An old town with new houses
Oakland had a post office by 1860 and incorporated in 1887, when it was the commercial center of west Orange County. A business-district fire and the freezes of the 1890s, along with the rise of neighboring Winter Garden, kept it small for most of the next century (Wikipedia). Growth came late: the town’s population rose 38.5% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses.
Census estimates now show a median year built of 2009, with 84.1% of homes built in 2000 or later and nearly half since 2010. Homes are mostly single-family and owner-occupied, with a median value of $557,500 (Census Reporter).
What newer, larger homes tend to need
- Factory-built fireplaces and framed chases. Common in homes of this era. The metal chase cover and the storm collar are the parts that let water in first; a prefab chimney and chase inspection checks both, and chase cover replacement fixes covers that pool water.
- Gas fireplaces. Many new homes have them. Yearly gas fireplace service covers the burner, pilot, glass and vent termination, and a unit that won’t light or stay lit is a repair job for the gas fireplace. New gas piping is separate, permitted work we also carry out.
- Upstairs laundry and long dryer runs. Larger two-story plans often push the duct a long way to the roof. Cleaning a roof-terminated vent clears the whole duct, and a run that’s simply too long is a job for rerouting.
New doesn’t mean checked
A first dryer vent cleaning in a young home is also a chance to catch installation faults: crushed transition hoses, joints that came apart in the attic, or a roof cap with a screen. Why a dryer vent keeps clogging lists the usual suspects.
The older houses near the historic town center are a different case: any original masonry chimney there deserves an inspection of the crown and flue before regular use. See the Winter Garden page for the wider west Orange picture, or all service areas.
Oakland services, from new subdivisions to the old town
Oakland’s newer subdivisions, such as Oakland Park, Hull Island at Oakland and Oakland Trails, sit alongside the historic town plat on the south shore of Lake Apopka, and all of it is inside the service area. For most homes the first job is dryer vent cleaning in Oakland and a look at the fireplace: an Oakland chimney inspection confirms whether it is factory-built, gas or masonry. Water after a storm is a chimney leak repair job, and cracked panels, a stuck damper or a firebox problem falls under fireplace repair. The older houses near the town center are where masonry chimney repair, sweeping and a full chimney cleaning come up most.
References (2)
Facts and figures on this page come from these references.
