Chimney Chase Covers

As some homes near their 20th year of service, not only are the roofs are losing their serviceability so are
the chimney chase covers.These are the metal covers that are placed on top of the chimney.  They are designed to keep water from entering the chimney and fireplace. They are usually metal, mostly steel.

As you can imagine, with steel comes oxidation and rust.  Many times the rust is so pervasive, it leaves
severe rust stains on the siding of the chimney.

Here is a photo of a nearly completed chase cover we recently installed here in Raleigh.  The cap still has to be reinstalled above the flue.

If you look carefully, you will see the top is "partitioned" or bent in order to prevent water from "standing or ponding" on the top.  Also, we provide a  3/8" "kick-out" on the vertical edges to prevent water from falling directly on the siding below.

This chase cover will provide another 20 years of uninterrupted service.

Chimney Cricket not Jiminy Cricket Installation

There are time when we receive calls at Allen and Deans about leaking chimneys.  In most instances the metal flashing has rusted or corroded allowing water to enter.  However, there are times when the chimney is positioned at the eave (bottom of the roof) and there is no cricket.  Rain water flowing down the roof hits the back of the chimney.  Over a long period of time, water will begin to infiltrate or penetrate in or around the metal flashing, which is the last line of defense for the chimney.  This is usually the case in older homes here in Raleigh.

Here is a photo of a brick chimney we worked on recently. Note how wide the chimney is.  It almost serves as a dam for water as the water runs directly into the back wall.

Add some pine straw or leaves behind the chimney and you can easily see how water and moisture can stay behind the chimney and not flow away to the sides and off the roof.

A cricket is nothing more than a wooden structure consisting of 2"x4" lumber for the base structure and 7/16" OSB for the angled platform.

The last photo is the cricket completed with "ice and water shield", new metal step and counter flashing and new, 3-tab, self-sealing shingles.

Now when it rains, the water is safely directed to either the right side or the left of the chimney falling harmlessly into the gutters below.

Chimney Flashing Repair

We recently received a request to repair a leaking chimney. We could have simply caulked the perimeter of the counter flashing and "called it a day". However, it has been my experience that caulking a chimney does not provide a long term solution. In many cases, it does not provide ANY solution at all.

We took a much different approach to solving the flashing leak. We removed all the shingles, felt and metal flashing. Upon cleaning the perimeter very thoroughly,
we installed a weather barrier or generically referred to as "ice and water shield" around the perimeter as you can see below.

You can see how we installed the "ice and water" on the wall and then folded it so it laid flat on the roof deck on all 4 sides of the chimney.

We then installed new step flashing, which is covered up by the new, black counter (outside) flashing.

Once the counter flashing has been caulked, we then finished the repair by installing shingles along all 4 sides of the chimney.

This flashing process will provide problem and leak free service for many years to come.

But wait a minute. Something doesn't look right here. Can you tell what is wrong in the last couple of photos? Look carefully. Do you see it?

You are right. It is the shingles. They don't match, do they? The shingles on the back slope are regular 3-tab shingles. The front shingles are a CertainTeed Horizon shingle, which unfortunately were discontinued a couple of years ago. In order to make the front slope of the roof (look) presentable, we kept and in some instances "reused" the Horizon shingles from the back roof slope whenever possible. We simply installed the new shingles on the back slope where they would not be as noticeable or visible.