Someone had already been up here. They smeared mortar across the face of spalling brick and called it a repair. When we pulled the failing brick out there was a void running straight through the corner of the chimney — the patch had been covering it. We rebuilt the corner course by course, ground out and repacked every open joint with colour-matched mortar, and finished with a poured crown that overhangs the brick on all four sides.
Before — A Smear Of Mortar Over Failing Brick
Demolition — What The Patch Was Hiding
Rebuild — New Brick, Course By Course
Crown Pour — Overhang On All Four Sides
Tuckpointing — Every Joint Ground Out And Repacked
After — Rebuilt, Crowned And Flashed
The whole stack above the roof was finished — brick faces spalling off, moss and algae holding moisture against the masonry, mortar washed out of the joints and a crown that had broken apart. There was nothing sound left to patch into. Every brick above the roofline came down, the roof was tarped, and the chimney was rebuilt from the flashing up, including a new top flue tile after the old one turned out to be cracked.
Before — Spalled Brick, Moss And A Broken Crown
Tear-Down — Back To The Flue Tile
New Flue Tile — The Old Top Tile Was Cracked
Crown — Poured On A Form With A Real Overhang
After — Rebuilt, Crowned, Capped And Flashed
A chimney chase is a wood box. The siding on this one had been open to the weather for years, water got in behind it, and the sheathing and corner boards underneath were rotted through by the time we opened it up. We stripped the chase, replaced the bad sheathing, re-wrapped it, then ran new siding and trim tight to the top and finished with a new cover and cap.
Before — Siding Off, Rot Along The Corners
Repair — New Sheathing And Housewrap
Siding — Run Tight With New Corner Trim
After — Closed Up, Covered And Capped
The old chase cover sat flat on the chase with no overhang, so every rain ran straight onto the plywood top underneath. By the time it came off, the wood was soaked through. We rebuilt the entire chase top — new plywood deck, new perimeter framing — then set a stainless cover with a cross break and a skirt that carries water down past the siding.
Before — Cover Off, Plywood Soaked Through
Rebuild — New Deck And Perimeter Framing
After — Stainless Cover With A Cross Break
This cover was too small for the chase and had no overhang, so water ran off the edge and straight into the framing. The wood had rotted through at the corner. We cut out the bad framing, rebuilt all four sides, and fitted a stainless cover whose skirt runs down over the siding so water can never reach the wood again.
Before — Rot At The Corner
Repair — New Framing On All Four Sides
After — Proper Overhang And A New Cap
The crown had broken off this chimney and taken the top courses of brick with it, leaving the clay flue tile and liner standing exposed. We rebuilt the top courses, poured a new crown with an overhang, reset the flashing and finished with a new liner and rain cap.
Before — Crown Broken Off, Brick Loose
After — Rebuilt, Crowned And Capped
On a parapet chimney the clay coping tile is the roof of the whole structure. This one had broken apart and left the brick and rubble underneath open to the weather. We set a new clay tile in colour-matched mortar and parged the chimney so it sheds water again.
Before — Broken Tile, Open Masonry
After — New Clay Tile, Chimney Parged
When the clay tiles inside a masonry flue are cracked or missing, the chimney is no longer sealed and combustion gases can reach the wood framing around it. This one got a stainless drop-in liner sized to the appliances, run the full height of the flue and tied into the water heater and furnace in the basement.
From The Roof — Looking Down The Flue
In The Basement — Both Appliances Tied In
A one-off fabrication for this customer. Sheet metal pressed with a faux brick pattern, built to wrap the metal liner where it comes out of the chase so the top reads like masonry instead of exposed pipe.
Fabricated And Installed
A wide chimney with nothing behind it — just a flat trough collecting rain, leaves and ice. We tore off the failed tar-and-flashing patchwork, framed a proper cricket into the deck, and re-wove the shingles and counter-flashing so water now splits around the chimney.
Tear-Off — Removing the Failed Flashing
Framing & Decking — Built to Shed Water
Shingling In — Hand-Cut Into Both Valleys
After — Cricket, Flashing & Fresh Crown Coat
A previous crew had bolted a metal plate over the crack. It hid the problem while the freeze-thaw cycle kept widening it. We took the exposed section down to sound masonry and rebuilt it with a proper crown.
Before — Structural Crack & Failed Patches
Demolition — Down to Sound Structure
Rebuild — Precision Craftsmanship
After — Sound for Another 60 Years
Rusted single-wall pipe running straight through a combustible ceiling — no thimble, no clearance. Replaced with a full Class A insulated system to NFPA 211.
Before — Fire Hazard, Not to Code
After — Class A Insulated, NFPA 211 Compliant
Two contractors had already "fixed" this leak. We found three separate entry points on the first visit — and closed every one of them.
Before — What The Roof Looked Like
Diagnosis — Every Leak Source Identified
Repair — Every Point Sealed
After — Sealed, Coated, Capped for 20 Years
Only the section above the roof had failed — the masonry inside the house was sound. Rebuilt from the roofline up, at roughly a third of the cost of a full teardown.
Insulated stainless liner, plus a top-sealing damper that actually seals — against a silicone gasket at the top of the flue, not metal resting on metal.
Step 1 — Demolish the Old Clay Tile Liner
Step 2 — Install Insulated Stainless Steel Liner
Step 3 — Seal Connection + Install Top-Mount Damper
It started as a routine inspection. Green streaking on the siding was the only clue. We took a panel off and found the sheathing rotted through.
Before — Green Staining on Siding (The Warning Sign)
Discovery — What Was Hiding Underneath
Repair — New Sheathing, Professional Weather Barrier
After — Sealed, Restored, Water-Tight
Cracked crown, failing joints, and an aging water heater flue liner — three separate problems handled in a single visit, on a single setup.
Before — Failed Crown, Cracked Bricks, Aging Liner
Process — Tuckpointing, Crown Formwork & New Liner Install
After — Structurally Sound, Sealed, Safe
A rusting galvanized pan replaced with a custom-fabricated stainless cover, cross-broken so water sheds instead of pooling on top.
Every joint cleared by hand chisel. A power grinder has no straight line to follow on stone — it skips, and it scars the face permanently.
Before — Failed Mortar, Open Gaps Between Stones
After — Fresh Mortar, Hand-Tooled to Match
Century-old lime mortar that had run out of binder. Ground out to full depth and repointed with a mix matched for both colour and hardness.
Before — Failed Mortar & Spalling Brick
Process — Grinding Out Old Joints to Proper Depth
After — Restored & Sealed
A complete structural restoration, taking an unsafe, crumbling structure through the rebuilding process to a flawless, sealed finish.
Grinding out deteriorated mortar joints, matching the structural integrity, and installing a custom-fabricated chase cover to permanently stop leaks.
Removing severely cracked and degraded concrete crowns that allow water damage, and casting a brand new, weather-tight crown.
Replacing cracked and dangerous refractory panels inside the firebox to ensure safe, efficient burning without heat transfer risks.
Smoothing and sealing the smoke chamber to improve draft efficiency and eliminate hazardous creosote buildup zones.
Tearing down compromised brickwork and executing a perfect, structurally sound masonry rebuild from the roofline up.
Professional chimney sweep using commercial HEPA equipment. Complete creosote removal from flue, firebox, smoke chamber, and smoke shelf — zero dust in your home.
Annual gas fireplace inspection and cleaning — burner ports, pilot assembly, gas valve test, and CO safety check. Keeps your gas appliance safe and efficient all season.
follows NADCA standards whole-home HEPA duct cleaning. Before-and-after camera documentation. Cleaned to NADCA standard, the industry benchmark for duct cleaning.
Full dryer vent line cleaning from appliance to exterior. Lint extraction, airflow test, and flex duct replacement if needed. NFPA: 34% of dryer fires are caused by failure to clean.
Professional vapor-permeable waterproof sealant system applied to a deteriorating chimney. The sealant blocks rain from entering the masonry while allowing trapped moisture to escape — preventing the freeze-thaw spalling that destroys unprotected brick over Missouri winters. 10-year protection guarantee included.
Complete step flashing and counter flashing replacement on a stone chimney. The old flashing had completely separated from the masonry, allowing water to pour into the attic with every rain. RhinoRoof U20 ice-and-water shield applied first, new custom-bent flashing installed and sealed tight.
Full flashing replacement on a brick chimney — step flashing removed, new base and counter flashing bent and installed at the roofline. Two-phase process shown: flashing tucked into mortar joints and sealed, then finished with shingles wrapped tight to the chimney.
A chimney cricket is a peaked ridge built behind a wide chimney to divert rainwater around it instead of pooling against the back wall — the #1 cause of leaks on chimneys wider than 30 inches. Any chimney over 30" wide is required by code to have a cricket. This job shows the full build: framing, sheathing, leveling, waterproofing underlayment, and final shingled finish.
Before — No Cricket, Water Pooling
Process — Framing & Construction
After — Finished & Shingled
