Chimney Caps, Crowns, and Skylights
The chimney is the most taken for granted system of your home. It may appear safe on the outside, but an inspection of the inside can show a number of imperfections. Both the CHIMNEY SAFETY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (CSIA), an educational organization dedicated to chimney safety, as well as the NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) recommends getting an annual chimney check as well as having chimney caps installed.
rick chimney repairs are one of the top 4 most significant costs to a homeowner, all due to a lack of preventative maintenance. Water penetration will cause interior and exterior damage to your home and chimney.
Call SPOTLESS GUTTER CLEANING AND REPAIR INC. because we offer 3 main ways to prevent this water damage:
WE INSTALL CHIMNEY CAPS:
All homes need chimney caps to provide protection against squirrels, birds, bats, raccoons, rain and leaves. Most importantly chimney caps function as spark arrestors, preventing sparks from landing on the roof or other nearby combustible materials. We install high quality stainless steel chimney caps. These caps require no drilling into the masonry since they are installed directly over the flue.
WE REPAIR OR REPLACE DAMAGED CHIMNEY CROWNS:
A chimney crown is the top element of a masonry chimney. It covers the roof of your chimney and seals the top of the chimney from the flue liners to the chimney edge. Chimney crowns are designed to shed rain water from the top of the chimney, preventing water from seeping into the masonry below, helping to keep the chimney shell dry and preventing deterioration of the brick and masonry.
Most chimney crowns are built incorrectly, with an inadequate crown constructed from common mortar mix, the same mixture used to lay the bricks of the chimney. This is incorrect since regular brick mortar is not designed for, and will not withstand years of weather abuse without cracking, chipping or deteriorating. Brick mortar does not have the strength and durability characteristics that are necessary. Actually, most sand and mortar crowns crack almost immediately after installation because of shrinkage. If the crown of your chimney cracks and allows water into the chimney you will incur very costly chimney repairs. Our technicians will properly construct a chimney crown with a pure PORTLAND based concrete mix. Our chimney crowns will stop damage from happening to your home and when your chimney crown is properly re-built it will perform flawlessly for many years.
WE REPAIR OR REPLACE FLASHING:
Flashing is the seal between the roofing material and the chimney. Flashing prevents rain water from running down the chimney into living spaces where it will damage ceilings and walls and can cause rot in rafters, joists, or other structural elements.
CALL SPOTLESS GUTTER CLEANING AND REPAIR INC. and we will be happy to answer your questions about your chimney and to discuss your specific chimney needs. Water damage to chimneys is a slow subtle process and frequently goes undetected until it becomes a serious problem. Our prevention measures will cost you a few dollars initially but they are a wise investment in your home, saving you the major expense of having to re-build your entire chimney at a later date.
SKYLIGHT INSTALLATION, REPLACEMENT, REPAIR and CLEANING:
If you are planning to install a skylight trust us to install a leak-free skylight system for your home. While skylights are an excellent addition to your roofing system some common house leaks are caused by defects in your skylight sealing or faulty skylight installation, including:
- IMPROPERLY FASTENED SKYLIGHTS
- HAIRLINE CRACKS AND FISSURES
- INADEQUATE SKYLIGHT SEALANT
Our service technicians will do expert skylight repairs for any of these problems. We can also clean the outside of your skylights for less than what a window cleaning company would charge to get on the roof and clean them.
FLOODLIGHTS
We change all exterior lights on your house. We only use new bulbs but we offer no guarantee on the longevity of the bulbs.
Talk To A Gutter Specialist Today!
We invite you to visit our services to learn more about what we do, or get a no pressure estimate. All at no cost to you!