Chimney with bad mortar joints. Needs bad mortar removed and new mortar installed. Also known as tuck pointing. There is a large hole in the flashing that will cause severe water leakage into the home.
In the midst of grinding out the old mortar.
Piece of flashing laying on the roof. Bad mortar caused it to lose its bond to the chimney.
In the midst of grinding out bad mortar
New mortar installed
Flashing patched and sealed properly.
Tuck point complete!
The wet and damp climate in Eugene, OR can be very detrimental to masonry chimneys. This particular chimney suffered from water penetration. Water penetration in chimneys is caused when the masonry is no longer able to repel water due to years of sun and rain exposure. Water penetration causes mortar to essentially lose it’s structural integrity, turn in to sand and crumble apart.
Another major detriment to masonry is moss. Moss build up eats away at the mortar and cuts the life of the masonry drastically. One thing the homeowner can do is keep an eye on your masonry. If you notice moss build up on any of your masonry have us come clean it off as soon as possible so no unnecessary wear is caused to it.
Not only do we do chimney masonry rehab, but we can also do moss removal on any masonry you have on your property. This can be general moss removal, tuck pointing and even waterproofing. Waterproofing is very cost effective and a great insurance policy for your masonry. It can save you thousands in rebuilding costs in the future.
This particular job took about six hours. There are many variables involved in these repair jobs. It all depends on the size of the chimney, accessibility and the level of repair that is needed. Some repairs can be done in one day. Some take multiple days. The benefit of this repair is that it was relatively inexpensive compared to letting the conditions of the chimney get worse to where it would be too late to tuck point and have to be completely rebuilt from the roof up. To rebuild a chimney from the roof up is very labor intensive and is three to four times the cost of tuck pointing.
If you have any concerns at all please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We would be happy to come out and inspect your chimney for safety and structural integrity.
Sincerely,
Nathan Hollembaek
