Chimney repair: a deteriorating crown

A common sight; crumbling crown and eroding mortar joints and bricks. A proper chimney crown would have made this chimney last many years longer. Unfortunately, most chimneys are constructed with an inadequate cap.

Once we started taking the old crown off, the rest of the story came out. The top section of the flue liner had weathered past the point of repair, which happens a lot on the section that sits highest and takes the most water.

So off came the crown and the bad brick, in went a new top liner section, and we rebuilt the top with a proper crown and a drip edge on it. The drip edge keeps water from running down the face of the brick, and that's what wears the joints out in the first place.

This chimney will outlast the original by many years.