Chimney Repair Washington NJ

A Washington Chimney Calendar

Brick soaks up fall rain, the water freezes through January and February, and the cracks that freezing opens tend to show up at the spring thaw. Fall and winter storms add rain blown sideways on top of that.

Have the crown and flashing sealed before the cold sets in.

Washington's Chimney Mix

Washington's houses went up in two main waves, and the chimneys follow them. The Victorians from the organ-manufacturing decades have tall solid-brick stacks. Crowns and flashing are their usual weak points.

The houses built after World War II, when the borough grew again, tend to have shorter chimneys that often vent a furnace, so the flue lining matters as much as the brick. A few stacks were retired after a heating change and nobody has checked them since. Part of the inspection is identifying which of these you have, since the fix depends on it.

Does a Washington chimney still need work if the fireplace was closed off years ago? Yes, on the outside. A retired stack is still exposed to rain.

A cracked crown on a retired stack can keep the wall under it wet for years, so we cap it and seal the crown to keep it dry.

Can the chimney be done at the same time as a roof job in Washington? Yes. The staging is already up and the flashing is already open at the joint that usually leaks, so you pay for one setup.

The Leak Is Usually the Flashing

In Washington, most of what gets called a chimney leak starts where the chimney passes through the roof. The flashing on that joint fails and water runs in behind it. The stain shows up on the plaster beside the stack, so people blame the brick and get a masonry quote while the drip goes on.

On a Washington roof, if the flashing is the cause, you need a flashing and seal job done in metal and worked into the shingle courses. We use no tar on that seam, since tar cracks within a couple of winters. If the brick really is at fault, the photos show it before you pay for anything.

Step and Counter Flashing, Done in Metal

Two pieces of metal keep that joint dry. Step flashing goes under each shingle course along the sides of the stack, and counter flashing is set into a groove cut in the mortar and lapped down over it.

On the steep pitches of the borough's Victorian roofs, water comes down that seam fast, and a tar patch there tends to pull away from the brick early. So we cut the groove, bed the counter flashing and let the metal shed the water.

Crown, Cap, and the Mortar Joints

On a Washington chimney the crown is the concrete slab that sheds rain away from the flue, and the cap covers the flue opening against rain and animals. Lower down, mortar joints wash out over the years. We grind out the soft mortar and repoint to match, and we quote only the parts that are failing.

Why Roofing Plus Chimney Work Beats Either Alone

Plenty of chimney leaks involve both the flashing, which is roof work, and a cracked crown or open joints on the masonry side. We keep roofing and chimney work in the same company, so whoever looks at your stack in Washington checks both before recommending a fix.

The Failure Order, From the Top Down

On a Washington chimney, failure usually runs from the top down: the metal cap goes first, then the crown cracks, then the flashing at the roofline gives way, and last the brick and mortar start to break up. Where yours sits in that order is part of the assessment that distinguishes a repair from a rebuild.

The Roads We Run

Route 31 and Route 57 are the two state highways that cross in Washington. Between them they reach almost any street in the borough.

We come in from the Clifton side along the I-80 and Route 31 corridor, and because Washington is a borough wrapped entirely by Washington Township, the same route reaches the homes just outside the borough line too. Phillipsburg sits to the west and Hackettstown to the northeast.