Family-owned chimney chase repair in Baldwin Park

Wood siding and trim that stay wet too long

Wood siding and trim on a chase can hold up well when they dry out between rains. Trouble starts when they stay wet, from a gap that holds water, a face the sun never reaches or paint that has failed on the end grain.

Section R317.1 of the state's residential code requires naturally durable or treated wood where siding, sheathing and framing sit close to the ground or exposed slabs. Higher up on a chase, keeping the wood dry is what protects it.

Our technicians probe wood siding at joints, corners and the bottom edge. Soft boards are replaced with primed stock, cut ends are sealed and the finish is restored. Any ledge or detail that keeps holding water gets flagged on your Baldwin Park estimate, so it can be changed during the repair.

What a full chase rebuild involves

A chimney chase rebuild follows a set order. The fireplace is taken out of use, the cover and chimney cap come off, and the siding and sheathing are stripped down to the framing. Rotted framing is replaced and the box is squared and braced around the chimney pipe.

Firestops, shields and supports inside the chase are checked and reset to the chimney maker's instructions along the way. For homes in Baldwin Park, the full sequence is laid out in the written estimate before work starts. The new chase goes together in this order.

• New framing laid out to keep the listed air space around the pipe
• New sheathing, barrier and flashing at the roof and house wall
• The chosen siding or stucco, trim and paint
• A new or reset cover at the top, priced as its own line

Firestops where the pipe passes a floor or ceiling

Where a factory-built chimney passes through a floor or ceiling, the chimney maker calls for a firestop, a metal plate that closes the framed opening while keeping the air space around the pipe. DuraVent's DuraChimney II instructions, for example, call for a firestop at every floor and ceiling level, including where the chimney enters the attic, but not at the roof.

The Florida Building Code, in R302.11, also calls for fireblocking in concealed spaces of wood-framed walls at ceiling and floor levels. Each plate is fastened to the framing as the maker shows, with the air space around the pipe left open.

Each firestop gets checked for position, fastening and damage whenever a chase is opened. Missing or damaged firestops are replaced with the chimney maker's listed part, and any that were missing are pointed out to you before the chase on your Baldwin Park home is closed.

Radiation shields at the top of the chase

Just under the cover, some chimney systems use roof radiation shields that protect the chase framing around the pipe. In DuraVent's DuraChimney II manual, they go at the top of the chase or where the chimney passes the roof, whichever is the top of the installation, and they do not reduce the required clearance.

Those shields sit on the same top framing that rots when a cover leaks. When the top plate or blocking is replaced, the shields come off and have to go back in their listed position.

Our crew removes and reinstalls the shields as the chimney maker directs, and replaces bent or damaged ones with listed parts. The shields go back before any cover does, so the top of a chase in Baldwin Park is rebuilt as one complete assembly.