Our Company Blog

Springtime Chimney Leak Repairs

When you think of using your fireplace, cold winter nights usually come to mind. Winter seems like the ideal time to use your fireplace; however, it’s also great to use to get the chill out of the house on autumn nights and cool spring evenings. That being said, if you’re using your chimney in the spring, you might notice that your chimney is having problems, especially leaks as the rainy season is here. When leaks appear, the best time to fix them is in the spring.

 

Springtime Chimney Leak RepairsThe Problems Water Causes

When the mortar between the bricks or stones breaks down, not only can the exterior of your chimney be damaged, but the interior can be damaged as well. According to CSIA, all masonry chimneys are susceptible to the weathering that occurs from being exposed to outdoor elements such as rain, snow, and sleet. Although the stones in stone chimneys aren’t as likely to be affected as bricks are, the mortar that holds the stones together is. The CSIA website also states that when your ​chimney leaks​, several things can be damaged. Some of these problems could include a deteriorating central heating system, stained chimney exterior, rusted damper assembly, and stained ceiling and walls. It can also cause the chimney lining to break down, and if the mortar has already deteriorated and cracked, that can mean that some of the gases that are released during combustion could be sneaking back into the house, where they can cause health issues for you and your family. If you suspect that your chimney is leaking, give ​Chim Cheroo Chimney Service​ a call so we can repair it before it causes further damage!

How Water Causes Problems

Rain, sleet, or snow can cause some big problems for your mortar chimney. Precipitation can wear away at your mortar, but even worse is the freeze/thaw cycle. During this cycle, water will seep into the porous mortar and even into the surface of the brick and sit there until the temperature drops to freezing. When water freezes, it expands. This causes cracks to appear where there used to be just pores. When it melts, those cracks fill in with liquid again, and the cycle continues. These cracks can cause big problems. There are ​other problems​ that can make your chimney leak as well. It could be the flashing those sheet metal strips that keep the junction where your chimney and roof meet tight. Sometimes the flashing leaks because it wasn’t properly installed, and sometimes it just wears out over time, rusts due to precipitation, or becomes torn in heavy winds. Whatever the reason, this can cause leaks.

Another place that is susceptible to leaks is at the top of the chimney, at the chimney cap or the chimney crown. The crown, which is the topmost built-on piece of the chimney, is designed in a way to keep the rain away from the area where the roof meets the chimney. It’s made of cement, so it could also be affected by the freeze-thaw cycle. If this happens, it does need to be repaired so that the leaks are stopped before they even start. The chimney cap, which sits on top of the chimney crown, is actually designed as a roof over the chimney opening, and it directs precipitation to the sloped edge of the chimney crown. If this gets rusty or damaged, it will allow precipitation to enter into the chimney as well.

Sometimes you may be thinking that your chimney is leaking, but it could be that this isn’t the case at all! It could actually be your roof. Chimney.com states it like this: “Often the water enters the roof several feet away from the chimney and then collects at the point where the chimney meets the roofing material and appears to be a chimney leak.” The best solution to a roof leak is to have your roof repaired or maybe even replaced. If you’re wondering if it’s your roof and not your chimney, we can check that out as well.

Signs of Leakage

If you’re wondering if you have a leak, take a close look at your chimney. If you notice that the mortar or even the bricks look crumbly or weak, or if there are flecks and little pieces of mortar or brick on the ground around the chimney, these can all be signs of spalling, which is another sign that you have leaks. ​Spalling​ is the process of water that is in your bricks or the mortar that holds your bricks together working its way to the surface, causing pieces to break away or pop off, which leaves these materials weakened.

What Can Be Done?

One way to ensure a leak-proof chimney is waterproofing. At Chim Cheroo Chimney Service, we will coat your chimney with a water repellent substance called ChimneySaver. Using the proper waterproofing system prevents water molecules from entering the brick and mortar while allowing vapor produced by combustion to exit your masonry. We know that ChimneySaver is the best product available to allow both these things to happen, and for our customers, only the best will do!

Whether you need a new chimney or chimney repairs from water damage, springtime is a great time to have these repairs done. A great place to call to take care of any work that needs to be done, whether it’s inspection, cleaning, or repairs, is Chim Cheroo Chimney Service. We’ll give the best service you can ask for and make sure that the job is done right!

By Don Rhine on March 31st, 2020 | Tagged with: Tags: , , | Comments Off on Springtime Chimney Leak Repairs

How We Respond to Winter’s Wrath

If you live in Ohio, you know what it’s like to live in the winter! It gets cold, it gets snowy, and it gets icy! An Ohio winter isn’t forhouse in winter everyone, but if you’re one of the tough people that love nothing more than getting outside in the cold weather, then Ohio is the greatest place to be. We get through the winter in many different ways. Let’s look at a few ways we can respond to winter’s wrath!

There are basically two ways to get through an Ohio winter. You can embrace it or you can get through it. Let’s look at embracing it. If you’re one of those people that can’t wait to see the snow fall, that lives for cold temperatures so you can bundle up and go outside and play, then that’s exactly what you should do! Find a ski resort or hit some of Ohio’s cross country ski trails, then finish out your day by taking a hike to make sure your muscles stay warmed up. Or grab a sled or a tube and hit the hills. Whether it’s in your backyard or at a recreation center, there’s not much that makes you feel like a kid again like zooming down a hill, the cold wind in your face. Never mind the long trudge back up that hill, the thrill of speeding down makes it all worthwhile. Maybe you like ice fishing, sitting on the lake on a peaceful day, sipping on a cup of coffee while you wait for the fish to bite. No matter what the outdoor activity you prefer, as long as you are outdoors enjoying nature, it’s going to be a great day.

Maybe you aren’t as much of an embracer as an endurer. Well, winter is great for that, too. If when the weather gets cold, you snuggle in, then you know that nothing feels quite as good as looking out the window and seeing the snow fall, knowing that you are warm and safe in your house. Grab a book and enjoy a long read, turn on the tv and watch that movie you’ve been wanting to see, or do a marathon session of a series on Netflix. Maybe you can’t wait for the cold weather to hit so you have a reason to bake, using the oven to heat up your kitchen while filling the house with the sweet aroma of cookies or cake. Put the kids in their warm jammies and watch a kids’ movie on television. You’ll never feel as comfy and cozy as that feeling you get when you’re snug and warm inside while it’s cold outside.

Cuddle Up In Front of the Fireplace

No matter what type of person you are, embracer or endurer, there’s one thing everyone can agree on, and that’s that cuddling up in front of a beautiful, crackling fire is a great way to spend a winter’s evening. Now is the perfect time to enjoy your fireplace, but winter can also be very hard on a chimney and fireplace. The almost continual use can cause your chimney to become dirty, filled with soot and creosote, and that creosote, if it builds up too much, can catch a spark and cause a fire. Many chimney fires are undetected, which means there may be damage to your chimney liner. If your chimney liner is cracked or chipped, this means that the smoke isn’t able to make as smooth an exit out of your chimney and that your fire won’t burn as efficiently. It can also mean that dangerous gases that should be getting released through the chimney are instead leaking back into your home, causing illness for your family.

The outdoor elements can be very hard on your chimney, as well. Precipitation can get into the pores of the bricks and mortar that make up your chimney, and when the temperatures drop below freezing, that moisture freezes and expands, causing the pores to get bigger. As this happens, cracks can form. This also makes it difficult for smoke to leave your chimney in the manner in which it was intended. There’s another problem, as well. These cracks could also cause instability in the structure of your chimney.

Call Chim Cheroo Chimney Service Inc

If your chimney or fireplace is showing some negative effects from the harsh weather conditions that an Ohio winter can throw its way, then now is the perfect time to give Chim Cheroo Chimney Service a call. If we find your chimney or fireplace has been damaged, we can set you up on a repair schedule and start as soon as the weather allows. Our team of professional chimney servicemen are CSIA certified and highly qualified to take care of the problems discussed earlier in this article, but also any other problems that can happen when your chimney goes through a long, cold winter. Whether you have chimney problems or not, give us a call and let us come in and we’ll inspect and clean your chimney, look for any trouble spots, and get things fixed up so you have no worries going into the next burning season.

By Don Rhine on February 28th, 2020 | Tagged with: Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on How We Respond to Winter’s Wrath