Brick & Stone Chimney Repair IN DALLAS - FORT WORTH, TX

A leaning or tilting chimney is a dangerous situation you must repair as quickly as possible because failing to do so puts your home at risk of structural damage, mold, and pest infestation. 

The quality of any building project depends mainly on the competence of the builders and the materials used. Sometimes, chimneys are constructed by careless masons or with substandard materials that cause the structure to degrade more quickly than it should.

Your chimney is exposed to the elements 24/7, which take their toll over time. Constant exposure to rain, snow, ice, freezing, and thawing, cause mortar joints to decay and bricks to become loose, which can unbalance the structure, causing it to lean.

Without a solid concrete footing, the chimney is likely to lean under the heavyweight of the brickwork. Unfortunately, many homes built long ago didn’t include a chimney footing, causing them to sink slowly into the ground and pull away from the house.

Sometimes, the chimney footing is either too shallow or isn’t set deep enough in the ground, which can cause it to crack under the chimney’s weight. Furthermore, footings made with substandard materials or construction methods are prone to cracking, which is a common cause of chimney tilting.

The footing can sink and pull away from the house if the soil underneath the foundation shifts because of excess moisture, inadequate drainage, or nearby construction.

As mentioned, a leaning chimney is a dangerous situation, even if it doesn’t seem it’s ready to topple over. Here are a few reasons you must fix a leaning chimney as soon as possible. The most significant concern regarding a leaning chimney is the risk that the structure will collapse. A chimney weighs thousands of pounds, and if it topples onto your home, it can destroy your roof and cause serious injury. Another risk of a leaning chimney is water damage. As the structure pulls away from the house, it opens a gap, allowing water to get in. 

Water in the home leads to mold and mildew buildup, can rot wood and weaken other structures. As the tilt angle becomes more severe, it puts pressure on the flue liner, which can cause it to crack. The flue liner is a critical safety feature that protects you against chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning and keeps your fireplace’s venting system running efficiently. Lastly, a leaning chimney can cause roof damage, especially in places where shingles and gutters are located close to the chimney.

Now that you know how bad it is to have a leaning chimney and the dangers it presents let’s look at what you can do if you encounter this problem. It should be noted that fixing a leaning chimney isn’t a DIY project; it requires the skill and expertise of master masons to do it safely and effectively. The first step in fixing a tilting chimney is to determine the cause of the problem and ensure it won’t collapse during repairs. Some chimneys are much heavier than others, and in these cases, your contractor may support the structure with a micropile underpinning system. One of the most effective repair methods is to put piers on each side of the chimney and one in the rear. This method prevents the chimney from leaning side to side and keeps it level. The pier in the back will lift the foundation to rotate the chimney back into its original position. In severe cases, such as when there’s significant damage to the bricks and mortar joints, rebuilding the chimney is the only option.

Chimney repointing is a restorative process that replaces the decaying mortar with new mortar material to strengthen the chimney’s structural integrity. It also helps prevent moisture from seeping through the exposed mortar joints where it can cause extensive damage to interior components.

During the repointing process, a skilled chimney mason scoops out the damaged or decayed mortar joints and fills them back in with new mortar. It’s a simple and effective but labor-intensive process. So, chimney repointing is best suited for minor masonry repairs that typically involve a small portion of the chimney. When multiple sections of the chimney need masonry repair, a partial or complete rebuild may be necessary to restore its structural integrity.

Chimney tuckpointing is similar to repointing except that the new bonding material is color-matched to your existing masonry giving your chimney a stunning, like-new appearance.

One of the leading causes of chimney cracks is due to weather. After years of battling rain, wind, and ice, it is not uncommon for small exterior surface cracks to develop in the chimney. Since the bricks are porous, it soaks up moisture like a sponge.

The freezing and thawing that occurs in the winter will widen the cracks further, eventually causing bricks to spall with pieces of brick lying on the ground and gaps in the mortar joints.

Cracks can also occur when a chimney is not constructed correctly or built on a solid foundation. When the chimney begins to sink into the ground, the shifting structure can cause vertical cracks to appear on the surface. The chimney can also separate from the roof and lean, resulting in more extensive cracks and structural damage. Inadequate clearance between the flue liner and chimney can also cause chimney cracks.

Nearby trees pose another potential problem for chimneys. Its vast underground root network continues to spread as the tree matures. The roots can grow underneath the foundation, causing it to shift, resulting in cracks in the masonry and foundation. Also, pollen carried by the wind, especially in the spring, can cause plants and weeds to sprout between the bricks in the chimney. Improperly removing the weeds can further damage the masonry.

Since the chimney is often the highest point of the home, it is a preferred spot for mounting an antenna or satellite dish.  However, it is not the ideal location. The additional load on the chimney forces a constant downward pressure that can eventually lead to cracks appearing in the masonry. Also, drilling holes into the chimney to secure the antenna or dish is not recommended as it damages the brickwork. The key is early detection and repair. Chimney cracks are easy to repair when they are caught in their early stages through annual chimney inspections. Once the cracks and any missing bricks and mortar are fixed, your chimney technician may recommend waterproofing the chimney to prevent moisture intrusion, which will help avoid weather-related cracks from developing in the future.

Chimneys without covers get a lot of rain falling straight down into them. A chimney cover makes sense to most people. Not only does it keep the rain out, but keeps birds, animals and debris out. The greatest value of the chimney cover is really keeping these out because when chimneys get blocked at the bottom, people get sick (or even die) from CO poisoning. While it’s true that sometimes an uncovered flue is the source of water problems, most often this reason for a leak is only when the liner is metal.

The chimney crown is the cement part on top of the chimney. The bricks go up around the tile flue liners, but at the top you need something to stop the rain and snow from just falling in around the tiles. You can see that the very purpose of the chimney crown is to keep rain out. Cracks in the chimney crown can occur from shifting of the structure or from shrinkage dating back to the first day the crown was put on. When your crown has cracks, the water goes right through those cracks.

How to fix a cracked crown depends upon how bad the damage is. Most crowns have small cracks. Even small ones need to be fixed because all big cracks started out as small ones. Water freezes and thaws in the cracks all winter long, year after year, forcing small cracks to eventually become big cracks. There are excellent crown coating materials such as Chimney Saver Crown Coat which cover the masonry and prevent small cracks from becoming a real problem.

Once chimney crown damage is significant, though, the only fix it is to remove and relay the masonry. You can’t put a band aid on a gushing wound and you can’t coat a structurally ruined chimney crown and expect it to work. Best to coat your crown now with Crown Coat and avoid the big hassle and expense later.