Family-owned chimney chase repair in Wedgefield

Corrosion-resistant flashing and fasteners

Flashing and fasteners on a chase sit against wet wood and damp air, year after year. Under the Florida Building Code, metal flashing has to be corrosion resistant, both on walls under R703.4 and at roof intersections under R903.2.1. Stucco lath and its attachments have to be corrosion resistant too, under R703.7.1.

Plain steel nails and bare steel flashing can rust, stain the siding and lose their hold. A rusty streak below a nail head is often the first mark you notice on painted siding. Once a nail rusts through, the siding it held starts to move and the hole it leaves lets in water.

Our crew uses corrosion-resistant fasteners and flashing made for exterior work, and follows the siding maker's fastener instructions where they are more specific. Your Wedgefield estimate names the flashing material, so you know what went into the wall.

Corrosion-resistant lath under chase stucco

Stucco on a framed chase hangs on expanded metal or woven wire lath fastened through the barrier into the framing. Under R703.7.1, lath and its attachments have to be corrosion resistant. The lath is what holds the whole stucco skin to the chase.

When lath rusts, the stucco can lose its grip. You may see rust bleeding through the finish, cracks that follow the lath lines or a panel that bulges away from the wall. Once the lath is badly rusted, patching the surface does not bring the hold back. Rusty lath often shows first at the base and around the top, where water sits longest.

Our crew cuts back to lath that is still sound. New lath and fasteners are corrosion resistant and lapped into the old at the edges. The estimate states how much lath is being replaced, so you can compare it with the area of stucco coming off.

What a full chase rebuild involves

A chimney chase rebuild follows a set order. The fireplace is taken out of use, the cover and chimney cap come off, and the siding and sheathing are stripped down to the framing. Rotted framing is replaced and the box is squared and braced around the chimney pipe.

Firestops, shields and supports inside the chase are checked and reset to the chimney maker's instructions along the way. For homes in Wedgefield, the full sequence is laid out in the written estimate before work starts. The new chase goes together in this order.

• New framing laid out to keep the listed air space around the pipe
• New sheathing, barrier and flashing at the roof and house wall
• The chosen siding or stucco, trim and paint
• A new or reset cover at the top, priced as its own line

Listed chimney parts only, never a mix

A factory-built chimney is a tested system. Under R1005.1 of the Florida Building Code, factory-built chimneys are listed, labeled, and installed and terminated per the maker's instructions. DuraVent's manual, as one example, says to use only its own listed parts, not to mix parts from other products and not to improvise.

Chase repairs are where improvising tends to creep in. A missing shield replaced with a scrap of sheet metal, a support hung from strapping it was never designed for or a pipe section from another brand all take the system outside its listing.

Our technicians match any replaced part to the chimney's maker and model. If a part is no longer made, we tell you what the maker offers instead before going ahead. You get the part names in writing for your Wedgefield home.