Fireplace and Chimney Service in Aurora, Colorado

Aurora began as the town of Fletcher, named for Denver businessman Donald Fletcher, and voters renamed it Aurora in 1907. It now reaches into Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, and the 2020 census counted 386,261 residents, the third-largest population in Colorado. Its growth followed the military: Fitzsimons Army Hospital opened in 1918, Lowry Air Force Base in 1938 and Buckley Field in 1942. Aurora was among the fastest-growing cities in the country in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and it is still made up of hundreds of separate subdivisions.

That growth shows in the chimneys. Census figures (ACS 2024) split Aurora's homes almost evenly: about 29 percent built in the 1960s and '70s, 34 percent in the '80s and '90s and 29 percent since 2000, with only 1 percent from before 1940. Gas heats 62 percent of homes. So one street may have a brick fireplace from 1965 and the next a factory-built gas unit in a framed chase. The free inspection starts by working out which one you have, because the rules and the repairs are different.

Burn days and how Aurora enforces them

Aurora's code-enforcement page says the state's winter burning restrictions apply across the seven-county Denver-Boulder metro below 7,000 feet, with forecasts posted daily at 4 p.m. from October 31 to March 31. The city logs neighbor complaints, contacts homeowners suspected of burning on a red day, and sometimes issues violations that require the fire to be out within three hours. Certified Phase III stoves, Colorado-approved pellet stoves, approved masonry heaters and homes that rely on a stove or fireplace as their main heat are exempt.

An ordinary open wood fireplace is not exempt. The state health department's FAQ says one may be used on an Action Day only if it is fitted with gas logs, an EPA Phase III insert, an approved pellet insert or an electric device. Gas logs typically run $500 to $2,000, a gas insert $2,000 to $8,000, and an EPA wood insert with its liner $3,000 to $7,000. Aurora has its own building and gas-code amendments for fireplaces, so we check the city's permit requirements before any install.

Older brick in the north, factory-built chases in the newer subdivisions

In Aurora's older neighborhoods near Colfax and the original Fletcher townsite, fireplaces are often brick with clay flue tiles. Denver sees about 135 freeze-thaw days a year (NOAA 1991–2020 normals), and each one works water a little deeper into a crown or a mortar joint. Repointing typically runs $500 to $2,500 and a new crown $600 to $2,200.

In the newer subdivisions farther south and east, the fireplace is usually factory-built, with a metal flue inside a framed chase and a sheet-metal chase cover on top. Hail dents those covers so they hold water, which rusts them and leaks into the chase. A new chase cover typically runs $300 to $700 and a cap $250 to $850, and we photograph storm damage so you can give it to your insurance adjuster.

Gas fireplaces at Aurora's elevation

Aurora's city-limit signs put it at 5,471 feet. Gas appliances typically lose about 4 percent of their input for every 1,000 feet above 2,000 feet (ACHR News), which works out to roughly 14 percent here. A gas fireplace or insert that isn't set up for that can burn yellow, soot the glass and logs, or struggle to stay lit. A yearly service typically runs $150 to $350, and a pilot, thermocouple or igniter repair $100 to $350.

Where we work in Aurora

Downtown A-Town (original Fletcher) · Hoffman Heights · Lowry Campus · Heather Gardens · Meadowood · Village East · Mission Viejo · Hampton Hills · Smoky Hill · Saddle Rock · Tallyn's Reach · Murphy Creek