Chimney services
We find the source firstChimney leak repair in Los Angeles
A leak almost never starts where the stain shows up. It comes in at the crown, the cap, the flashing or the brick face, then travels. We find where before we fix anything.
Where chimney leaks come from
Four places, nearly always: the crown, the cap, the flashing, and spalling brick. The stain inside is just where the water finally showed up.
The crown is the slab on top. When it cracks, rain runs straight down the outside of the flue and into the masonry. Thin crowns from before the 1970s are the usual offenders.
A missing or rusted cap lets rain straight down the flue, where it sits on the smoke shelf and the damper. The flashing is the metal seal where the chimney meets the roof, and when it lifts, water runs in along the roofline.
Spalling brick is the fourth. Once the face flakes off, the brick drinks water like a sponge and carries it inside. Each of these needs a different fix, which is why guessing is expensive.
Why the stain is nowhere near the leak
Water runs downhill inside a wall, so a ceiling stain can sit a room away from where the rain got in.
People point at the mark on the drywall and ask us to seal there. That almost never works. The water tracked along a rafter or down the flue and only surfaced where it found a seam.
So the camera and a proper look up top come first. We follow it back to the actual entry point, then the repair matches the fault.
How we fix a leak
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Find the entry point
A look at the crown, cap and flashing up top, plus a camera down the flue. You see the photos of where the water is getting in.
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Crown repair or rebuild
Patch a hairline crack, or pour a new crown with a proper overhang and drip edge when the old one has gone.
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Cap and flashing
A stainless cap where one is missing or rusted, and new flashing sealed properly where the chimney meets the roof.
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Waterproof the masonry
Once the repair is done, a breathable sealant on spalling brick so it stops drinking through the winter.
Why LA chimneys leak
Long dry summers open cracks, then the winter rains find them all at once.
Masonry bakes for two hundred days a year, then a wet week arrives and every hairline crack takes water. Near the coast, salt speeds the whole thing up by eating the cap and the mortar.
A small leak caught in autumn is a cap or a crown patch. The same leak left through a wet winter can mean a stained ceiling, a rusted damper and a soaked firebox.
Questions
Chimney leak repair questions
- How do I know the leak is the chimney?
- A damp patch on the ceiling near the chimney, water in the firebox after rain, a musty smell that gets worse when it is wet, or white staining on the brick. Any of those points at the chimney.
- Can you just seal where the stain is?
- That rarely holds, because the water got in somewhere else and travelled. We find the real entry point first, then the fix actually stops the leak.
- What does a leak repair cost?
- It depends on the source. A cap is one job, a cracked crown another, and flashing another again. We look first, show you the photos, then quote the fix.
- Will it need scaffolding or roof work?
- Usually just ladder access to the crown and flashing. We carry what a rooftop repair needs, and we tell you before the visit if the roof pitch changes anything.
- How fast should I deal with a chimney leak?
- Before the next big rain if you can. Water that keeps coming rusts the damper, soaks the firebox and eventually reaches framing, so a small fix now saves a bigger one later.
- Do you also waterproof afterwards?
- When the brick is spalling, yes. A breathable sealant goes on after the repair so the masonry can dry out but stops soaking up rain.
Related
Work that goes with it
Water and caps
Service areas
Book a visit
Find out where the water is getting in
Tell us what the chimney is doing and where you are. Every visit starts with a look before anybody quotes a price.
818-348-1993Open every day, 8am to 8pm. Serving Los Angeles and the South Bay.
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