Chimney Repair

Chimney repair means fixing anything on the outside or inside that’s broken, leaking, leaning, or falling apart. Most homeowners first notice a problem when they see white stains on the bricks, water coming into the house around the fireplace, pieces of brick in the yard after a storm, or the whole stack tilting to one side. Any of those signs mean water is getting in and the structure is weakening. Water is the enemy of chimneys. Rain hits the bricks and mortar, soaks in, and in winter it freezes and expands — popping the face off bricks (called spalling) and turning mortar into sand. Over a few seasons the chimney starts to lean, the flashing around the roof pulls away, and eventually big sections can collapse. When we come for a free estimate, we walk the roof, take plenty of pictures, and often drop a camera down each flue to see hidden damage. Then we sit down with you and go over exactly what’s wrong and the best way to fix it. Repairs can range from patching a few loose bricks and resealing the flashing, to rebuilding the top ten courses, to taking the entire chimney down to the roofline and starting over. Common repairs we do every week: replace cracked crown, repoint loose mortar joints, fix or replace rusted flashing where the chimney meets the roof, rebuild leaning sections with new bricks and proper ties into the house, install new flue tiles or a stainless liner, waterproof the entire stack so water can’t soak in anymore. Every chimney is different — some are straight, some have curves, some have decorative corbeling, some are painted, some share a wall with the neighbor. We match existing brick and mortar color as closely as possible so the repair blends in. The goal is always the same: stop water, make it safe, and make it look like we were never there. We cover all major masonry repairs with a written 10-year service warranty for your peace of mind.