Chimney chase repair and framing work in Ocoee

Telling a framed chase from a masonry chimney

Plenty of homeowners are not sure which kind of chimney they have, and it changes the whole repair. A masonry chimney is solid brick or block with a flue inside. A framed chase is a wood box around a metal pipe.

If the chimney turns out to be masonry, the job belongs to a different repair, and we tell you so on the spot. Stucco over block is patched as masonry work. Stucco over a framed chase in Ocoee is part of chase repair, because the wood behind it is what fails. These clues sort it out from the ground.

• Siding or stucco that matches the house walls, with no brick joints
• A flat sheet-metal top instead of a poured concrete crown
• A round metal chimney cap rising from the top instead of a clay flue tile
• A metal firebox with a maker's label inside the fireplace opening

Step flashing along the sides of a roof chase

Where a chase wall runs down the slope of a shingle roof, the joint needs flashing that works with each course of shingles. Florida's residential code, in R905.2.8.3, requires sidewall flashing by the step-flashing method or with continuous L flashing.

Step flashing uses one bent piece per shingle course, each lapped over the one below, so water is handed down the roof. The upright leg runs up the chase wall behind the barrier and siding. When siding is nailed through that leg, or the flashing sits on top of the siding, water gets behind it.

When our crew opens a chase base in Ocoee, the side flashing is checked piece by piece. Bent or corroded pieces are replaced, and the siding goes back with the right lap. If the roof itself needs work, we coordinate with your roofer.

Wood siding and trim that stay wet too long

Wood siding and trim on a chase can hold up well when they dry out between rains. Trouble starts when they stay wet, from a gap that holds water, a face the sun never reaches or paint that has failed on the end grain.

Section R317.1 of the state's residential code requires naturally durable or treated wood where siding, sheathing and framing sit close to the ground or exposed slabs. Higher up on a chase, keeping the wood dry is what protects it.

Our technicians probe wood siding at joints, corners and the bottom edge. Soft boards are replaced with primed stock, cut ends are sealed and the finish is restored. Any ledge or detail that keeps holding water gets flagged on your Ocoee estimate, so it can be changed during the repair.

Insulation that has no place against the pipe

Homeowners sometimes stuff insulation into a chase to stop drafts or noise, and some chases were insulated when they were built. That insulation can end up packed against the chimney pipe. DuraVent's manual, as one example, says never to fill the clearance space with insulation and to keep building insulation away from the chimney.

Wet insulation can also hold water against the sheathing and framing, which speeds up rot on the inside faces of the chase walls. It can leave the back of the siding damp long after the outside looks dry.

When we open a chase, any insulation inside is checked by hand, including any packed above or below the opened section. Material in the clearance space comes out, and wet insulation is removed. Insulation that belongs in the chase walls stays in the stud bays, outside the clearance, and the estimate says what was removed and what stayed.