Service area · Bristol County
Chimney Service in Taunton, MA
Taunton has the oldest and the most varied housing of any community we cover: brick cottages from the mill era, two-family houses and three-deckers, and postwar single-family streets. Here is what that means for the chimneys, from published records, and how we reach Taunton from our base in Middleborough.
Taunton housing, by the numbers
A city where one in three homes predates 1940
Taunton has roughly 25,200 homes, by far the largest count in our area. About 8,800 of them, close to 35 percent, were built in 1939 or earlier. Only about 8 percent were built in 2000 or later, so most chimneys in the city have been through many decades of heating seasons.
The building types matter as much as the age. Fewer than half of Taunton's homes are detached single-family houses. About 29 percent sit in buildings with two to four units, the two-family houses and three-deckers that line many older streets, and another 16 percent are in buildings with five or more units.
A two-family or three-unit building often has one masonry chimney carrying several flues, one for each unit's heating system and sometimes a fireplace as well. Each flue is a separate question: one can be in good shape while the one beside it is cracked or blocked. When we look at a chimney like that, we note which flue serves which appliance, so the owner is not guessing later.
What the historical survey records
Brick end walls, mill cottages and Stick Style porches
The state's historical survey of Taunton describes brick becoming an important local building material by about 1800, with many cottages built entirely of brick and many two-story houses built with brick end walls only. By the end of the 1820s, substantial numbers of brick double cottages had been built as workers' housing at Oakland and at Hopewell Mills.
The same report describes tenements, two-families, double houses and three-deckers going up at Whittenton, Weir Village and the city center in the late 1800s, and it singles out Taunton for its many Stick Style houses. In practice that means a lot of chimneys that are either built into a brick end wall or rise through the middle of a tall frame house with several stories of flue below the roof.
An end-wall chimney shares its masonry with the outside wall of the house, so water that gets into the brick near the top can show up as staining or loose plaster on an inside wall. That is a masonry and tuckpointing question first, and sometimes a crown question.
Source: Massachusetts Historical Commission, Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Taunton (1981). Descriptions of house forms and places are from that report; the chimney notes that follow them are ours.
House heating fuel
Gas heat, oil heat, and old flues
About half of Taunton's occupied homes heat with utility gas, about 27 percent with fuel oil, and about 17 percent with electricity. Fewer than 1 percent heat mainly with wood, so most chimneys here are working for a furnace, boiler or water heater, not a fireplace.
That changes what we look for. A gas appliance that was installed into an old masonry flue, often when a house switched over from oil, can produce moisture that a clay or unlined flue was not built to handle. Signs include crumbling mortar at the base of the flue, flaking tile, and water at the cleanout door. Whether a flue needs a liner sized for the appliance is decided after an inspection, not before.
Where to start
Services that fit Taunton homes
These are the services from our list of twenty-three that match the housing above. Every service on the services page is available in Taunton.
Chimney Inspection
The starting point for a multi-flue chimney: which flue serves what, and what condition each one is in.
Chimney Liner Installation
For older flues that were never lined, or that now carry a gas appliance they were not sized for.
Chimney Camera Inspection
Shows the inside of a tall flue section by section, which matters in a three-story house.
Chimney Masonry Repair and Tuckpointing
Brick end walls and old soft mortar are common here, and both wear at the joints first.
Chimney Rebuild
When the brick above the roof has deteriorated too far for repointing to hold.
Chimney Leak Repair
For staining on an inside wall next to the chimney, in any of Taunton's housing types.
From 150 W Grove St
How we cover Taunton
Our base at 150 W Grove St in Middleborough is about 8.6 miles from the middle of Taunton in a straight line. We do not have a Taunton office. Visits are booked by phone or through the request form, and we confirm the day and arrival window with you directly.
If you own a multi-unit building, tell us when you call how many units share the chimney and whether tenants need notice, so the visit can be planned around access to each heating system.
Permits in Taunton
The City of Taunton Building Department is at 141 Oak Street, and the city takes building permit applications online through PermitEyes. The city's permit FAQ lists fireplaces, wood stoves, coal stoves and pellet stoves among the work that needs a building permit. Whether a particular chimney job needs a permit is up to the department, so for a liner, a rebuild or a new stove, check with them before the work starts.
Source: City of Taunton Building Department and the Taunton permit FAQ, read October 15, 2026.
Common questions
Taunton chimney FAQ
Yes. A chimney on a multi-unit house is still a chimney, and each flue gets checked on its own, because the flue for one unit can be fine while the one beside it is blocked or cracked. Let us know how many units share the chimney when you book.
It might not. Some chimneys from that era were built without a flue liner, and others have liners that have deteriorated. There is no way to tell from the fireplace or the basement. An inspection, often with a camera, answers it.
Sometimes. Gas appliances vent differently from oil burners, and an old flue that worked for oil may be the wrong size or material for gas. Many newer high-efficiency gas systems vent out a side wall instead and leave the chimney unused. An inspection shows which situation you have.
Yes. Taunton is one of the ten towns on our Google Business Profile service area, and it is served from our Middleborough address, about 8.6 miles away in a straight line.
From the ground, look for missing or recessed mortar, white staining on the brick, and spalling where the face of the brick has flaked off. Inside, look for damp or stained plaster on the wall the chimney is built into. Any of those is worth a call.
Nearby
Other towns we serve
- Middleborough, our home town
- Bridgewater
- Carver
- Lakeville
- Plympton
- Rochester
- Acushnet
- Freetown
- Raynham
All ten towns are summarized on the service areas page.