Basic Repairs
Power Wash, Acid Wash, and Water Repellent
"Why do I need to clean the exterior of my chimney?"
If your chimney has moss and vegetation built up on the mortar joints and brickwork, this means that your chimney may have or will have water damage! Moss will grow in between any crack or gap within the chimney, and when it rains, the moss will retain moisture.
1. Moss retains moisture; during freezing weather, it causes thermal expansion, causing gaps and cracks to form. Moss and moisture eat the minerals within the mortar joints of your chimney, causing rapid deterioration of the chimney structure.
2. Waterproofing your chimney will prevent further damage from occurring to the internal structure.
NOTE: this repair is most often sold with larger repairs, like a chimney rebuild, or with tuckpointing. When it is sold with other repairs, the REPAIR TEAM will complete the powerwashing or waterproofing. With larger repairs, Powerwashing, Acid Washing, and Waterproofing are INCLUDED in the price.
Selling Water Repellent
Waterproofing is a great repair to sell as part of a chimney's regular maintenance! If you have a customer who keeps their chimney in good condition and gets a basic sweep every year, Water Repellent is a great way to maintain the exterior condition of the chimney as well! This is a great product to sell when the chimney is in otherwise great condition, and is a great "maintenance" selling option.
Water Repellent is also sold with larger repairs!
Selling Powerwashing
When we experience freezing weather, basic thermal expansion occurs, causing gaps and cracks in the mortar joints and allowing water to enter. Moss also lives off of the minerals present within mortar joints—essentially, it eats the minerals within the mortar joints, causing rapid deterioration of the chimney structure.
Powerwashing removes the moss and the vegetation from the chimney's exterior to prevent moss from building up and ruining the mortar. REMEMBER - if the mortar joints are sandy and crumbling, you CANNOT powerwash the chimney! It will further deteriorate the chimney structure and destroy the mortar joints!
Some customers may want a powerwashing of their chimney for aesthetic purposes as well!
Powerwashing is mainly sold with larger repairs and performed by the repair team after a job is complete!
Selling Acid Wash
After performing larger repair jobs that involve mortar repairs and other jobs that make a mess, we acid wash the chimney in order to remove all of the mortar and dirt on the chimney. The acid eats at the mortar and dirt in order to completely remove it from the brickwork.
After acid washing, we will powerwash the chimney to remove the acid completely. Lastly, we will waterproof the exterior of the brickwork to apply a layer of protection to your brickwork.
Acid wash is always sold with powerwashing and water repellent and is mostly performed by the repair team after completing larger repair jobs.
FIREBOX REPAIR
The firebox is the area of the chimney exhaust system that contains the fire within your chimney.
Chimney fire bricks are made up of sand and a fireproof bonding component pressed together like a cinder block. When moisture enters the fire bricks, it can get trapped. When you light a fire, that moisture will heat up and turn to gas, causing a crack or damage to the fire bricks. Another cause of this is a foundation shift over time, which is less common than water damage.
If you have discolored bricks within the firebox (efflorescence), that means that the bonding component within the firebricks is being washed out.
This requires a layer of refractory cement, which is a high-heat cement that protects the firebricks from exposure to flame.
"Why Do I Need to Repair My Firebox"?
1. Cracks or gaps in your firebox fire are a safety hazard.
2. Without a repair, smoke can leak through the tiniest gaps, causing creosote to build up on the external structure of the firebox. You will only know it is a problem when there is ignition.
We do not offer patch repairs as a solution to gaps or cracks. If a wall has gaps or cracks, the entire wall needs to be sealed in order to be effective.
CROWN REPAIR
The Chimney Crown is the concrete slab located at the top of your chimney. It seals the top of the chimney and protects the chimney interior from the elements.
When the chimney crown is cracked or deteriorated, it can lead to costly damage to the internal brickwork and the interior of your chimney.
To repair the crown from small cracks and gaps, a cement-based sealant that is weather-durable, meaning it can expand with heat and shrink with freezing weather. It is a temporary fix that lasts 3-4 years.
SPARK ARRESTER RAIN CAP
A Spark Arrester Rain Cap is installed on the top of your flue column.
The cap has 4 main purposes:
- To improve airflow in your house by helping to prevent downdraft (cold air coming back inside) in the chimney
- To keep out animals and debris
- To prevent sparks from exiting your chimney onto your roof
- To protect the inside of the chimney from the elements like rain and wind
Every rain cap comes with an installed spark arrester mesh.
The NFPA code also requires them because sparks exit through your chimney and land on your roof, causing a fire safety hazard.
There are 2 typed of caps: Round (metal piping), and Rectangular or Square (masonry)
DAMPER CAP
A Damper Cap is a two-in-one item that operates as a damper and a rain cap. It ensures that the chimney is energy efficient. Damper caps allow you to completely seal off a flue column, preventing down drafts, smoke intrusion, and water intrusion by completely sealing off the chimney column at the top of the flue extension.
If a customer has a damaged damper door or a damper that does not open all the way, or if they have an issue with smoke coming back into the home, it is typically because the damper is broken or does not allow for a large enough opening for efficient airflow for the chimney.
INSTALLATION
We install this product by sealing and bolting the damper cap to the top of the chimney’s flue extension. After that, we will cut out the damper door on the top of the framing of the smoke shelf to allow a larger opening for airflow that will improve the chimney's draft efficiency. Then, we will drop a steal cable through the chimney and bolt it to the inside of the firebox. This allows you to operate your damper cap from within the firebox efficiently.
“Can’t we just repair our current damper?”
A: No. The damper that you currently have is not what is installed anymore, and replacement parts are no longer made for this model. If there are any replacement parts, it is tough to find them because the damper frames and product code have changed since your chimney's installation.