Family-owned chimney repair serving Lake Mary Jane

Flashing metal that lasts

Flashing lives in the wettest spot on the roof. BIA guidance notes that corrosion-resistant sheet metal flashing is required by most building codes, and the Florida Building Code requires metal flashing at wall and roof intersections and around roof openings to be corrosion resistant, with a minimum thickness for each kind of metal.

BIA also says quality flashing materials should be specified because replacement may be expensive and troublesome. Replacing it means cutting out the joints that hold the counterflashing and working the roofing back around the chimney, so a thin or poor metal that fails early can cost far more than it saved.

Our crew uses corrosion-resistant metal at or above the code's minimum thickness. The metal is named on the estimate, so you know what is going into the one part of the chimney nobody wants to open twice.

What the attic shows about a chimney leak

If you can reach the attic safely, it often shows where a chimney leak gets in. Look at the framing and roof decking beside the chimney and at the insulation around it. Where the marks start high near the roof, the flashing or the stack above is the likely entry point.

Leave the insulation around a masonry chimney as you found it, and do not pack more into the gap to stop a draft. That gap is an air space the code requires, and a stain beside it is a reason to find the leak rather than to close the gap.

Tell us what you saw and where. The attic signs from your Lake Mary Jane home go on the estimate beside the roofline and top findings, so the repair targets the entry point rather than the stain.

• Dark stains or drip marks on framing
• Soft or discolored decking beside the chimney
• Damp or matted insulation

Rust on a steel lintel or support angle

Some chimneys and fireplaces rely on steel to carry masonry. Over a fireplace opening, the Florida Building Code has the masonry supported by a noncombustible lintel with bearing at each end, and brickwork elsewhere can sit on steel shelf angles.

Rust on steel that carries brick is more than a stain. BIA maintenance guidance lists accumulated rust on lintels or shelf angles among the conditions it treats as structural, the kind that warrant a professional engineer's investigation.

Light surface rust and accumulated rust are not the same finding, and the difference is checked up close. At your Lake Mary Jane home, a lintel with heavy rust is written on the estimate as a structural item with an engineer's evaluation recommended, not as a paint job.

• Rust building up in layers on the exposed steel
• Cracked mortar joints just above the steel
• Brick over the opening that has dropped out of line

Chimney repairs before you sell

Chimney findings that surface during a buyer's inspection arrive late, when there is little time left to get quotes and the price is already being negotiated. Few repair decisions are made well under that kind of deadline.

Having the chimney looked at before listing replaces guesses with specifics. You learn which repairs affect safety or water entry and which are cosmetic. Then you decide what to fix and what to disclose, with your agent and, where it matters, your attorney. We give no legal advice on disclosure.

The free inspection comes with a written estimate that lists each component and its repair separately. Homeowners in Lake Mary Jane can share that estimate with buyers as it stands, fix everything on it, or fix the safety items and let the rest be priced into the sale. Either way, the buyer sees named components instead of a vague warning.