Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

Leaky Chimneys: How We can Help

The arrival of spring can be a joyous time as it brings blooming flowers and warmer weather, but it can also bring water leaks to your chimney. Winter-related chimney damage can lead to cracks and gaps in the bricks and mortar that allow water to penetrate into your home through the chimney. If you have noticed any loose or missing bricks from your chimney, you will most likely have at least one chimney leak. The longer you leave this damage unrepaired, the more water will get into your chimney to cause even more deterioration. This is why the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) has named water as the biggest enemy of masonry chimneys. Fortunately, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service specializes in fixing leaky chimneys. We would like to tell you more about how we can help you deal with your leaky chimney.

How does winter damage my chimney?

Santa’s Friend Chimney Service regularly sees spalling damage occur to chimneys during the winter. Spalling is when the water that has been absorbed into the bricks and mortar of your chimney freezes and expands during cold spells in the winter. As the weather warms back up and this water thaws, the bricks and mortar crack and break apart due to the force of the water trapped inside. Repeated cycles of freezing temperatures lead to more spalling damage throughout the winter. When this damage is left unrepaired, you will have water leaks in your chimney as well as possible structural problems that could lead to the collapse of your chimney.

How can Santa’s Friend Chimney Service help me deal with my leaky chimney?

With over 26 years of experience of working with leaky chimneys, our CSIA-certified chimney technicians know how to find chimney water leaks and repair the damage that is allowing the water to leak into your home. Once we have fixed the leak, we can then help you prevent chimney leaks from occurring in the future. We sell and install a wide variety of top-quality chimney caps to keep water from rain out of the chimney. We will ensure the cap covers the top of your chimney perfectly. Our other chimney leak preventive service is waterproofing your chimney. We will apply a 100% vapor permeable waterproofing formula to the entire length of your chimney to create a barrier against water penetration. This will also keep spalling damage from happening during the winter. This maintenance service is a great investment to prolong the life of your chimney because it comes with a 10-year warranty.

Get your leaky chimney repaired today! Contact us at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to schedule an appointment for a chimney leak inspection to prevent any further damage from occurring to your chimney.

Remember Your Chimney this Spring

As you write down your Spring home maintenance checklist, make your chimney a top priority.

We’ve had our share of unpredictable spring and summer weather in Mississippi, and that affects our lives in a number of ways, from the way we prepare our homes to the way we prepare ourselves.

As chimney technicians, part of our job at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service is to make sure our clients’ chimney systems are prepared to withstand a rainy spring and stormy summer without developing chimney leaks or other forms of damage. That’s part of why we encourage clients to make chimney maintenance a part of their spring home maintenance checklist.

Getting Your Chimney Ready For The Warmer Months

Chimney maintenance is an ongoing process, and the more consistent you are with your system’s routine needs, by and large, the fewer unexpected and unwanted surprises will pop up. As we close out the heating system and your fireplace or stove is getting ready to rest, here’s what we recommend:

Schedule Your Annual Chimney Inspection and Sweeping in the Spring

Many homeowners choose to wait until the start of the following heating season to take care of their annual chimney maintenance, but scheduling a chimney inspection and chimney sweeping in the spring can make your life easier, and your spring and summer more pleasant.

If you’ve been using your fireplace or stove all fall and winter, your flue has developed creosote and/or other byproduct deposits that should be swept and removed before the next heating season. By having that work done in the spring, you’re not only prepared for next fall ahead of time, but you’ll enjoy a cleaner-smelling home now.

Creosote has a smoky, often unpleasant odor, and the heat and humidity of summer magnifies that. If you’ve noticed a dank smell in your living area in past summers, there’s a good chance that’s the culprit. A swept chimney gets rid of those deposits.

Scheduling your inspection at the end of your system’s season of hard work benefits you too. Any issues that might have cropped up over the winter — from a missing chimney cap to a damaged flue liner  — can be found and repaired before the rains and storms really hit in earnest, leaving your system (and the interior of your home) more protected.

Add Some Extra Protection Against Chimney Leaks

Even the strongest masonry chimney undergoes wear and tear over years of moisture and temperature fluctuations. And the more worn your bricks and mortar joints get, the more likely a leak becomes. Your masonry can begin sucking water in like a sponge, damaging the interior of your chimney and the interior of your home.

We can help protect your masonry, your chimney system and your home’s interior by applying a specially formulated chimney waterproofing sealant. This product stops your masonry from absorbing water, but it’s completely vapor permeable, so the natural expulsion of vapors and small particles — part of your chimney’s proper function — will still occur.

Let Santa’s Friend help you go into the spring and summer with a chimney system that’s strong and prepared. If you have any questions about what your chimney needs — or want to schedule an appointment with our CSIA-certified technicians — give us a call!