Your local chimney repair team in Rio Grande Park

Rust streaks running down the chimney

Orange or brown streaks down a chimney come from steel above them. They start under a rusting cap, a spark screen, a metal chase top or another steel part at the top, and they grow each time rain runs over the metal.

Rust on a part at the top of a chimney means that part is not standing up to the water it sees. BIA guidance says a metal rain cap should be corrosion resistant, and flashing is expected to be corrosion-resistant sheet metal for the same reason. A part that rusts through lets water in as well as staining the brick.

The fix starts at the source. Each streak is traced up to the part that made it, that part is replaced with corrosion-resistant metal and the stain is treated as a cleaning item for after the repair. On homes in Rio Grande Park, the estimate names the rusting part first and the stain second.

A coating is not a new crown

BIA guidance on coatings for brick is blunt about what a clear repellent or a brush-on coating can do. Water usually gets into masonry at cracks and separations, and a repellent cannot stop water getting in through ineffective caps or copings or through mortar joints that were never filled.

A coat spread over a broken crown also hides it. The cracks stop showing from the ground while water keeps finding them. The same guidance says a repellent is not recommended in place of common repairs such as repointing or replacing spalled and cracked brick.

When a crown is cracked, broken or has lost its slope, the estimate prices a crown repair or a new crown, not a coating. Any water repellent on the masonry below is a separate question for after the repairs, written as an optional line rather than as the fix for the top.

Loose stones on a stone veneer chimney

Some stone chimneys are built of solid stone, while others carry the stone as a veneer, one outer layer set against a framed or block chimney behind it. A stone that rocks, drops or shows an open joint around its edge has lost its bond to that backing.

Where masonry veneers a frame chimney, the Florida Building Code requires through-flashing and weep holes so water that gets behind the stone can drain back out. A veneer built without them, or with them buried in mortar, has no way to shed that water.

Our stone chimney repair service chooses between resetting stones and taking down a section. On your Rio Grande Park home the estimate names the stones or courses involved and which of these applies.

• A few loose stones on sound, dry backing are reset
• Wet or soft backing behind the stone is repaired first
• Missing flashing at the base means rebuilding that course
• Wide movement across the face points to a section rebuild

Checking the chimney after a fallen limb or strong wind

A branch that lands on the roof, or wind strong enough to move patio furniture, can reach the chimney too. The damage is not always obvious from the doorstep, and the roof is no place to go looking. Debris can also drop into an open flue. The yard and an upstairs window show a lot.

Keep people clear of the area below any loose pieces and leave the fireplace unused if the top looks damaged. Our crew checks the chimney from the roof and down the flue, and the written estimate covers the damage that is really there, not a list of guesses. Before the visit, note any of these from the ground.

• A cap or chase top that sits tilted or is gone
• Brick, stone or stucco pieces on the roof or the ground
• Flashing lifted or bent where the chimney meets the roof
• A branch still resting against the chimney