Chimney repair and diagnosis in Isleworth

A cricket behind a wide chimney

A wide chimney on a sloped roof acts like a dam. Water and debris coming down the roof collect against its uphill side, and the flashing there has to hold back what piles up. A cricket, also called a saddle, is a small peaked section of roof built behind the chimney to split that flow and send it around.

The Florida Building Code requires a cricket where the chimney is wider than thirty inches along the ridge direction and does not meet the ridge. Where the cricket joins the chimney, it is flashed and counterflashed the same way as the rest of the roof and chimney joint.

A leak on the uphill side of a wide chimney with no cricket can trace to that missing detail. When a cricket is missing or its flashing has failed, the work goes through our chimney flashing repair service together with the roofing it touches. For homeowners in Isleworth, the estimate says whether your chimney needs one.

Water repellent comes after repairs, if at all

A water repellent is a last step on a chimney, not a first one. BIA guidance on coatings says the source of water entry should be found and the needed repairs completed before any repellent goes on. After those repairs, it advises waiting several months to see whether a repellent is needed at all.

Often it is not. The same guidance says moisture problems will often be corrected by the initial repairs to caps, flashing, joints and brick, and the coating question can then be dropped. Where one is still wanted, BIA recommends breathable coatings, and it is clear that repellents are not a permanent solution and will need reapplying.

Our chimney waterproofing service handles repellents, and on homes in Isleworth it is quoted as a separate, optional line after the repair work. You decide on it once the repaired chimney has had time to show how it performs.

A damper that will not open or close fully

A masonry fireplace is supposed to have a damper. Under the Florida Building Code it is a ferrous metal damper, installed in the fireplace or in the chimney that vents it, and operable from the room. A typical one is a metal plate in a frame just above the firebox, moved by a handle or a rod.

Rust sets in on the plate and frame, and then the damper sticks halfway, the handle turns without moving it or it closes with a gap. EPA wood-burning guidance lists a damper that is not open wide enough among the conditions under which creosote tends to build up. One that will not close leaves the flue open to the house.

Rust on a damper is also a clue that water is getting in from above, so the top gets a look too. Our chimney damper repair service decides between freeing the old damper and replacing it, and your Isleworth estimate lists the damper and any repair at the top as separate items.

Chimney questions to ask when you buy a home

A chimney can look fine from the street and still need work. Before closing, ask the seller a few direct questions, and ask for receipts or past estimates rather than a verbal answer. Paperwork tells you what was done and when.

The general home inspection that comes with a purchase may only cover what can be seen from the ground and the firebox. If there is no history at all, treat the chimney as unknown rather than sound, and budget for what a closer look may find.

A chimney inspection before closing turns those unknowns into lines with prices. Our crew can look at the chimney you are buying and write an estimate you can use in negotiation or for planning. Start with the seller questions below.

• When the chimney was last swept and inspected
• Repairs to the crown, flashing, flue or firebox
• Whether the flue was relined, and for which appliance
• Any past leaks or stains around the chimney