Our Company Blog

Prevent a Leaky Chimney with Our Waterproofing Services

When it is summertime in Austin, the last thing on your mind is your chimney and fireplace. However, we tend to also get heavy rains during the summer season, and this leads to water leaking into your chimney. According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), preventing water penetration of masonry chimneys is one of the biggest maintenance responsibilities for homeowners.

In order to ensure that your chimney has the ultimate protection against water leak damage is to schedule a water leak chimney inspection appointment with a CSIA-certified professional. For over 25 years, Atlas Chimney has been providing excellent chimney maintenance, repair, and installation services to the area. You can count on us to give you a fair and honest assessment of the water penetration preventive services. We would like to tell you more about the service that we recommend the most to our customers: waterproofing.

Why does my chimney need a waterproofing treatment?

Masonry materials like concrete, bricks, and mortar joints are porous, which means they naturally absorb water when it rains or snows. The constant exposure to the elements can cause masonry materials to become damaged. This damage is accelerated during the winter. Whenever the temperature drops below freezing, any moisture trapped inside masonry materials will freeze and expand. As the water thaws, it can cause the bricks and mortar joints to crack, crumble, become loose, and fall from the chimney structure.

This is the freeze/thaw cycles, and it can lead to extensive spalling damage. If you don’t address this damage, it could jeopardize the stability of the chimney. A professional waterproofing treatment from Atlas Chimney can protect your masonry chimney against this type of damage and deterioration.

How does waterproofing work?

After our team inspect your chimney and makes the necessary masonry repairs, we will scrub the exterior clean. We will then apply a coating of the best waterproofing treatment available on the market, ChimneySaver. We love this product, as it is specifically made for masonry chimneys. You can trust us to never use any sealant formula to waterproof your chimney.

The ChimneySaver treatment is 100 percent vapor permeable, so you will not have to worry about more masonry damage occurring. Once we finish applying this treatment to your entire exterior chimney, our work is covered under a 10-year warranty. This means you have at least a decade of the ultimate protection against water penetration chimney damage.

At Atlas Chimney, we also provide other water penetration preventive services such as chimney cap installation and flashing repair and construction. To make sure your chimney can stand up to water damage, contact us today to schedule an appointment!

We Provide Repointing and Tuckpointing Masonry Repair Services

We pride ourselves on being the top comprehensive chimney company in the Austin region. Atlas Chimney only employs professionals who are trained and certified by leaders in the industry, such as the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). You can count on us to take care of all of your professional chimney needs, no matter what they may be. Our chimney technicians are expert chimney sweeps and inspectors. They also have learned how to repair damaged masonry by using techniques such as tuckpointing and repointing. We would like to tell you more about our professional chimney masonry repair services.

What is the top cause of chimney masonry damage?

According to the CSIA, water penetration is the cause of the majority of damaged bricks and mortar joints. However, cold winter weather has a lot to do with masonry damage as well. When it freezes, any absorbed moisture in the bricks and mortar joints of your chimney will freeze and expand. When the weather warms back up, the force of the water thawing can be strong enough to cause the masonry materials to crack and break apart. This is known as spalling damage. Repeated freeze/thaw cycles can lead to major structural problems as well as to more deterioration from water leaks. The CSIA recommends this damage repaired quickly. If the damages remain, more extensive and expensive repairs may be necessary.

What types of masonry techniques does Atlas Chimney use to repair spalling damage?

In order to properly repair this kind of damaged masonry, our professionals must first remove the damaged mortar joints and then replace them with new mortar. This technique is called repointing and is used for minor repair work. We take pride in our work, and strive to make seamless masonry repairs. When we work on older historical homes, we will use a technique known as tuckpointing. With this technique, we match the color of the replacement mortar with the existing mortar, and then we take putty in a contrasting color and embed it down the center of the new mortar joints with specialized tools. You can trust us to use the highest quality materials when making masonry repairs on your chimney.

Have you noticed damaged bricks and mortar joints on your chimney? Contact us today at Atlas Chimney to schedule an appointment for our professional chimney masonry repair services.