Fireplace and chimney service in Jefferson County

Jefferson County is the metro's mid-century county. The Census Bureau's 2024 survey puts the median home at 1980, and about 37 percent of its homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s, more than in any other county we serve. Wheat Ridge and Lakewood have the oldest housing, Arvada grew fastest in the 1970s, and Golden mixes Victorian streets with newer subdivisions. Gas heats about 72 percent of homes, and propane and wood play a bigger part in the mountain communities to the west.

That spread means different chimneys. Down on the plains, a lot of what we see is 50- and 60-year-old brick with original clay liners and worn crowns. In newer neighborhoods it is factory-built fireplaces with metal chase covers, which dent and rust after hail. Up in the foothills, wood stoves are more common, and some homes sit above 7,000 feet, where the state's no-burn rules on use do not apply.

No-burn days in Jefferson County

Jefferson County's own wood-burning page says that on high pollution days no wood burning is allowed below 7,000 feet, except in EPA Phase III stoves, approved pellet stoves or approved masonry heaters. Gas fireplaces are not restricted. In unincorporated parts of the county, the county's policy sets fines of $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second and $300 for a third. Cities such as Lakewood and Arvada enforce through their own ordinances.

The 7,000-foot exemption covers using a stove, not buying or installing one. Anything newly installed anywhere in the county must meet current EPA standards.

Hail on the west side of the metro

The May 8, 2017 hailstorm hit Denver and Lakewood hardest, and the Colorado Mills mall in Lakewood was badly damaged. Damage to a chimney is easy to miss from the ground. A dented chase cover holds water and rusts, a cracked cap lets in animals, and a crown cracked by hail lets water into the masonry. Typical repair ranges: cap $250 to $850, chase cover $300 to $700, crown $600 to $2,200.