What is Chimney Deterioration?

A properly constructed chimney has a very long life span, however, even a well-built chimney may periodically require maintenance and repair. Some common signs that your chimney is deteriorating are cracks in the bricks, cracks in the mortar joints, missing mortar from the joints, rubble around your chimney or on the roof, discoloration, and water leaking into your home. Of course, if you are like most homeowners and do not spend a lot of time on the peak of your roof looking at your chimney, you may not even notice the damage.

This brick chimney has seen better days. Here an entire brick has crumbled leaving room for water to enter and cause a leak.

This chimney has spalled and left rubble all over the roof.

The best way to be sure that your chimney is not developing an expensive problem is to have a qualified technician do a multi-point inspection and make honest recommendations on any required repairs. If you are curious about the major causes of chimney deterioration, we recommend you read about the freeze-thaw cycle over at our blog.