Chimney repair and diagnosis in Lake Avalon

The stack above the roof and the part you never see

A chimney runs through several zones, and each one ages differently. The stack above the roof takes sun and rain on every face. The roof junction depends on flashing. The run through the attic and between floors is hidden behind framing, and the breast inside the room sits behind the finished wall or the fireplace surround.

Hidden sections still have rules. The Florida Building Code does not let the chimney wall or the flue lining change size or shape close to where the chimney passes through a floor, a ceiling or the roof, and it keeps combustible framing back from the masonry. A repair to a crack or a leak in those zones has to leave the shape and the clearance as the code wants them.

Access changes with the zone too. The stack is worked from the roof, while an attic section is reached from inside the house. When homes in Lake Avalon need work in more than one zone, the estimate splits the job zone by zone and notes the access each part needs.

Tile, metal and shingle roofs need different flashing details

Flashing has the same job on every roof. The Florida Building Code says flashing seals the roofing where it is interrupted and keeps moisture from entering the wall and roof at penetrations such as a chimney. How that job is done depends on what the roof is covered with.

The code has separate sections for asphalt shingles, clay and concrete tile and metal roofing, and each points to its own installation rules and manufacturer's instructions. A shingle roof takes step or L flashing worked into the courses. Tile and metal have profiles of their own, and a detail borrowed from a shingle job may not seal them.

Because the flashing ties into the roofing, some jobs need the roofer who installed or looks after that roof. The roof covering is identified before any flashing is priced, and the estimate spells out which work is ours and where a roofer has to be involved.

Broken and spalled brick faces

Spalling is when the face of a brick breaks away and leaves a rough, recessed surface behind. BIA maintenance guidance notes that water gets through broken or badly spalled brick, and that the damaged units may have to be replaced.

Replacing a brick without finding out why it spalled only sets up the next one, so the joints, the top and the flashing around the damage are checked first. Our chimney brick replacement service handles the work, and on your Lake Avalon home the estimate lists the bricks to be replaced along with the cause they point to.

• The damaged brick is broken out to make removal easier
• Mortar around the opening is cut away without harming the neighbors
• New brick and the opening are fully buttered and the brick pressed in
• Joints are pointed and tooled to match the original profile

Changing the appliance means checking the flue

A flue is sized and lined for what it vents. Under the Florida Building Code, a chimney flue may not be smaller in area than the connector from the appliance, and a flue that served an open fireplace is not automatically right for a stove or an insert.

Swapping appliances is where mismatches start. Because the code ties the lining to the terms of the appliance listing and the maker's instructions, the new appliance's own manual carries part of the answer, and the chimney has to satisfy both the manual and the code.

If you can, bring the new appliance's model and manual into the conversation before it is bought. Our crew in Lake Avalon compares its flue requirements with the chimney you have, and the estimate spells out whether the existing lining can stay, needs repair or has to be replaced to suit it.