Crown repair · Carlisle, PA
Chimney crown repair, repointing and masonry rebuilds
Crumbling crowns rebuilt or resurfaced, open mortar joints repointed, and chimney repairs and rebuilding down to the roofline.
What a failing crown and open joints look like
The crown is the slab of mortar or concrete across the top of the chimney. Its job is to shed rain away from the flue and the brick below. Over the years it cracks, lifts and breaks off in chunks, and once that happens every rain soaks straight into the stack. One job of ours began exactly there: a crumbled crown with a black mesh cap sitting on the broken edge.
Mortar joints go the same way. They turn sandy, recede from the brick face, and open a path for water. Homeowners usually notice it indirectly: crumbs of mortar on the roof or in the gutter, damp patches on the chimney breast inside, white powder on the brick, or a flue tile that has started to shift.
Brick chimney with a crumbled concrete crown and a black mesh cap before repair
How crowns are rebuilt and joints repointed
Repointing & Masonry Repairs start with the loose material. We cut back the failed mortar and any crumbled crown, so new work bonds to sound masonry instead of sitting on top of rot. Open joints are filled with fresh mortar and tooled to match the surrounding courses. A rebuilt crown is formed with a slope and an overhang, so water runs off and drips clear of the brick rather than back toward it.
When the new crown has cured it gets a waterproof crown coat. The after photo of that same chimney shows the result, a clean white crown with the cap set back on it. Where brick above the roofline has moved or broken apart, Chimney repairs and rebuilding means taking the damaged courses down and laying them back up, and we say plainly when that is truly needed and when a smaller repair will hold.
Keeping the masonry sound after the repair
A good repair is easy to watch. After a hard freeze or a heavy storm, look at the top of the chimney from the yard. New cracks across the crown, a joint that has opened again, or brick faces flaking off are the signs that more water is getting in.
Your yearly sweep and Level I inspection is the natural time to have us look at the crown and joints up close. Call sooner if you see masonry on the ground, water coming down the flue, or leaning flue tile. We work out of Carlisle and cover Cumberland, Adams, Perry, Franklin and Dauphin Counties.
“I also appreciated their honesty about what repairs were truly necessary.” Cameron Powell, Google review