Chimney Repair

Breaking down a chimney repair

We find the cause first, so what you spend goes to the repair that actually stops the damage.

Crown work, from sealing to rebuilding

The crown is the concrete or stone top that keeps rain out of the masonry. The Florida Building Code asks for it to slope so it sheds water, to carry a drip edge, and to have a caulked bond break where it meets the flue liner. Fine surface cracks in sound concrete can be sealed. A crown cracked all the way through, built flat or crumbling at its edges is rebuilt instead.

Sealing and rebuilding are both priced in writing before you choose, and crown work in Altamonte Springs gets 10% off when it is booked during the 72 hours that follow your free inspection.

Taking out damaged brick

A brick that is split through or has shed its face is cut out one unit at a time. The method set out in the brick industry's maintenance note is to break the damaged brick to free it, cut the old mortar away without harming the bricks around it, butter both the new unit and the opening, then point the joints around it once it is in place. The replacement is chosen by size, color and texture to blend with the old work.

Before any brick comes out in Altamonte Springs, the estimate lists how many units are affected and where, so the scope is clear from the start.

The smoke chamber above the damper

Between the damper and the flue sits the smoke chamber, which funnels smoke upward into the flue. Code wants the inside of that chamber finished smooth with a coat of refractory mortar. Rough, stepped brick in that space slows the smoke and holds deposits, and cracks there let heat into the masonry behind. It is a part of the chimney homeowners rarely get to see.

We look into the smoke chamber with a light during every free inspection and tell you plainly whether the one in your Altamonte Springs chimney needs work.

Keeping wood clear of the masonry

The code keeps house framing from sitting tight against a masonry chimney. The code asks for a 2-inch airspace to combustible material for chimney masonry inside the house or built into an outside wall, 1 inch where the chimney stands wholly outside, and noncombustible fireblocking where it passes floors and ceilings. Those gaps are rarely visible from the room, but they come into view whenever repairs open a wall or an attic.

Framing found too close to the chimney during work in Altamonte Springs is shown to you, with the options, before we go any further.