Masonry and factory-built chimney repair in Maitland

Branches rubbing or hanging over the chimney

A limb that touches a chimney moves every time the tree does. Over time it scrapes mortar joints and brick faces, bends or loosens a metal cap and wears the finish on a chase. Leaves and twigs dropped from above collect on the crown and against the cap screen.

A clogged screen slows the smoke leaving the flue, and overhanging limbs give squirrels and other animals an easy route to the top. Leaves packed against the crown also hold water on the one surface that is meant to shed it.

Trimming comes first, by whoever looks after your trees, so the chimney is not repaired and then scraped again. Once the branches are back, our crew in Maitland clears the top, checks what the rubbing did to joints, cap and flashing, and prices only the repairs that are needed.

Smoke in the room points to a problem

EPA wood-burning guidance says a properly installed, correctly used appliance should make very little smoke, and that smoke you regularly see or smell means you may have a problem. An open fireplace that puffs smoke out of the opening each time it is lit fits that description.

The causes run from simple to serious. At one end sit a damper that is not fully open and wet or green wood. At the other sit a flue blocked by debris or a nest, a damaged smoke chamber or a chimney too short for the roof around it. Until the cause is found, stop using the fireplace.

Finding the cause means checking the damper, the smoke chamber, the flue and the height of the chimney in turn. For homes in Maitland, the cause is traced to the part responsible, and the estimate names the fix, whether that is a damper repair, clearing a blockage or a change at the top.

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.

Cracks in the chimney breast inside the room

The chimney breast is the part of the chimney that shows inside the room, finished in plaster, drywall, brick or stone. A crack there can be finish movement where two materials meet, or the first visible sign of water or structural movement behind the wall.

Brick Industry Association maintenance guidance lists differential movement among the possible causes of masonry distress. It also notes that with differential movement or improper flashing the source may be hidden and found only through closer diagnosis.

Our technicians read the inside crack together with the outside of the chimney and the flue, because the cause is often not in the room at all. For your Maitland home, the estimate separates the repair at the source from patching the finish, so the patch is not wasted. Any of the signs below moves a crack out of the cosmetic column.

• A brown stain or bubbling paint beside the crack
• A crack that keeps growing or reopens after patching
• A stepped or diagonal line through brick