Masonry and factory-built chimney repair in Summerlake

Water repellent comes after repairs, if at all

A water repellent is a last step on a chimney, not a first one. BIA guidance on coatings says the source of water entry should be found and the needed repairs completed before any repellent goes on. After those repairs, it advises waiting several months to see whether a repellent is needed at all.

Often it is not. The same guidance says moisture problems will often be corrected by the initial repairs to caps, flashing, joints and brick, and the coating question can then be dropped. Where one is still wanted, BIA recommends breathable coatings, and it is clear that repellents are not a permanent solution and will need reapplying.

Our chimney waterproofing service handles repellents, and on homes in Summerlake it is quoted as a separate, optional line after the repair work. You decide on it once the repaired chimney has had time to show how it performs.

A chimney nobody has used for years

A fireplace that has sat unused for years is not safe just because nothing has happened. An open flue with no cap collects nests, leaves and debris. Dampers rust in place. Crowns and flashing keep aging whether anyone lights a fire or not.

The U.S. Fire Administration advises having chimneys cleaned and inspected each year by a professional, and a long gap means several of those checks were skipped. The first fire in an idle chimney should come after a full look, because a blocked flue has nowhere to send the smoke but back down.

Before that first fire, our crew in Summerlake checks the whole system, from the cap and crown down to the damper and firebox, and clears out what has collected. Anything that needs repair is written on the estimate before the fireplace goes back into service.

A chimney too short for the roof around it

The Florida Building Code sets a minimum height. A chimney must extend at least three feet above the highest point where it passes through the roof, and at least two feet higher than any part of the building within ten feet. Brick Industry Association guidance names chimney height and flue area as the two most critical factors in chimney design.

Chimneys come up short when the house changes around them. A second story, a raised roof, a dormer or an addition inside that distance can leave a chimney that met the rule when it was built now too low. Smoke that lingers at the opening or drifts back indoors can be one result.

The fix is extending the chimney to the height the code calls for, in masonry on a masonry chimney or in listed sections on a factory-built one, then finishing the new top. Our crew in Summerlake measures the chimney against the roof and any wall within that distance, and the estimate shows the added height and how it will be finished.

Splitting a long repair list into phases

An inspection on a neglected chimney can turn up a long list. Doing everything at once is not always possible, and it is not always necessary. The list can usually be split into phases without leaving the house at risk.

Some items cannot be split. Counterflashing is set into mortar joints, so repointing and flashing on the same face go together, and a new crown goes on after any rebuild of the courses below it, not before. The estimate marks which lines depend on each other, so the phases you pick still work as a sequence. Within those limits, the order usually runs like this.

• Safety first, such as loose masonry or a damaged flue
• Water entry next, at the crown, cap, flashing and joints
• Working parts after that, like the damper and cleanout
• Finish work last, such as cleaning and color matching