Your Chimney – What to Look For

How does your chimney look from the outside? Whenwas the last time you took a really good look at it? If your like most folks, if it doesn’t cause you a problem it’s not in the forefront of your mind right? The problem is that a chimney takes a lot of abuse no matter what the weather and no matter how much you are using it. High wind can actually put stress on a chimney and cause torsional twisting that can lead to failure of the mortar (especially if you have a TV antenna attached to it). Once the mortar does start to crack open, water can enter these cracks and as it expands when frozen, it places extreme pressure and makes the cracks even bigger over time. Another area on a chimney to watch is the flashing. Flashing is generally made of aluminum, copper, or galvanized steel. While all of these are made to last an extremely long time, they can fail.  The material used to “caulk” the gap between the flashing and the chimney can give out as well.

It is very important to look inside your attic where the chimney connects to the home and make sure that the flashing is still holding up

Active Water Stains as seen on Wood and Bricks

 it’s end of the deal. The picture in this post shows that the integrity of the flashing was compromised and allowed water to penetrate into the attic. You can see dark stains on the rafters and roof decking as well as efflourescence (white powdery stains) on the chimney bricks.

So what should you do? You can start with examining your chimney very closely from top to bottom with a good set of binoculars. You want to look for and cracks in your mortar, any damaged bricks, such as discoloration, pitting, spalling, crumbling, etc. Next, head into the attic and look at the area around where the chimney either passes through the roof or is attached to the outside of the home. Here you will want to look for water stains, a white powderey residue on the bricks (efflourescence), or any other type of damage such as the dark staining on the wood components. Take advantage of your time in the attic and look at the other roof penetrations. Here you should be looking for water stains that may indicate that you have a problem as well.

I will be addressing the Chimney Crown tomorrow so check back in.