Owning a house and maintaining it comes with lots of responsibilities. One of them is to be mindful of leaks throughout the house. In fact, there’s nothing more frustrating and anxiety-inducing than a massive leak that might be affecting your house’s foundation. From roof leaks to pipe leaks, they’re all stressful to deal with, but nothing compares to the confusion that comes with chimney leaks.
Chimney leaks often result from neglected chimney maintenance and an unclean chimney condition. While calling your residential roofing company for instant chimney repairs is critical during this time, it’s also important to know why these leaks happen. There are various underlying causes behind chimney leaks. Here are three you should know:
A Rusted Chimney Top
Most residential chimneys are designed to be covered with a cap or a chase top to prevent outdoor elements and rainwater from making it inside the chimney at any moment. Most builders and construction contractors use their expertise to cut a hole in the middle of the chase cap to allow the chimney pipe to seamlessly go through it.
When a chimney’s chase top becomes corroded or rusted, it begins shrinking from its middle point. As a result, it begins holding massive amounts of rainwater during heavy rains. This means a rusted chimney chase top causes unprecedented chimney leaks, increasing the likelihood of extensive flooding inside the house.
This may also happen when the caulk holding the chase top and chimney pipe fails to do its job efficiently.
Saturated Chimney Bricks
Chimney leaks are often common among houses with brick chimneys. While bricks are excellent building materials, they’re often susceptible to water absorption during rain. Ideally, the chimney’s chase top should allow the water to redirect towards the house’s draining.
However, when this fails to happen, the water begins accumulating in the middle of the chase top, ultimately increasing moisture retention on the chimney’s bricks. When bricks fail to absorb the water anymore, the remaining water drips inside the chimney, resulting in leaks.
Improper Roof Flashing Installation
All residential roofs are installed with roof flashings. These metallic materials allow all the standing water on roofs to redirect into the drainage system whenever it rains. However, faulty roof flashing can often wreak havoc by causing unexpected chimney leaks.
When a roof flashing isn’t installed correctly, it fails to prevent the rainwater from making its way to the chimney’s chase top. As a result, massive amounts of water hinder the chimney’s cap, saturate its bricks, and eventually cause chimney leaks.
The good news is that these problems can always be resolved with ourchimney restoration services at Elezi Construction LLC NJ. As your premier roofing company in New Jersey, we’re committed to helping you maintain your house with our wide range of services, including roof repairs, masonry repairs, chimney restoration, and more. You can now request a quote here or contact us for more today!