves, the flue cools too quickly on those exposed runs, creosote condenses, and the fireplace smokes back into the room on cold starts.
- Seam separation or kinking in multi-flue custom builds. The 1990s through 2010s custom homes in The Hills often route liners through offset flue configurations. Without proper offset support during installation, a DuraFlex liner can kink or separate at a seam, which is a fire-safety issue and a draft killer.
- Moisture pockets from Hill Country humidity. The Hills’ microclimate near the lake holds more humidity than you’d expect in Central Texas, and that moisture settles into liner corrugations where debris has already collected. The result is a slow corrosion cycle that shortens liner life if the debris isn’t pulled annually. If you can smell the smoke inside, the chimney’s already telling you something; worth listening before it gets louder.
DuraFlex Service in The Hills: What Local Conditions Mean for Your Equipment
The single biggest factor that separates DuraFlex service in Barton Creek and The Hills from the same work in, say, Austin proper is the live-oak canopy. These trees drop acorn caches and leaf litter so heavy that many DuraFlex-lined chimneys in The Hills need a full debris pull, not just a sweep, every single year, even when the fireplace has barely been used. In the 78738 enclave, we’ve pulled liners packed solid with acorns and oak leaves from homes where the owners told us they’d had maybe three fires the entire winter. If that debris sits through a humid summer and then a wet fall, the liner walls start to corrode from the inside, and by the time you notice a draft problem, you’re often looking at liner replacement instead of simple maintenance. Hailstorms off the limestone ridge also dent and loosen DuraFlex caps faster than in lower-elevation neighborhoods, so cap inspection is a routine part of our annual service in The Hills. That’s not true everywhere, but it is true here.
On a recent DuraFlex in Bee Cave area job in The Hills’ 78738 enclave, we pulled a DuraFlex SW liner from a stone-clad chimney that had been capped with a generic screen. The cap was dented from hail, the liner was packed with oak leaves and acorns, and the flue was effectively blocked. We cleared the debris, replaced the cap with an OEM DuraFlex multi-flue cap, and verified the liner seams were intact. That homeowner now schedules an annual sweep to prevent a repeat. The whole job took one visit.
DuraFlex Models & Products We Service in The Hills
We service the full DuraFlex flexible liner family you’ll find in Lakeway DuraFlex service and The Hills custom homes. That includes DuraFlex SW single-wall liner kits, DuraFlex Pro double-wall insulated systems, and DuraFlex Custom Cap assemblies for both single-flue and multi-flue stone chimneys. We stock genuine DuraFlex OEM caps, liners, and components rather than generic substitutes, because the stainless alloy specs and fit tolerances matter when a liner has to survive Hill Country hail, humidity, and oak debris year after year. When a DuraFlex liner is damaged beyond safe repair, we recommend full replacement, but we always explore repair options first, whether that’s re-securing seams or replacing individual cap sections.
See the difference
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After
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AfterDuraFlex Service Pricing in The Hills
Chimney sweep pricing in the Austin and Hill Country area typically runs $189 to $550 depending on flue count, liner condition, and whether we’re pulling a full debris load or doing a light maintenance sweep. Cap replacement on a DuraFlex system generally falls between $250 and $700, with multi-flue caps running higher than single-flue. Full liner inspections, including camera work, typically fall in the $150 to $400 range. What drives cost in The Hills is usually debris volume and access; tall exterior stone chimneys on limestone lots take more setup than a low-pitch urban roof. Our free estimate includes a camera inspection and photo report so you can see exactly what we find before any work is approved. Call (877) 274-1247 for a firm number.
Serving The Hills, TX — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the The Hills 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 – DuraFlex Chimney Cleaning in The Hills
Once a year, regardless of how often you use the fireplace. In The Hills, the issue isn’t creosote volume from heavy burning; it’s live-oak debris, acorns, and cedar litter accumulating in the liner’s corrugated walls. A liner that goes two or three years without a debris pull in 78738 is a liner that’s corroding from trapped moisture. Call (877) 274-1247 to schedule your annual sweep.
A DuraFlex OEM cap with a properly fitted spark screen, sized to your specific flue and liner configuration. The Hills’ hail and wind make cheap aftermarket caps a bad bet. They dent, loosen, and let water and debris into the flue. We recommend OEM DuraFlex Custom Caps for multi-flue stone chimneys because their fit tolerances are engineered for the liner, and the stainless holds up to Hill Country storms.
It depends on the dent location and depth. A shallow dent in the liner wall with no seam separation can often be left alone or gently corrected. A deep dent near a seam, or any separation or kinking, is a fire-safety issue and usually means replacement. We’ll camera the liner and show you what we’re seeing before recommending any work. For an exact answer, call (877) 274-1247.
In The Hills, the most common cause is debris-packed liner corrugations or a draft problem from an improperly sized liner on a tall exterior chimney. A liner that’s too large for the firebox cools too quickly, smoke stalls, and the fireplace puffs back. We diagnose this with a camera inspection and draft testing, then fix it with the correct liner sizing or a proper cap. Call (877) 274-1247 to book an inspection.
Yes. We stock genuine DuraFlex OEM caps, liners, and components. Generic aftermarket parts often don’t match the alloy composition or fit tolerances of the original DuraFlex system, and in The Hills’ hail and humidity, that difference shows up within a few seasons. OEM is the right call for longevity. For a repair quote, call (877) 274-1247.
Service Areas Near The Hills
We service The Hills and the surrounding Lake Travis corridor, including Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Barton Creek. For The Hills service area details, that page covers the full 78738 coverage map. We also handle DuraFlex service in Elgin and DuraFlex service in Briarcliff for homes further out.
Book Your DuraFlex Service in The Hills Today
Whether you need an annual sweep, a debris pull from a packed liner, or a hail-damaged cap replaced, we’ll get it handled. Call (877) 274-1247 for a free estimate and camera inspection. We serve all of 78738.
Written by Brent Holloway, Owner at Boardwalk Chimney Sweep, serving The Hills and the Lake Travis area.