In order to enjoy warm and cozy fires all winter long, you need to make sure your chimney is ready to work efficiently and safely. Late summer and early fall are the best times to take care of chimney maintenance tasks, such as your annual chimney sweeping and inspection. After Winston’s Chimney Service performs your chimney inspection, our expert chimney technicians will tell you if we have found any damage and give you a written estimate of the repairs needed. While a chimney inspection is needed to spot damage inside the chimney, like a cracked chimney liner, exterior chimney damage is easily noticed. If you have seen cracked, loose, or missing bricks and pieces of mortar, now is the time to have it repaired. We would like to tell you why it is so important to have chimney masonry damage repaired before winter and how we can restore your chimney so that you can enjoy warm, cozy, and safe fires.
Why is it so important to not neglect chimney masonry damage?
When the bricks and mortar joints are damaged, your chimney is at a greater risk for water penetration, which can cause even more deterioration. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) warns of how destructive water can be by calling it the biggest enemy of masonry chimneys. Neglecting masonry chimney damage can lead to serious structural problems, including the collapse of the chimney.
How does water do so much chimney damage?
Masonry materials like bricks and mortar are naturally porous. Since they are constantly exposed to the elements, water from rain and melted ice and snow is easily absorbed and trapped inside the masonry materials. This trapped water cause extensive damage during the winter when the temperature drops below freezing. This water freezes and expands, and when it thaws as the weather warms up, the force causes the bricks and mortar joints to crack and break apart. Repeated freeze/thaw cycles can result in serious damage to the chimney structure.
How can Winston’s Chimney Service protect my chimney from water deterioration?
We are proud to provide expert masonry chimney repair services to the residents of Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. Our experienced masons can replace damaged bricks and mortar joints to restore the structure of your chimney. After we have repaired the damaged masonry, we can protect your chimney from this type of damage with our waterproofing services. We will apply a coating of a 100 percent vapor permeable water repellent that will keep water from penetrating the masonry materials to reduce freeze/thaw damage.
Make sure your chimney is prepared for this winter. Contact us at Winston’s Chimney Service to schedule an appointment for our masonry repair and waterproofing services today.