Chimney Repairs

Doing a self inspection of a chimney is easy and is a good way to know when to call a professional to do a full inspection of your chimney’s exterior and interior. Make sure your chimney is safe. First do a visual inspection inside the chimney using a flashlight. You will want to check for things like bird’s nests, tree limbs, debris and cracks.

If you take notice of the chimneys flue, the inside of the chimney, that is usually finished with smoother tiles. Check for water damage by looking for cracks on the inside of the fireplace. From the outside, take notes of anything unusual, if you believe that your chimney top is leaning, look for any loose mortar in-between the cracks, loose bricks or any significant cracks in the chimney wall itself.

If you notice any issues, then it’s time to give us a call! We will perform a more detailed inspection of your chimney, fireplace, the firebox, the flue, the chimney cap or crown and the mantle. Depending on your issues, we can come up with a couple of ways to repair your home’s damaged chimney or rebuild it to your home’s original condition.

Firebox Issues

Chimney firebox and exterior being remodeled

Mortar within a firebox can break down due to poor construction or breakdown can be caused by excessive heat the fires produce. The expansion and contraction of the firebox can loosen the mortar in the firebox or worse, flames can get through the cracks and into the wood of your home causing a fire.

The solution to this, is to have tuckpointing done in the interior chimneys firebox. Tuckpointing is the process of removing old, cracked or loose mortar and replacing it with new mortar. This cost-effective method saves you money by not having to completely replace the chimney’s firebox.

Cracking

Chimney Decay

Additionally, using the chimney doesn’t help with cracking either. Vast temperature changes can cause the bricks and mortar to slowly expand and contract over time, thus creating these gaps and cracks in the brick wall. Tuck-pointing can correct many of these issues by filling in cracked areas or replacing missing bricks and mortar. In addition to tuckpointing, installing a chimney cap can also help slowdown process of chimney decay and should be considered when repairing your home’s chimney.

Leaning

Chimney with damage to cap, brick and mortar

Because chimneys are extremely heavy, sometimes the ground itself can cause a chimney to lean on one side. This is generally caused by poor ground conditions of the foundation, sometimes water erodes the chimney’s foundation taking claim to the lean. Some home chimneys also experience soil erosion under the foundation leaving the weight to be held up by the softer ground, thus the lean in the chimney forms.To correct this, you need to rebuild the foundation portion of the chimney and slowly lean it back until it is level.

Water Penetration

As water gets into the joints of the brick and mortar, it eats away at the former solid foundation. A professional is needed to fix the chimney. Water isn’t always an easy thing to spot either, sometimes the water penetration can be at the chimney’s cap or crown, where the flue liner meets the chimney walls. Installing the aforementioned chimney cap can help push water away from the cap and help to prevent moisture from entering in the chimney that way.

Damaged Chimney Caps & Crowns

Chimney Cap & Crown Repair in Progress

Chimney caps act as a roof for your chimney and help protect it from the weather such as wind, rainwater, snow or even animals and insects. These rain covers as they are sometimes called also help with any larger sparks that might fly up into the flue, helping to extinguish them before they get out into the open air.

The crown on the other hand is also known as a chimney wash and it covers the flue liner to the edge of the chimney. The idea of the crown is to further protect your chimney against weather elements. There is usually some sort of overhang to the chimney crown and a slope that helps divert water to the chimney cap. The cap and crown work together in order to help protect and safeguard your home. They also improve the longevity of the chimney itself.

When either the cap or crown becomes damaged you need to get them both repaired at once. Chimney cap or crown damage is a sure sign that there maybe another underlying issue with the chimney. An inspection with our staff is usually recommend at this point.

Contact us online or Call/Text us at (773) 747-1600 with any questions of for a quote!