Chimney repair across the Puget Sound region, from the crown down to the flue

Common reasons a chimney needs repair

• Leaks and stains near the chimney

  A stain beside the chimney shows where water came out, not where it got in. The entry point can be the flashing, a cracked crown, an uncapped flue or saturated brick. The water signs CSIA says you can spot yourself are rust stains, water dripping or pooling, and bent or damaged flashing.

• A cracked or crumbling crown

  The crown is the slab covering the top of the masonry around the flue. Washington's residential code requires it to be concrete, metal or stone, sloped to shed water, with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liners. A crown that is only a thin layer of mortar tends to crack and let water into the stack.

• A missing or damaged cap

  The cap covers the flue opening. Without one, rain and debris drop straight down the flue, where water can rust the damper and wet the masonry from inside. The National Park Service recommends a ventilated cap for an unused chimney that collects rainwater.

• Flashing that has lifted, bent or been tarred over

  Flashing seals the gap where chimney and roof meet. Those two move at different rates, so tar or caulk smeared across the gap cannot hold. Proper counter flashing is let between 3/4 inch and an inch into a mortar joint and mortared in, rather than glued onto the surface.

• Worn mortar joints and spalled brick

  Mortar joints are meant to wear before the brick does, but once they recede, water reaches further into the wall. Brick faces that flake or pop off, known as spalling, often point to masonry that stays wet and then freezes. Earlier repairs made with mortar harder than the brick can cause it too.

• A cracked or failing flue liner

  The liner is the channel smoke and exhaust travel through. For homes in Seattle, the city's residential code requires a masonry chimney to have one suited to the appliance connected to it. CSIA's list of visible chimney-fire evidence includes cracked or fallen flue tiles, tiles with sizable chunks gone, and creosote flakes that land on the roof or ground.

What chimney repair from Chimney4u includes

• An inspection before any price

  The chimney is examined from the crown down, outside and in, so the scope can name the cause of the damage rather than only the symptom you noticed.

• A written scope you approve

  Every finding is listed with its repair and cost, and each is labeled by urgency, down to items that do not need doing at all. You decide what goes ahead.

• Crown, cap and flashing work

  Closing the water path usually comes first: a crown repaired or recast so runoff drips clear of the brick, a cap fitted over the flue, and flashing rebuilt as a metal system rather than sealant. The roof line is only one of a chimney's three flashing zones; the chimney's base and the zone beneath the crown count too.

• Repointing and brick replacement

  Failed mortar is cut out and replaced with a mix no stronger than the original, as the Brick Industry Association requires, since harder mortar concentrates stress at the brick's edge and breaks off its face. Badly spalled bricks are replaced one at a time; masonry repair and tuckpointing covers the details.

• Relining a damaged flue

  A cracked or unsuitable liner is replaced with a lining sized to the appliance. Manufacturers warn in their own instructions that a liner too large for the appliance, or mismatched to it, brings condensation and poor performance. CSIA's position is that solid-fuel liners need insulation, while gas and oil liners generally do not.

• Before and after photographs

  Photos are taken before work starts and again at the finish, matching the angles wherever the roof allows. You keep them.

Repair or rebuild: where the line falls

What affects the price of chimney repair

Each repair is priced from the inspection findings, and the written scope is the number to rely on. These are the variables that move it.

How many separate problems there are

A cracked crown on its own is one repair. A crown, failed flashing and a face of worn joints are three, even when they share one setup on the roof.

Whether the source of the water is fixed

Patching damage while the leak's source stays open tends to mean a second repair. Closing the water path first can cost more now and less later.

Access to the chimney

Roof pitch, the number of stories, how far the stack rises above the roof and whether staging is needed all shape the job before any masonry is touched.

How much of the masonry is involved

A few failed joints can be repointed on their own. When a large share of a face has gone, doing the whole face is often more sensible than returning for patch after patch.

Whether the flue is part of the scope

Exterior masonry and liner work are separate jobs. Relining brings its own choices of material, diameter and insulation, all driven by the appliance the flue serves.

Whether a permit is needed

Masonry work can call for a building permit, which brings an application and inspections into the job. Inside Seattle city limits that means SDCI; elsewhere, the city or county with jurisdiction at your address decides what needs one.

You get a written scope and price before any repair work begins.

Why chimneys wear the way they do in the Puget Sound region

Questions about chimney repair