Our Process
Waterproofing a chimney in Cameron City, in detail
How a siloxane water repellent works
According to Technical Note 6A, siloxanes form a chemical bond with the silica and alumina in brick and mortar, and that bond is what makes the treated masonry repel water. SaverSystems' data sheet for its water-based ChimneySaver repellent describes a hydrophobic zone beneath the surface that keeps water molecules out while water vapor moves freely.
Because the reaction happens inside the pores, the surface texture and color are meant to stay much as they were. The same chemistry is why these products bond to glass that has not been protected, so masking nearby windows is part of the job on your Cameron City home.
The weather window for a water repellent
Repellents have application limits, and the product's maker sets them. One chimney repellent's data sheet asks for surface and air temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees F for three hours after application, no application to wet or saturated surfaces, and no application when rain is expected within six hours unless the surface is protected.
Our crew plans your Cameron City job around those limits. If rain is due or the brick is still wet from a morning shower, the application moves to a better day, since a repellent applied outside its conditions may not perform as its maker intends.
Chimneys with an unknown earlier treatment
Plenty of homeowners do not know whether their chimney was sealed before they bought the house. Technical Note 6A cautions that a coating incompatible with an existing treatment can harm durability and appearance, that reapplication can cause clouding, and that an existing coating sometimes has to stay in place until it wears off.
Signs of an earlier product include sheen, uneven darkening or water that beads on some faces and soaks into others. If the history is unclear, the test area answers the question before the whole chimney is treated.
What a waterproofing estimate should say
A clear waterproofing estimate names the product, the surfaces and area to be treated, the preparation, the protection of nearby surfaces and any repairs that must come first. Each repair sits on its own line, so you can approve the repellent separately from the masonry work.
Our estimates follow that pattern, priced upfront with no hidden fees. The product named on the estimate is the product that goes on your chimney, and its data sheet is available if you want to read it.
