CHIMNEY SERVICES
Chimney Crown
Repairs
Your chimney crown protects your chimney from water damage entering through small cracks. Some experts believe that less than one percent of all chimneys are properly crowned. Most bricklayers simply finish off the chimney with brick mortar – this is probably due to expediency or lack of education. In either case, this ultimately leads to severe damage, especially in Wisconsin where freezing is an issue.
Why Are Chimney Crowns Important?
Without a proper chimney crown- or if you have a cracked one, rain water seeps into the bricks and mortar of your chimney structure. In the winter this water constantly freezes and thaws. When water freezes, it expands by about ten percent turning small cracks into large cracks and causing “spaulling” (peeling) of the bricks, and deterioration of the mortar.
Even minute amounts of water can result in brick flaking, mortar deterioration, and unsightly salt deposits on your chimney. Without a good crown that has been sealed your chimney does not have any protection.
Tuck-Pointing
The mortar joints become damaged due to harsh weather conditions, particularly excessive amounts of water. Moisture can even damage rock masonry, when water gets in due to weakened mortar joints. “Tuckpointing” is a repair process which stops the destructive process and provides numerous benefits.
Is Tuckpointing Necessary?
While bricks on a chimney last about a century, mortar has a much shorter lifespan. Depending on how exposed the masonry is to excess water and other harsh conditions, mortar lasts about 25 years. It’s sometimes highly recommended that homeowners install a cricket, which is a compact diversion roof that prevents the chimney from being deluged in rainy weather. The layout of the roof and the position of the chimney affect how much or little water drainage contributes to erosion of the mortar joints.
When mortar joints become damaged, the most cost-effective action that a homeowner can take is to repair affected areas via tuckpointing. The alternative is to allow the mortar joints to deteriorate to the point that the chimney collapses, which makes a complete rebuild necessary–of course, the cost of a rebuild is far greater than the cost for repairs.
Chimney Rebuild
The term, “chimney rebuilding” usually involves a total tear down of your existing chimney. A total rebuilding of your chimney can usually be avoided if you catch problems early on and have a qualified chimney professional take a look.
Oftentimes, broken bricks or deteriorated masonry joints can be repaired with chimney tuckpointing work. That involves a stone mason filling in the broken mortar joints in-between the bricks of your chimney. If your chimney has gone past the point of simple tuckpointing and is showing signs of structural
vulnerability like broken bricks, water leakage or large cracks in the masonry then your chimney might be a candidate for a rebuild.
Your chimney is one of the few features of your home that is not protected by your roof and therefore can take a lot of abuse from rain, snow, wind and intense heat. If your chimney is absorbing a lot of moisture from rain and snow, the constant thawing and re-freezing of that water will lead to cracks in the masonry and the loss of structural integrity of the chimney itself.
How to Know If You Need a Chimney Rebuild
If your chimney’s mortar joints are beyond the repair potential of tuckpointing work, then your chimney is ready to be torn down and rebuilt. Sometimes a chimney rebuilding can be avoided if the mortar joints surrounding the bricks are still in good to fair condition.
Here are some other symptoms of a chimney that needs to be rebuilt:
- Chimney leaning
- Water leakage from the chimney
- Large amounts of brick and mortar deterioration
- Large visible cracks in the chimney brickwork
what clients
Say About Us
Amanda B.
Lukáš did an amazing job!! He was very quick to respond and accommodating to our schedule. He was professional, clean and friendly. We absolutely LOVE how the fireplace wall turned out!! We 100% recommend him to anyone looking for stone needs!!
Kelly R.
Quick and very high quality. We are thrilled with the work that was done to repair our outside stone fireplace! Highly recommend.
Tim J.
Bisky was on time every time weather it was a return call or when he was due to show up at the site. I really like his communication about how and why his work will be done. The job was to fix a failed repair from another company. When the job was done you could not tell where the original wall ended and his repair begins. Texture and color matched very well with old wall. Job site was always clean. Contracts are simple and effective.
Chintan S.
Have nothing but positive to say about services provided by Lukas. He was timely, professional, offered suggestions as requested or appropriate and went extra mile to complete the work. The final product, replaced the stone around fireplace was exceptional. We are happy that we went with Lukas and will only contact him for any masonry needs we may have in future. Strongly recommend him!!!
Jason K.
Synthetic stucco repaired on chimney… Great work and got everything done in a day by working into the late evening, super happy and looks great!
