Stone Chimney Cap Repair and Restoration. Hershey PA.
On this project located in Hershey P.A. the chimney is about fifty years old and was badly in need of repair. There were several cracks in the stone wall and the chimney cap was also cracked in many places. In addition to that the flashing was pulling away from the base of the chimney. It only takes one of the problems this chimney had to allow water penetration. So, with all three combined when it would rain the home owner had a major problem. The water would saturate the stone work on the inside of the home, work it’s way down through the second floor to the first floor. Then it would damage the dry wall ceiling. If you live in an area that has freezing temperatures like we do here in the north east. Once water has a way into masonry it will saturate the wall. Then with repeated freeze thaw cycles it will break down the mortar joint and push the wall apart. It becomes a situation that should not be ignored. The longer water can get in the more damage it can cause meaning the more expensive it is to fix.
This chimney sits on top of of a two story house with a roof that has a very steep pitch. This makes building scafolding to get to the chimney quite a challenge. That also means that the scaffolding can be a significant part of the cost of the project. After the scaffolding was built the first thing that had to be done was the stone wall had to be repointed and loose stone relayed. The wall was all but falling apart. Had I tried to do replace the cap first chances were that chunks of stone work would have fallen off. Potentially causing additional damage to the home. So, restoring structural integrity was priority number one. After that it was time to focus on the chimney cap. This chimney had three flue liners coming out of the top and one of them was no longer being used. So, it was important to eliminate the unused one. It was just another point of entry for water. Once the unused flue was blocked off a new cap was installed.
It is also important to have the metal caps that attach to the flue liners installed. They help keep water out and also keep critters from building a nest in your chimney. Potentially restricting the draft or clogging the flue all together. Now that the top of the chimney and the walls are water tight once again the next issue is the flashing. As I mentoned previously it was pulling away from the base of the chimney. Before the walls were repointed I drilled new holes into the wall and secured the flashing with Tap Cons. After the wall was repointed it was now time to caulk where the mortar and the metal flashing meet. Cement will not bond to metal so caulk must be used to create a water tight seal. After the caulk set up the chimney is now once again water tight and ready for many more years of use.
