§ 01.11Chimney repair + rebuild — TX + OH
About 70% of roof leaks near a chimney are crown cracks, eroded mortar, or face-nailed flashing — not the shingle. We rebuild from the crown down. We won't face-nail counter-flashing or hide a cracked crown behind caulk.
The cheap chimney repair patches the symptom — caulks the flashing, mortars over the cracked crown, hopes for a season. The honest rebuild treats the cap, the crown, the flashing, and the brick as four parts of one stack. Read it top down.
The metal hat over the flue.
Missing on most older chimneys. Rain straight into the firebox. Birds in the flue. Downdraft drives smoke back into the room.
Copper or galvanized cap with a spark screen, sized to your flue, mortared and strapped. Part of the rebuild — we don't sell it as an upsell.
The slab on top of the brick.
Builders pour it flat. It ponds water. Then it cracks through freeze-thaw and the heat-cycle. A 1.5-inch hailstone cracks a poured crown the same way it cracks a tile roof.
New crown poured to slope (not flat), with a drip edge that throws water clear of the masonry. We pour rather than patch when the old crown is past mortar repair.
Where the chimney meets the roof.
The cheap fix face-nails a piece of bent aluminum to the brick and caulks it. One season, and it leaks. We won't face-nail flashing.
Step flashing woven into the new shingle field. Counter-flashing tucked into a fresh saw-cut groove in the brick mortar. Not reused.
The structure under everything else.
Mortar joints erode past pointing. Brick faces spall and shed in the yard. Hail and freeze-thaw can leave the chimney unsafe to climb.
Repointed when the structure is sound. Full tear-down to the roofline and rebuild from the flashing up when it is not. Brick + mortar matched on a sample-board approval.
About 70% of "roof leaks" near a chimney are flashing or crown failures — not shingle problems. We pinpoint the actual failure first. Cracked crown. Eroded mortar. Missing counter-flashing. Failed kickout where the roof meets a sidewall. We name it before quoting a single brick.
You see the line items in writing. If part of a storm claim, hail-impact crown cracks are documented at scale. The supplement is submitted under the existing claim number. No separate deductible. Direct-pay path itemized in writing if there is no claim.
Old crown removed. Masonry rebuilt to the roofline if the structure is gone. New step + counter-flashing woven into the shingle field. Tucked into a fresh saw-cut groove. Mortar matched. Brick matched. Cap fabricated to the flue.
Form set. Crown poured to slope (not flat), with a drip edge that throws water past the brick. Sealant detail at the flue penetration. Cap mortared and strapped. We pour rather than patch when the old crown is past mortar repair.
Hose-test the rebuild from above. An observer in the attic below. The 25-year workmanship warranty starts the day the test passes. Photos filed. Warranty paperwork in your hand before we drive off.
Adjusters walk the shingle field. They skip the crown. They miss the counter-flashing. We do not. Honest claim documentation pulls the chimney back into the scope under the existing claim number. No separate deductible. No second filing.
A poured crown is a brittle slab of mortar on top of the chimney. A 1.5-inch hailstone cracks it the same way it cracks a tile roof. Adjusters walk the shingle field and skip the crown. We climb the chimney, photograph the impact path at scale, and add the rebuild to the same claim under the existing claim number.
When the storm caused the crown crack or the flashing failure, the chimney work lands on the existing claim. No separate deductible. No second filing. The supplement is documented at the same site visit as the adjuster meeting. On the carrier's regional price list. In the carrier's scope language.
Counter-flashing tucks into the masonry. Step flashing weaves into the shingle field. If a new shingle field is going down, the chimney flashing rides with it. Rebuilding flashing under an old shingle field that is going to get torn off in 18 months means we have done the work twice. Honest sequencing: flashing detail and field detail share an install date. We won't do the flashing twice.
A bare flue lets rain into the firebox. It lets birds into the chimney. It lets downdraft drive smoke back into the room. The cap is part of the rebuild. Copper or galvanized, sized to the flue, mortared and strapped. We do not write a chimney scope without it.
§ 12Continue the manual — related to this page
§ 01.07Roofing
Smallest fix that holds. Named band. Named warranty.
We name the cheapest fix before the expensive one. Lead-collared pipe boots (no EPDM in DFW heat). Written scope inside 48 hours. We say so when the right answer is replace, not repair.
Read →
§ 01.05Roofing
The leak shows where water exits, not where it enters.
Trace from the ceiling stain back to the entry — pipe boot, kickout, dead valley, or not the roof at all. The fee credits back to a repair when the repair follows.
Read →
§ 01.06Roofing
A second opinion you can audit.
Seven-checkpoint walk, photos with the report, severity 1–5 on each finding, plain-language scope. Written PDF inside 24 hours. We won't turn the report into a sales call.
Read →
§ 01.08Roofing
One day on the roof. Twelve lines in writing.
Tear-off, no overlay. Twelve-line written spec on every contract. Balanced ventilation measured before bid. 25-year transferable workmanship warranty. Both states.
Read →
§ 04.01Programs
Your storm. Your scope. Your carrier's check.
Fifteen years on the carrier side. Documented loss, written scope, adjuster meeting on-site. Out-of-pocket: deductible only.
Read →
§ 06Reach the dispatch desk
A senior estimator on the chimney with a moisture meter in the attic, a saw for the reglet cut, and a mason on call when the brick is gone. Crown-down rebuild on the carrier's claim number when the storm caused it. Direct-pay scope in writing when it is age and weather.
(214) 578-9961