Your local chimney repair team in Washington Shores

The metal top of a framed chase

The top of a chase is sheet metal, and on a factory-built chimney it is part of the system. One maker's instructions, DuraVent's for its DuraChimney II chimney, set the chase top flashing on spacers above the framing, leave a ventilation opening around the pipe, seal a collar to the pipe just above the flashing and place the chimney cap above that.

A flat or sagging top holds water, and rust starts where water sits, then runs down the siding as streaks. A top sealed tight to the pipe or pushed down onto the framing can also close off the ventilation space those instructions call for.

Replacing it means matching the chimney system underneath, not only the size of the box. Our chase cover replacement service checks the points below before a new top is specified, and the estimate lists the top, the collar and any framing repair as separate items.

• The chase size and the pipe diameter
• The collar and its seal to the pipe
• Rot or rust in the framing under the old top
• Clear ventilation space around the pipe

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 Washington Shores clears the top, checks what the rubbing did to joints, cap and flashing, and prices only the repairs that are needed.

Antennas, dishes and lights mounted on a chimney

A chimney looks like a handy post for a satellite dish, an old antenna, a flag bracket or a string of lights. The Florida Building Code lets a chimney carry nothing but its own weight unless it was designed and built for the added load. A chimney built to carry itself has no allowance for a mast pulling on it.

The damage tends to start at the anchors. Bolts and straps drilled into brick or mortar open holes for water, and a mast that moves works those holes larger. Straps wrapped around the stack can crack corners and hold water against the face.

The repair is taking the mount down, patching or replacing the drilled masonry and putting the equipment somewhere built to hold it. Our technicians remove what is on the chimney and the estimate prices the masonry repair. Mounting the dish somewhere else is a job for its installer.

Loose brick above a door or walkway

A loose brick, a cracked piece of crown or a tilted cap over an entry, a patio or a driveway is a falling hazard before it is a repair. Brick Industry Association maintenance guidance counts chimneys among the parts of a building with more severe exposure, which may need repairs at shorter intervals.

When you describe it, say where it sits over the house, what has already come down and whether people walk under it. That tells us how soon the visit is needed and where a ladder can go safely. Keep the area below clear in the meantime.

Loose masonry over a path goes to the top of the estimate, ahead of cosmetic items and even ahead of some leak repairs. The first step is taking down or securing what is loose, then rebuilding on sound material. That order is explained before any work, and nothing begins until you approve it.