Your local chimney repair team in Lake Mann Gardens

What heat does on the inside

Heat works on a chimney from the inside, where nobody sees it from the yard. The firebox takes the flame, the smoke chamber gathers the hot gases and the flue lining carries them out. The Florida Building Code builds each surface for heat, with any firebrick lining laid in refractory mortar, the smoke chamber walls parged with it and a flue lining suited to the appliance.

A clay liner is also meant to stand clear of the chimney walls. The code sets it with a gap of air or insulation between liner and masonry, never thicker than the liner wall, and supports it on every side. From the room, heat damage mostly shows indirectly, as crumbs of tile or parging on the smoke shelf or hearth, or a firebrick joint that has opened.

Heat damage has services of its own. A cracked or open lining goes to our chimney flue repair or chimney liner installation service, and rough or broken walls above the damper go to smoke chamber repair. On the estimate each one is a separate line with the reason for it.

Repointing to a uniform depth

Repointing is not a smear of fresh mortar over old joints. BIA maintenance guidance describes it as removing damaged or deteriorated mortar to a uniform depth and placing new mortar in the joint, packed in thin layers and tooled to match the original profile.

Depth is the step that gets skipped. The old mortar is cut back until sound mortar is reached, the brick edges are protected from chipping and thin slivers left on the brick are removed so the new mortar can bond. BIA warns that power tools can damage the surrounding brick and that repointing should be done only by qualified, experienced craftspeople.

A thin skim over soft mortar has little sound material to bond to. The estimate describes how the old mortar comes out and to what depth, which makes it easy to compare with a quote that just says repoint.

Options for relining a masonry flue

When a flue needs a new lining, the Florida Building Code keeps the choice to a short list of materials for ordinary residential appliances. The choice starts with the appliance, because the lining has to suit whatever is connected to it.

The size and shape of the existing flue, any bends in it and how much sound masonry remains narrow the choice further. Listed materials are installed per their listings and the maker's instructions, so the product chosen also fixes how the job is done.

Our chimney liner installation service lays out which of the options below fit your chimney. Each one is priced on the estimate so the decision stays yours.

• Clay flue lining, rebuilt inside the chimney
• A listed and labeled chimney lining system
• A factory-built chimney unit listed for use inside masonry
• Another approved material that resists the heat and condensate

Caring for a chimney after the repair

Fresh mortar, concrete and stucco need time to cure. The Florida Building Code sets waiting periods between stucco coats for that reason, and patching and sealing products usually carry their own. What care a repair needs depends on the material used.

Keep paint, sealers and coatings off new work until the product maker allows them. On newly laid brickwork a fairly even white film can appear as the masonry dries. Brick Industry Association guidance on efflorescence calls it new building bloom and says that in most cases it dissipates over time once the brickwork is allowed to dry. Bloom that keeps coming back is a different matter.

The first fire waits until the flue work is complete and cured. Before lighting it, ask whether the repaired flue is ready, because the answer depends on what was used and how long it needs. Keep ladders and foot traffic off new work at the top for a while as well.