When a chimney’s mortar joints are cracked and crumbling, the entire chimney structure is at risk. Tuckpointing can save damaged chimneys and prolong their life. Felgemacher Masonry & Chimney provides tuckpointing and all other chimney repair services throughout Buffalo NY, Rochester NY, Amherst NY, Hamburg NY, Greece NY, Town of Tonawanda NY, Clarence NY, Orchard Park NY and other local communities.
How Tuckpointing Prolongs a Chimney’s Life
Tuckpointing is a process whereby we clean out sections of decayed mortar within your chimney’s masonry and replace it with a strong new mortar compound.
Because mortar isn’t as resilient and long-lasting as bricks, we usually find it starting to weaken and deteriorate earlier. After tuckpointing, your chimney will have many more years of life left in it, and you’ll have the peace of mind that comes from knowing our chimney repair techs did the job safely and correctly.
How Mortar Joints Become Damaged
A chimney’s mortar can become damaged for several reasons:
House-settling or the shifting of the chimney structure can cause cracks to appear
Water inside the cracks will freeze and expand, causing more obvious cracking
Season after season of harsh weather eventually will compromise the soundness of the mortar
Lightning strikes can seriously damage mortar (and bricks)
Simple old age will cause mortar to weaken, even without any other damaging events
The End Result of Cracked, Crumbling Chimney Mortar
Once there are openings in the mortar between the bricks of a chimney, water from rain and snow has an easy path inside. The freeze/thaw cycle will cause further damage, often to the point that water now runs into the flue and causes internal deterioration.
Severely damaged chimneys are unsafe to use or live around, and it’s not uncommon for extensive mortar decay to cause the entire structure to literally collapse. But before collapse, usually we find damage in many areas including the bricks, the chimney liner, the roof and vulnerable building materials of the home.
Depending on the extent of the damage, chimney masonry repair including tuckpointing may keep the problem from getting worse. However, in some cases, there is no solution other than a complete chimney rebuild.
Inspecting to Determine if Tuckpointing is Necessary
You can perform a general visual inspection of your chimney’s exterior. You’re looking for crumbling debris on the masonry and the roof, cracks in the mortar, bricks that are loose and have gaps around their perimeter and other obvious signs of damage.
If you spot any of these symptoms, you should call us immediately so we can perform a more thorough chimney inspection and assessment and advise you on the extent of the problem and the best way to fix it.
It Pays to Hire Professionals for Chimney Repair
For any chimney repair project, you’ll get better, longer-lasting results by hiring chimney repair experts rather than attempting to do it yourself. Chimneys are a lot more complicated than they look and are best serviced by individuals with the necessary training and hands-on experience.
Our Felgemacher ownership is certified by the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), and we are a member of the National Fireplace Institute, the National Chimney Sweep Guild, the New York State Chimney Sweep Guild, and the Hearth, Patio, and BBQ Association. Western New York counts on us for tuckpointing and all other chimney repair services.
If your chimney is suffering damage, call the Felgemacher experts to solve the problem the right way. We serve all Buffalo NY, neighborhoods, the Elmwood Village neighborhood, and every other neighborhood, city and town between Buffalo and Rochester.
Reach a trained, professional chimney sweep today at (716) 907-4914 in the Buffalo area or (585) 308-4914 in and around Rochester.
