West Jordan · Salt Lake County
Masonry and Chase Repair for West Jordan
Ask for chimney repair in this city and the job could be tuckpointing hundred-year-old brick or replacing a rusted sheet metal lid. The two have almost nothing in common except the word.
The older brick, and why it fails from the top down
West Jordan has an older core, and the masonry chimneys that survive there follow a predictable decline. Water enters through a cracked crown or through open mortar joints in the last few feet above the roof, freezes overnight, expands, and lifts the face off the brick. Utah's winters are unusually good at this because the freeze-thaw cycle runs so many times a season: sun on a south face at midday, hard freeze by evening, repeat. The section above the roofline gets it worst because it has no house heat behind it and is wet on all four sides.
The repair depends on how far it has gone. Open joints alone are a tuckpointing job, cutting the failed mortar back to sound material and repacking it with a mix matched to the original rather than something harder, because a hard modern mortar in soft old brick moves the damage into the brick itself. A crown that has cracked through gets rebuilt with an overhang and a proper drip edge. Once the brick faces are spalling off in sheets, patching is cosmetic and the top few courses need taking down and relaying, and we will tell you when you have crossed that line.
The framed chases, and why they are a roofing problem
On the newer three quarters of the city there is no masonry at all. The chimney is a stud-framed box, sided or stuccoed to match the house, with a metal flue inside and a galvanized cover on top. Nearly every water complaint from these is one of four things: a chase cover that has no slope and holds a puddle until it rusts through, a storm collar with failed sealant where the pipe passes the cover, step flashing at the roof that was never counterflashed properly, or siding taken down to the roof deck with no kick-out at the bottom of the wall.
None of that is fixed with mortar or sealant smeared over the top, which is what we usually find has already been tried. A stainless chase cover with a cross break and a proper drip edge lasts decades; a flat galvanized one lasts as long as its coating. We quote the fix that ends the problem and tell you what the temporary version buys you if the budget is not there this year.
Questions
Chimney Repair in West Jordan — common questions
Water is coming in at the ceiling near the fireplace. Is that the chimney or the roof?
On a framed chase it is usually both, in the sense that the leak is at the junction between them. The chase cover, the storm collar and the flashing are the three suspects, and a camera on the roof settles it quickly rather than guessing from inside.
Can you just seal the top of the brick and be done?
Sometimes, if the crown is sound and the joints are tight. Sealing over a cracked crown traps water in the masonry instead of shedding it, which makes the freeze-thaw damage worse rather than better. We look before we recommend it.
The metal cover on our chimney is rusty. Does the whole chase come apart?
No. A chase cover is replaceable on its own. We measure the chase, fabricate a stainless cover with a slope and an overhanging edge, and set it with a new storm collar. The framing and siding stay where they are.
Is autumn too late to start masonry work?
It depends on the temperature. Mortar and crown material need to cure above freezing, so late-season repairs get scheduled around the weather. If we cannot do it properly we will say so and book it for spring rather than lay work that will fail.
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Our other services here
Chimney Sweep Inspection Fireplace Repair Installation Gas Fireplace Caps & Dampers Dryer Vents All West Jordan services
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