Chimney chase repair with a written estimate in Colonial Town Center
Book a free chase inspection, and 10% comes off any work you book with our crew in Colonial Town Center within 72 hours after it.
- Licensed & insured
- Locally run
- Family owned and operated
- Same-day service available
Chase repair scope for your Colonial Town Center home
- Stucco rebuilt in three coats over new lath
- Water-resistive barrier lapped upper over lower
- Wiring or insulation moved out of the clearance
- Ladder, roof anchor or scaffold access
Building a chase back the right way
Letting each stucco coat cure before the next
Stucco gains strength as it cures, and the Florida Building Code sets minimum waits between coats. Under R703.7.4, each coat is kept moist before the next one goes on. Under R703.7.5, the finish coat on three-coat work goes on no sooner than seven days after the second coat. Both sections make an exception for work installed per ASTM C926.
Those waits are why a stucco chase repair takes more than one visit. The scratch coat is scored so the next coat grips, and the chase stays covered between visits. On hot or windy days, keeping a fresh coat moist takes more attention, so the crew plans that work for the cooler part of the day where it can.
We plan the schedule around curing time and tell you how many trips the job takes before it starts. The fireplace stays out of use until the wall is closed and the top is sealed, and the timing is part of the written estimate.
Probing the chase to find the damage boundary
The visible stain is seldom the edge of the damage. Water spreads inside a chase along the sheathing and down the studs, often further than it shows outside. Finding the real boundary is what lets us price the job honestly.
Our technicians use an awl to test wood at joints, corners and the base, a moisture meter to find wet areas that still feel firm, and light taps on stucco to find hollow spots. A high moisture reading on its own does not condemn a board, so wet areas get probed as well. Where access allows, the attic side of the chase gets checked too.
The written estimate then separates the areas we expect to replace from the areas we will confirm once the siding is off. That split lets homeowners in Colonial Town Center see the plan before anyone picks up a pry bar.
Framing that carries the chimney load
A factory-built chimney has real weight, so the framing that holds it matters. R1005.5 of the Florida Building Code says that where joists, rafters or other structural members support a factory-built chimney, those members are designed to carry the added load.
Depending on the system, the weight of the pipe may rest on the fireplace or on a support anchored to the framing. DuraVent's DuraChimney II manual, as one example, anchors its supplementary support to nearby building framing. When chase framing that carries a support has rotted, that load has to come off safely before the wood is replaced. Temporary blocking or bracing holds things in place while old wood comes out and new wood goes in.
Our crew identifies what carries the pipe before any framing is cut. Supports tied to rotted wood are reattached to new framing sized for the load, following the chimney maker's instructions. Support work is noted on its own in the estimate, and the pipe stays braced the whole time the wood is being changed.
Where the chimney passes a closet or room
On some homes the chimney pipe passes through a closet, a storage area or a bonus room on its way up. DuraVent's manual says interior chimneys are enclosed where they run through closets, storage or occupied spaces, and the enclosure keeps the required air space around the pipe.
Those inside enclosures are part of the same chase. A leak at the top can show up as a stain on a closet wall, and boxes stacked hard against a thin enclosure can press it toward the pipe. A closet enclosure also hides the pipe from view, so nobody notices when something has been pushed up against it.
When a chase repair reaches inside the house, our crew checks the enclosure walls, the air space and the firestops at each level. Drywall repairs in finished rooms are listed separately. We also suggest keeping stored items off the enclosure.
Other work in Colonial Town Center
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- Fireplace InstallationPlan the fireplace before opening the wall.
- Ventless Gas Fireplace ServiceService the unit within its exact installation limits.
Learn more about chimney chase repairColonial Town Center services
Your chase repair questions, answered
Can a chase be changed from siding to stucco?
Yes, as long as the framing is sound and flat. Stucco over wood needs a two-layer barrier, corrosion-resistant lath and three coats, so we price it as its own option next to a like-for-like siding repair.
Do you charge to look at my chase?
No. The inspection and the written estimate are free, with no obligation to book the repair. If the chase only needs small fixes, we tell you that too.
Request your free estimate
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