Chimney Crown Repairs – Weather & Old Age Can Cause Your Chimney To Need Repairs
The cement chimney crown at the top of your chimney is in place to shield the interior chimney and the masonry from water, which can cause damage. Well-made crowns will last for many years, but no crown lasts forever.
Above & Beyond Chimney Service of Dedham MA regularly repairs, seals and rebuilds chimney crowns. We’ve provided a full range of important chimney services to customers throughout the South Shore region for more than 20 years.
Chimney Crowns 101
Chimney crowns, when built correctly, are made of cement and feature a sloped design that causes water to run off them. All four edges of the crown should extend a bit beyond the sides of the chimney to keep water from running directly down the masonry.
Crowns generally are built by an experienced chimney repair technician or a qualified mason. It is not advisable for unskilled individuals to perform chimney crown repair or crown rebuilding.
Why Crowns Become Damaged
There are several reasons your chimney crown may be cracked or decayed. These include:
- Lightning strikes
- Pounding hail storms
- Inferior cement used to build the crown
- Inferior workmanship in the building process
- Earthquakes that cause the chimney structure to shift
- Old age
- Season after season of intensely hot and cold weather temperatures
Most of these can’t be avoided, but by scheduling annual chimney inspections, you can know about crown repair issues before they get out of hand.
Chimney Crown Repair & Sealing
Minor cracks in the crown often can be sealed using a waterproofing compound. Our chimney crown repair techs first fill in the cracks and then layer the entire crown with an application that will prevent water from getting into any smaller cracks that might appear later.
Depending on the extent of the damage, we may need to fill in many areas throughout the crown. When damage reaches a certain level, the crown must be rebuilt.
Chimney Crown Rebuilds
Rebuilding a chimney crown is not a complex process – for someone trained in this work. When we perform chimney crown rebuilds, we use a top-quality cement product and ensure that everything is done according to best practices. We’ll add the necessary decline so water will run off, and we’ll extend the crown out to each side to keep water from running down the masonry.
Water & Bricks Don’t Mix
When chimney crowns are cracked or deteriorated, water can seep in and pool against the bricks below it. Before long, the water eat away at the bricks. Over time, this can result in serious structural damage and potentially unsafe operation of your fireplace and chimney.
Keep in mind also that the chimney crown covers the entire top of the chimney, minus the flue pipes. Crown damage can allow water to run down into the inside of the flue and negatively affect the interior masonry, the venting pipes, the fireplace damper and much more.
Annual Chimney Inspections
Our trained chimney inspectors can perform an annual inspection of your entire chimney system including the crown to alert you to early signs of damage or malfunction. This will allow you to schedule chimney crown repair or rebuilding services before the trouble gets out of hand and expensive to solve.
Give us a call at (781) 383-0415 to schedule an inspection or learn more about our historic chimney restorations, chimney repair, chimney cleaning and chimney maintenance services.
Above & Beyond serves Cohasset MA, Dedham MA, Braintree MA, Duxbury MA, Hanover MA, Hingham MA, Marshfield MA and other local communities.
