Santa's Friend Chimney Service

Santa's Friend Chimney Service Blog

We Repair Old Chimneys

A stately chimney can add to the beauty and grace of an elegant, older home. It brings to mind dinner parties, or quiet family evenings watching the patterns in the flames of a crackling fire. Unfortunately, even these durable old chimneys can suffer from the effect of precipitation and use. Consequently, if not kept in a state of good repair, have the potential to lead to a dangerous situation. Not to mention, being an eyesore on an otherwise beautiful home! Luckily, help is just a phone call away. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service doesn’t just inspect and clean chimneys, they also offer a wide range of chimney repairs and rebuilds.

Repair Work

It’s a well-known fact that you should have your chimney inspected and cleaned on an annual basis. However, has it been a few years since you’ve had an inspection? If so, there are some things that you can see for yourself might indicate repairs are needed:

  • Spalling – as water (in the form of precipitation) hits the bricks that make up your fireplace. Over time, it can enter the bricks and cause the brick to flake or peel, reducing the strength of the bricks and compromising the structure of your chimney.
  • Crumbling Mortar – if you take a look at your chimney, you may notice that the mortar is loose and crumbly. This is another condition that can compromise the integrity of your chimney. Have you noticed lots of loose, crumbly mortar? You may be looking at a procedure called tuckpointing. This is in when your chimney specialist uses special tools to remove the old mortar and replace it with new mortar. It will matche your old mortar, leaving your chimney structurally secure and looking like new.
  • Chimney Fire – believe it or not, you may have had a chimney fire over the course of the winter and not even realized it! When most of us think of a chimney fire, we think of a roaring blaze that could easily overtake the rest of the home; this is not always the case. Most chimney fires don’t have enough fuel or enough air to make them all that noticeable. Nonetheless, damage will occur to the interior of your chimney. Sometimes this damage can only be detected by inspection by a qualified professional. If the damage is left undetected and untreated, you could be in for major, expensive repair work in a few years!

Expert Repair Professionals

Have you kept up with having your chimney inspected and cleaned on an annual basis? If so, chances are any of these problems were caught before they became too worrisome. If you haven’t, then you might be looking at major repairs. You’ll want to get these taken care of as soon as possible, so that you’ll be able to enjoy your fireplace when the cooler days of winter hit. Make sure you call the CSIA certified specialists from Santa’s Friend Chimney Service so that you can use your fireplace safely this winter!

By Justin Perkins on August 22nd, 2017 | Tagged with: Tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

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.

Leaky Chimneys How we can help - Jackson MS - Santas Friend ChimneyHow 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.

By Jim Robinson on April 8th, 2016 | Tagged with: Tags: , , | Leave a Comment

Types of Masonry Restoration

Notice problems in your chimney masonry? Call us and we'll do the necessary restoration so your chimney will look as good as new and function efficiently.

Notice problems in your chimney masonry? Call us and we’ll do the necessary repairs so your chimney will look and function as good as new.

If you have a masonry chimney, you should know that the Chimney Safety Institute of America claims water is your chimney’s greatest enemy because if it penetrates into your masonry joints, it can cause all sorts of expensive repair work, such as structural damage. Another victim of water damage is your chimney crown. To repair this water damage as well as to prevent water damage from even happening, you will need some sort of type of masonry restoration work from a professional chimney company like Santa’s Friend Chimney Service. We have experienced masons on hand that can perform several types of masonry restoration work, and we would like to tell you more about the types of masonry restoration work we provide.

Repointing/Tuckpointing

To provide a better understanding of repointing, the Masonry Magazine, the official publication of the Mason Contractors Association of America, states that looking at the differences between the 100-year old definitions of the masonry terms “pointing,” “jointing,” “repointing,” and “tuckpointing” will give you a better idea of what repointing means today.

  • Pointing – The definition of pointing is the placement and careful tooling of a mortar joint between bricks and stones, and contrary to jointing, this process scrapes back the mortar joint several days after the completion of the brickwork.
  • Jointing – Jointing is what bricklayers do today, the process of finishing the joint along with the brickwork being completed.
  • Repointing – Typically the type of restoration work done on older mortar, 100 years ago, repointing meant replacing a failed mortar joint, which happened about once a century.
  • Tuckpointing – The word “tuckpointing” referred to a specialized application of pointing where the bricks were first sanded to a smooth surface and the original mortar joint is masked with a thin strip that matched the brick in color. Then, the joint was meticulously shaved down to match exactly the other joints in the chimney, and a fine, usually white mortar was tucked over the lines and finely manicured to look like no repairs had ever been done.

Today, “repointing” refers to repairing damaged mortar joints by filling in the gaps and holes created by water penetration, and “tuckpointing” refers to replacing deteriorated mortar with new mortar. The experienced and trained masons at Santa’s Friend Chimney Service are able to provide both types of masonry restoration to repair spalling and other damage due to water penetration of your masonry joints.

After explaining the different types of masonry restoration we provide, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service would like to tell you about a water penetration prevention service we offer:

  • Waterproofing – Using specially formulated materials that prevent water from penetrating into your bricks and masonry joints but allow vapors to pass through your chimney, our technicians have been applying the Chimney Saver Water Repellent for the past 20 years successfully to chimneys all over the Central Mississippi area. Your chimney will be protected from water penetration that causes the damage that needs masonry repair work.

If you have loose bricks and chips in the mortar of your chimney, contact Santa’s Friend Chimney Service today to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced chimney masons. We would be happy to provide our masonry restoration services to you.

Lengthening Your Chimney’s Life

If you take proper care of your chimney, it will last you more years than you expected. Adhere to the guidelines.

If you take proper care of your chimney, it will last you more years than you expected. Adhere to the guidelines.

There is an estimated average life expectancy for chimneys. We’d like to think that once we have ours installed and fully functional, then it would last until we become grandparents. But it doesn’t really work that way. The lifetime of each chimney depends on the various materials used. For instance, the mortar that’s used for the walls of the chimney has an estimated life expectancy of about 25 years while the plasters and paint used for waterproofing only lasts 3 to 5 years.

So, we at Santa’s Friend Chimney have decided to put together a short guideline to help you and every other homeowner out there looking to prolong the lifetime of their chimneys.

Chimney Inspection

First things first, it is important to have your chimney inspected. Having regular scheduled inspections allows you to be well-informed and updated as to the standing and status of your chimney. If it is important for us to have our regular trip to the doctor, then it is equally important for you to have your chimney inspected.

Chimney Sweeping

Next, you need to have your chimney regularly swept. As we all are well aware, the chimney is prone to a lot of external contaminations. These contaminations (such as leaves, animal droppings and rainfall) if left unattended would accumulate and could lead to a lot of damage.

Waterproofing

Another thing of utmost importance is for us to waterproof our chimneys. Water is one of the deadliest elements and is one of the biggest threats to your chimney’s life. Once water gets inside of your chimney, it then dampens the area and creates an environment that is highly optimal for mold growth. And we all know what happens once molds start to grow. It means hundreds of dollars’ worth of repairs or replacements. So in order to avoid this huge mess from happening, it is best to waterproof your chimneys. Consider installing a chimney cap.

Chimney Repairs and Restorations

Lastly, it is important not to skip out on necessary repairs and restorations. Every little repair, replacement or restoration that is advised after your inspection is important and should be done as soon as possible. Prolonging repairs could lead to further damage and bigger expenses. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?

It’s true that our chimneys have their own expiration dates. But if we follow these simple guidelines, then we can rest assured we are doing all we can to extend both performance and functionality of our chimney.