Chimney Repair in Clearwater, FL

A chimney fails as a system

Three things wear a chimney down: water, heat and movement. Water gets in at the top through a cracked crown or a missing cap, and at the roof line through tired flashing. Heat from a fire or a gas appliance works on the flue and the firebox. Movement from settling and from wind loads on a tall stack opens joints. One failure usually leads to the next, so the repair that lasts is the one aimed at the first part that gave way.

That is why we start every job with a full look from the firebox up. A brown stain on the living room ceiling can come from flashing, from a crown, from a chase cover or from the roof itself. Fixing the wrong one means paying twice. Chimney damage repair starts with that one question, which part let go first, and answering it is how you fix a chimney once.

What we repair on a chimney

Most chimney repair work falls into a handful of jobs, and each has its own page so you can read about it before the visit: As a chimney repair company, we keep the list of chimney repair services short and specific, and each item on it can be read about before the visit. If a chimney and roof repair is needed together, we say which part is ours and which belongs to a roofer.

• Chimney crown repair when the concrete slab on top is cracked or crumbling
• Chimney cap replacement when the cap is rusted, bent or gone
• Chimney flashing repair where the stack meets the shingles or tile
• Chimney masonry repair for loose brick, open joints and cracked stucco
• Chimney liner installation when the flue lining is cracked or missing
• Chase cover replacement on factory-built chimneys with a metal top

Repair or rebuild

Most chimneys we see need a repair, not a rebuild. A rebuild only comes up when the brick above the roof is loose all the way through, the stack leans, or water has worked through so much of the masonry that new mortar would not hold. When we recommend taking a chimney down and rebuilding it, we show you where and why on the inspection, and the written estimate says exactly how many courses come down. Our chimney rebuild page explains that job in more detail.

Codes and safe practice

Masonry chimneys in Florida are built and repaired under the Florida Building Code, Residential, Chapter 10, and the fire safety standard most inspectors and manufacturers refer to is NFPA 211. Those documents set things like clearances to wood framing and how a flue is lined. When a repair touches those items, we follow them and the appliance maker's instructions, and we tell you when a permit is likely to be needed from the City of Clearwater before work starts. Any chimney repair contractor working on a flue or a masonry stack should be able to tell you which section of those documents applies. Full chimney restoration, bringing an old stack back to sound condition, follows the same rules.

How a repair visit runs

The free inspection comes first. Our crew walks the roof when it is safe to do so, checks the chimney inside and out, and writes down each problem with its fix and price. If you go ahead, we set a date, protect the floor and furniture near the fireplace, do the agreed work and clean up. At the end we walk you through what changed. If the repair calls for new material to cure, such as crown mortar or a sealant, we tell you how long to wait before the next fire.

After a storm

High wind can take a cap, bend a chase cover or crack a crown with debris. If the chimney took a hit, keep the fireplace out of use until it has been looked at, and if there is water coming in, put a bucket under it and move anything that can be damaged. Our storm damage chimney repair page covers what to check from the ground and what to leave to us.