Your local chimney repair team in Sand Lake Hills

Tracing water from the top of the chimney down

Water runs downhill, so a leak investigation starts at the top and works down. BIA guidance on chimney construction shows how much of the design is about the top, from the cap and its drip to the flue liner and the flashing at the roof, and a failure high up can show as a stain well below it.

Order matters because water entering near the top can run down the faces and through the masonry before it appears. New flashing fitted under a cracked crown can leave the leak running, and the flashing takes the blame.

When several entry points fail at once, the highest one goes first. Chimneys in Sand Lake Hills get the same top-down check, and each entry point is priced on its own line so the order of the work is clear.

• The crown and any cap or screen above it
• The top of each flue liner and its joint with the crown
• Brick faces and mortar joints on every side
• Flashing where the chimney meets the roof, or siding on a framed chase

Matching brick color, size and texture

A repair that stops water can still look wrong if the new brick stands out. BIA maintenance guidance says replacement brick must match the existing brick in its looks and in its physical properties, and it admits that locating a match may take considerable effort.

The guidance recommends judging the match with a mock-up or sample panel that shows the full range of colors and textures in the chosen brick, laid to match the existing brickwork. Seen that way, the whole range of the new brick is judged, not one well-chosen sample.

An honest match is close, not identical, and new brick will not share the weathering of the rest of the chimney at first. The estimate for homes in Sand Lake Hills names the brick we propose and says how close a match to expect.

• Color, judged across the whole range of the wall
• Size, so the new courses line up with the old
• Surface texture
• Physical properties that suit the existing brick

Stucco on a chimney, over masonry or over framing

A stucco chimney can hide two very different structures. Some are brick or block with cement plaster applied straight onto the masonry. Others are wood-framed chases wrapped in lath and plaster, sometimes around a factory-built metal chimney. From the yard they look alike.

Under the Florida Building Code they are built differently. Plaster over lath goes on in at least three coats, over corrosion-resistant lath with a water-resistive barrier behind it. Plaster applied directly to masonry takes at least two coats. That backing decides how a crack is cut out, what sits behind the patch and whether water can reach wood.

Looking at the top of the chimney, the firebox and the attic run usually shows which kind you have. The backing is named on the written estimate for homes in Sand Lake Hills before a repair is chosen, since a framed chase with wet sheathing needs a different scope than stucco over solid brick.

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