Vermonters are used to frigid winters, sweltering hot summers and everything in between. Over time these weather patterns deteriorate masonry structures. A little preventative maintenance can go a long way to keep your chimney in good condition.
Crown Coat & Crown Seal Crown coat is able to repair moderately damaged chimney crowns by eliminating chimney leaks, water penetration & absorption. A crown is the cement slab that sits at the very top of your chimney and protects the brick and mortar joints beneath from water entry. Water entry into a chimney is probably the most common problem and causes the most damage to chimneys. All crowns will crack in time from expansion & contraction, settlement, and poor construction, which causes chimney leaks. Crown Coat prevents further crack formation, helps to prevent tuckpointing needs as well as structural compromise of your masonry & chimney system beneath.
Advantages of crown coat:
-Existing cracks, gaps, and voids are filled, - entire crown is coated and weather tight. -Prevents crack formation through which chimney leaks occur. -Chimney leaks that originate from the crown are eliminated! -Helps to preserve & maintain existing & restored integrity preventing structural compromise.
Existing cracks - If not properly repaired will allow water to leak into the brick & mortar joints beneath. These cracks will compromise the integrity of the chimney and lead to a costly chimney repair or chimney replacement.
Referred to as tuck pointing (tuckpointing), pointing, repointing, spot pointing, & brick chimney repair. Tuck pointing restores the masonry mortar joints between your bricks to eliminate water intrusion, prevent structural compromise, and restores the integrity & aesthetic value of your chimney.
Tuck pointing can be defined as the removal and replacement of mortar between stone, block, or brick. Brickliners masonry crews will replace the failing mortar with new mortar to match the original masonry texture and color as closely as possible. Once mortar has been placed within the joint, it is then tooled. When done properly, tuck pointing will provide a strong, water-resistant joint that will extend the life of your masonry chimney and prevent future brick chimney repair.
Deteriorated brickwork weakens the chimneys integrity and allows cold drafts, water, and insects to invade your home
Penetrating moisture weakens the mortar that bonds the masonry units together; it also promotes premature deterioration of your brick causing brick chimney repair & tuck pointing needs. When moisture finds its way into a defect on the brick and freezes, it will cause the brick face to spall (fall off), deflect, or displace. Once this happens, your brick is rendered useless, as it offers no structural support to the masonry structure.
Masonry brick chimney repair costs can be eliminated and/or minimized with regular inspections and preventative maintenance.
Preventative maintenance: Brickliners can apply chimney saver, which has been developed specifically for use as a waterproofing agent on masonry chimneys to aid in preservation of integrity preventing brick chimney repair needs. This formula is vapor permeable, which means that it allows your masonry chimney to breathe out, but not in. Thus, water that has penetrated your masonry chimney, or moisture that has originated from inside, is allowed to escape, while the waterproofing agent prevents water entry from the outside.
FLASHING(back to menu) Flashing is the sheet metal that keeps the intersection between the chimney and roof watertight. When water gets behind faulty flashing, it can do a lot of damage to the roof sheathing and framing and to the ceiling below, so you need to deal with this problem immediately.
Proper flashing around a chimney includes two layers. The first is called step flashing: Sections of L-shaped sheet metal are woven into the shingle courses and lapped up the side of the chimney. Next comes the counterflashing: A second layer of metal is embedded in the chimney mortar joints and folded down to cover the top of the step flashing.
The corners are especially vulnerable. We cut and bend the metal around the corner. Even in a quality installation, this leaves one small spot that should be sealed with a high-quality urethane caulk. This caulk can work itself loose over time. If the flashing looks to be in good condition, recaulking should take care of the problem. However, caulk is not a substitute for properly overlapped flashing materials. Brickliners uses lead flashing which is soft and easy to bend and shape.
Flashing is the sheet metal that keeps the intersection between the chimney and roof watertight. When water gets behind faulty flashing, it can do a lot of damage to the roof sheathing and framing and to the ceiling below, so you need to deal with this problem immediately.