Chimney masonry repair for homes in College Park

When joints need to be cut out and repointed

Five conditions, listed in brick industry guidance, call for repointing rather than surface treatment. We check for each of them during the inspection, joint by joint, on every face of the chimney we can reach.

• Mortar eroded back more than about a quarter inch
• Mortar that crumbles when scraped
• Voids in the joints
• Hairline cracks in the mortar
• Cracks between the brick and the mortar

Packing new mortar in layers

New mortar goes into a deep joint in layers, not all at once. The guidance calls for packing it tightly in layers no more than a quarter inch thick, with each layer allowed to firm up before the next.

Layering keeps the mortar dense and reduces shrinkage cracks in the finished joint. It takes longer than filling a joint in one pass, which is one reason a proper repointing estimate reflects more time than a quick patch. The first layers fill the deepest part of the joint, and only the final layer is tooled to the finished profile.

Masonry and flashing at the roofline

Counterflashing at the roofline is often set into the chimney's mortar joints. When those joints fail, the flashing can pull loose, and when the flashing fails, water soaks the masonry around it.

We look at both together. Masonry repair near the flashing is done with the flashing in mind, and any flashing repair or replacement is quoted separately, so you can see what each part of the fix involves. Where new counterflashing has to be cut into the masonry, the reglet is placed in a sound joint, and that joint is repaired first if it needs it.

Combining masonry findings into one visit

Masonry repairs on the same chimney are usually cheaper and neater done together than in separate trips, since access, roof protection and setup happen once.

Where it makes sense, we combine findings into one scope and one visit, and tell you which items could be split off if you prefer. Items that have to happen in order, such as a repair that must cure before the next stage, are scheduled accordingly. Combining also means one set of roof protection and one cleanup, which keeps disruption at your home to a single visit where possible.