I agree that a professional is needed. However, as with everything else these days, always maintain a bit of skepticism when dealing with anyone, even the pros. I had my annual fireplace cleaning and inspection performed just before the current heating season by a well known local professional chimney service. I know my way around the house, top to bottom, and have lived here since I bought it new over 30 years ago. We don't use the fireplace all that often and I replaced the crown wash with a cast piece and have a relatively new cap. The chimney guys did their inspection and their report says that the fireplace is unsafe to use as there are shifted tiles throughout the flue and the crown wash is cracked (it is not). They recommended repairs that would set me back $2800 for a new flue liner and other work. I declined. After they left, I took my camera, mounted it on a tripod and stuck it up in the flue and snapped a few pics. I found that the flue liner is NOT shifted at all and looks pretty darn good to me. The only part that they got right was that I need some tuckpointing on a small section of the fireplace bricks near the top. I truly dislike people who try to rip off unsuspecting customers. By the way, I used Photoshop to lighten this picture at the time as it was a bit hard to see because it's kind of dark at the top but it looks good all the way up.