Chimney chase repair and framing work in Holden Heights

The layers that make up a chase wall

Every chase wall is a stack of parts, and each one fails in its own way. Knowing the stack helps you read an estimate and ask sharper questions before anything gets torn off.

Water usually gets through the outer finish first, then soaks the barrier, the sheathing and finally the studs. Repairing only the outside layer leaves the rest of that stack wet.

Our crew checks the layers in order and writes down where the damage stops in each one. That is also why our estimate is written layer by layer. From the inside out, a typical chase is built like this.

• Framing, the studs and plates that give the box its shape
• Sheathing, the plywood or strand board nailed over the studs
• A water-resistive barrier, then siding or stucco and trim
• The top plate and framing that sit under the metal cover

Three coats of stucco over lath

Stucco on lath is built up in coats. The first, called the scratch coat, is pressed into the lath and scored. The second, the brown coat, builds thickness and flattens the wall. The finish coat carries the texture and color.

Under R703.7.2 of the Florida Building Code, cement plaster over lath goes on in at least three coats. Two coats are allowed directly over masonry, which is why a patch copied from a block wall can end up too thin on a framed chase. It is also why a patch on a chase needs the same full build as a new wall.

A patch built too thin is more likely to crack and let water reach the barrier. When our crew patches or reclads a chase, we build the full three coats and match the finish to the rest of the wall. Your Holden Heights estimate names the stucco system and the number of coats.

Approving added work before it is done

Hidden damage is part of chase work. Once the siding is off, the rot may reach further than the probe showed from outside. What matters is how that news reaches you. A careful probe narrows that risk, but it cannot see through sound siding into a soft stud.

Our rule is simple. If opening the chase shows more damage than the estimate covers, we stop, show you what we found and write up the added work with its price. Nothing extra happens until you approve it.

The change is added to your written estimate, so the final bill matches what you approved line by line. If you choose to stop at the approved work, we close the chase properly and note what was left. The written change covers these points.

• What we found and exactly where
• The added materials and labor, with a price
• How the change affects the schedule
• What happens if you decide to wait

Keeping the open chase dry during repairs

Once siding or stucco comes off, the chase is open to the weather. The sheathing, the framing and the chimney pipe inside all need cover until the wall is closed again. Rain on bare sheathing for even one night can undo part of the repair.

At the end of each workday, every open section gets sheeting lapped so rain runs off it, not into it. The top of the chase stays covered whenever the metal cover is off, and the covering is fastened so wind cannot peel it back.

If heavy rain is forecast during a job that runs several days, we check the covers before it arrives. Your fireplace stays out of use while the chase is open. Before work starts on a chase in Holden Heights, you hear how many days it is likely to be open and how it will be protected.