We Install Custom Chimney Flashing
When you look up at your home from the street, you’ll see a pop of metal flashing around the chimney where it rises up from the roof. With sleek stainless steel or eye-grabbing copper, that flashing can add a note of visual appeal, but it’s certainly not just adornment. Your flashing plays a key role in protecting your chimney system and your home’s interior from the intrusion of water.
If your chimney is built correctly, the system has a smart design. Anywhere in its construction where there are potential vulnerabilities to water, there are preventative measures built in to protect it. That includes a masonry crown or chase cover, a full coverage chimney cap at the top of the flue, a damper, and flashing around the juncture of the chimney where it exits the roof.
Without flashing, the water that naturally runs down and collects in the area where the chimney and roof meet would trickle right down into your home, damaging ceilings, walls, and masonry. Flashing helps keep that from happening, and when designed and installed correctly, it can provide protection for years. Unfortunately, particularly with severe weather, it’s not unusual to see flashing strips damaged or ripped off, or for the caulking that’s installed around the edges to dry, crack and loosen or come off. When that happens, it’s important to have the flashing repaired as soon as possible, so that further damage isn’t done to your home.
Constructing & Installing Flashing Is Professional Work
Traditional metal flashing is constructed and installed in several layers, to provide thorough protection for your chimney. First, L-shaped step flashing is installed around the bottom and integrated in with your roof shingles. On top of the step flashing, counter flashing is installed into the mortar joints on your chimney, extending down over the step flashing. The edges are protected with high-quality caulk. When the process is complete, your chimney has strong and smartly designed protection that should ably keep water at bay for a long time.
We Also Use FlashSeal
Some veneers (what covers the exterior of the chimney) do not always lend themselves to metal flashing. Their uneven surfaces (like stone), make it hard to create a satisfactory seal. In these cases we use a flexible flashing to create the barrier that’s needed to keep water on the outside where it needs to stay.
Every chimney system is slightly different. The size of the chimney and how it’s finished (vinyl sided, brick or stone veneer, etc) will determine how the flashing is constructed. In order for flashing to work correctly, it needs to be custom-made to fit your chimney design exactly. It takes skill and experience to do flashing installation and/or repair properly, and Blue Sky Chimney Sweeps’ technicians are up to the task
If you notice that parts of your flashing are damaged or missing, Call Blue Sky Chimney Sweeps. Having damaged flashing repaired quickly can help minimize the damage water will do to your chimney and your home. Call us today or click here to schedule an appointment online – we’ll do everything we can to “Bless Your Hearth.”
Waterproofing your chimney can prolong the masonry’s life and could solve the problem of a leaky chimney. We’ll be glad to discuss all your options.