Leaky Chimney

Chimney leaks are a common reason people contact a chimney service company. Leak repair should be scheduled sooner rather than later because most leaky chimney issues get progressively worse over time.

Fire N’ Stone of Tilton, NH, provides certified leak-detection and chimney services throughout New Hampshire’s Lakes Region. Here is some helpful information about why your chimney may leak and what needs to be done about it.

Causes of Chimney Leaks

We consider a “chimney leak” as any situation in which water from rain or snow is getting into the chimney system. A variety of events can lead to leaking in different parts of the chimney, and the infiltrating water/moisture can spread to other areas. For this reason, it’s not always easy at first glance to tell where a leak originates.

Our team of CSIA-certified chimney leak specialists will start by determining why your chimney is leaking. Causes of a leaky chimney may include:

• Lightning strike
• Earthquake
• House-settling
• Problems with the chimney footing
• Damage from a chimney fire
• Powerful hail storms and wind events
• Poor-quality materials/workmanship in building the chimney
• Season after season of extreme air temperatures
• Neglect

Areas of the chimney system in which leaks often begin include:

• Bricks
• Mortar joints
• Chimney cap
• Chimney crown
• Chimney flashing

We’ll examine these and other areas closely to find out where the leak originates and why it’s happening. We can then know exactly what will be required to fix it.

Leaky Chimney Repair

Fire N’ Stone has provided full-service chimney leak repair in the Lakes Region for more than 10 years. There are few if any leak situations we haven’t seen, and we know how to resolve every one of them.

Repairing the leak in your chimney system may involve the following:

Tuckpointing: A process that removes crumbling mortar and adds fresh, new mortar in its place. This keeps infiltrating water in mortar cracks from freezing and expanding and causing serious damage.

Brick replacement: Cracked bricks are a common way serious chimney leaks start. Our skilled masons will replace individual bricks or sections of bricks.

Chimney cap Installation: We install custom chimney caps that provide protection to your chimney system. (Chimney caps not only prevent water from entering the system, but they also keep out draft-blocking debris.)

Chimney crown repair: We can repair cracks in concrete chimney crowns, but if the damage is significant, we recommend a stainless steel crown/cap combo that is maintenance free and will outlast and outperform any masonry crown.

Chimney flashing repair: If the flashing that seals the space between your roof and chimney is warped, rusted or otherwise damaged, rain and snow can flow right down into your home.

Signs of a Chimney Leak

Watch for these leaky chimney signs:

• Water in the firebox
• Strong musty odors coming from the fireplace
• Rusted/hard-to-operate fireplace damper
• Damp sections of the ceiling and/or walls near the chimney and fireplace
• Visible decomposition of exterior chimney masonry
• White staining (efflorescence) on the exterior masonry – this means water is penetrating the bricks

Resolve Your Leaky Chimney

Fire N’ Stone works year-round to help our customers keep their chimneys clean, safe and leak-free. Call us at (603) 293-4040 and tell us how we can help you.

We serve Alton NH, Franklin NH, New Hampton NH, Northfield NH, Meredith NH, Concord NH and other Lakes Region communities.