Cracked crown
The concrete wash on top is the chimney's roof. A cracked crown lets water into the chimney casing — the brick industry's words37 — and up there, in means straight down the stack, not off the side of the house.
Act nowChimney repair & rebuilds in Chicagoland — since 1996
Crumbling chimney?Call
the Pros.
Your chimney takes weather from four sides and heat from inside, so it wears out first — the brick industry lists chimneys among the parts that “may require repairs at shorter intervals.”38 We fix it from the crown down.
…or call (630) 833-3665 — a human picks up
Family-owned since 1996·Licensed Chicago mason contractor·5.0 on Angi·Warranty-backed work
Case file · Chimney
Elmhurst bungalow
1/yr
Minimum inspections the national chimney standard calls for — used or not31
3/10
Home heating fires that involve a fireplace or chimney, in NFPA's 2014–2018 breakdown64
$15,000
Top of the published range for a full chimney rebuild11
The fixRebuild the crown, repoint the stack, reline the flue — while it's still a repair and not a rebuild.
Crown · cap · stack · flashing · liner
Last inspected: unknown
The evidence
Three reasons chimney repair can't wait.
Not our opinion. Three facts, footnoted — from the national chimney standard, the standard insurance policy, and published repair bills.
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30years — for a wall01 — the clock
Your chimney is on a shorter clock than your walls.
Sills, parapets, chimneys and copings that experience more severe exposures may require repairs at shorter intervals.
Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 4638A good repointing job “is meant to last, at least 30 years.”1 That's a wall. A chimney stands past the roof in wind, rain and sun the wall never sees, with heat on the inside.
So the national chimney standard doesn't wait for symptoms. NFPA 211 calls for a chimney inspection at least once a year, fireplace in use or not.31 Chicago's bungalow belt went up between 1910 and 1940.2 Count the inspections yours has had.
Never been up there? Neither has anyone else.
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$0covered02 — the bill
Your insurance isn't climbing the ladder.
The standard policy form is written around sudden, accidental events — not gradual deterioration.5 A chimney fire is sudden. The cracked crown, the open joints and the rusted-out cap that spent twenty winters turning a flue fire into a house fire read like the other thing.
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Excluded
Deterioration
“Wear and tear, marring, deterioration.” Also “faulty, inadequate or defective… maintenance.” A crown that cracked over twenty winters reads like both.
Standard policy form5 -
Excluded
The mold that follows
A chimney leak can end in “rotted wood and ruined wall coverings.”40 Wet wood grows mold. Mold is generally not covered; where it is, caps commonly run $1,000–$10,000.
Insurance Information Institute7 -
Excluded
The animals in the flue
No cap, open flue. The annual-inspection rule exists partly because “animals may build nests in the flue.”31 Squirrels chew on the way in and out, and the Texas regulator is blunt about that: “If rodents and insects chew on your house, your policy won't pay for the repairs.”
Texas Dept. of Insurance8
Homeowners insurance typically does not provide coverage for damages due to lack of maintenance from wear and tear.
State Farm, on its own website6Policies are written for sudden. Chimneys fail slow.
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Excluded
Deterioration
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10×the cost03 — the cascade
Fire gets the headlines. Water does the damage.
Water penetration can cause damage including broken brickwork, rusted fireplace dampers, rotted wood and ruined wall coverings, cracked flue liner systems and even deteriorated central heating systems.
Chimney Safety Institute of America40That's the Chimney Safety Institute's list, and its point is that water — not fire — does more damage to masonry chimneys.40 The water gets in at the top: a cracked crown, an open flue, a joint gone to sand. Then it runs the same route every rain — and Chicago hits freezing about 120 days a year.18
Notice the item near the end. A cracked liner is where a water problem turns into a fire problem — cracked tiles and displaced mortar are the path flames take to the framing.41 The crown that started all of it is a one-day pour.
Same crack. Different invoice.
Warning signs
Does your chimney look like this?
Brick is tough. On a chimney, everything around it is the weak link — the crown, the cap, the joints, the flashing. Here's what that looks like from the driveway — or the living-room ceiling.
Missing or rusted cap
An open flue is a pipe to the sky. Rain lands on the damper; whatever's nesting nearby moves in.31 At $190–$650, chimney cap replacement is one of the cheapest fixes on this page.43
Fix soonSandy joints up top
Mortar that rubs off like sand has lost its bond — that's a chimney tuckpointing job. On a chimney it shows first on the side the weather hits — look at the top few courses before anything else.
Repoint soonStain on the ceiling by the fireplace
The classic chimney leak that gets blamed on the roof. Usually it's the flashing where the brick meets the shingles — a mortar joint with metal in it, and it fails like any other joint.
Act nowWhite, chalky streaks
Efflorescence: salts left behind by water moving through the brick.78 On a chimney it's a map of the leak. Read it from the top down — it starts where the water does.
Find the sourceLeaning or bulging stack
A chimney out of plumb has lost the joints on one side, and the top courses are usually spalled with it. That's a chimney rebuild from the roofline up — and a falling hazard before it's anything else.
Act now
Show us your brick — estimates are free
Small fixes stay small. See how this one grows ›
The diagnosis
Where a masonry chimney fails, top to bottom.
Five parts. Five ways in. Water does more damage to masonry chimneys than fire — that's the Chimney Safety Institute talking, not us.40 Every number is footnoted.
Chart No. 1996-CHM Patient Your chimney Presenting Cracked crown Attending The Pros
The crown is the concrete wash on top — the chimney's roof. The residential code spells out what a good one does: sloped to shed water, with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liner so the two can move without cracking each other.36 Most of the pre-war crowns we open up are a skim of mortar with none of that.
Cracks of any size in the mortar raise the odds of water getting in.37 On a crown, in means down — behind the brick, onto the liner, into the smoke shelf. Water expands 9% when it freezes17, Chicago hits freezing about 120 days a year18, and every hairline is a wedge by February.
The fix — rebuild the crown in one pour — sloped, drip edge, bond break — or seal it while it's still a hairlineA cap is a lid with a screen. Without one the flue is open to the sky: rain lands on the damper and the smoke shelf, and the neighborhood's raccoons and squirrels get a furnished apartment. The annual-inspection rule exists partly because “animals may build nests in the flue.”31
What rain down an open flue can end in, per the Chimney Safety Institute: rusted dampers, cracked liners, rotted wood, ruined wall coverings.40 A cap runs about $190–$650.43 It is the best money on this page.
The fix — stainless cap with a spark screen, sized to the flue and bolted downAbove the roofline the brick takes rain, wind and sun from every side, and heat from inside. The brick industry puts chimneys in the same short-interval bucket as sills and parapets.38 The joints on the weather side go first, and that's where masonry chimney repair usually starts.
Water gets into brick at the mortar joint and the bond line, and “there is no substitute for proper filling of all mortar joints.”10 Left open, the top courses soak, freeze and spall until the only fix is taking the stack down to sound brick — a $1,000–$3,500 rebuild from the roofline up.11
The fix — grind and repoint to sound depth, color-matched; spalled brick swapped for matched salvageStep flashing runs under the shingles. Counter-flashing is let into a mortar joint and bent down over it. That joint is a mortar joint like any other, and it fails like any other — then water runs down the brick, behind the metal, and shows up as a stain on the ceiling next to the fireplace.
The roofer says it's the mason's. The mason says it's the roofer's. The National Park Service just says “re-secure loose flashing at the dormers, chimneys or parapets.”39 We do both sides of that joint. Repair runs about $300–$1,800.45
The fix — reflash — counter-flashing cut into a fresh joint and sealed, not smeared over with caulkThe liner is the part you can't see and the part that matters most. Code requires new masonry chimneys to be lined, with a material matched to the appliance venting through them36 — and Cornell's extension service notes many masonry chimneys never got a proper liner.42 Over time mortar cracks and “hot flue gases” get a path toward the framing.42
A flue that leaks flame can leak gas. CPSC's annual inspection has the inspector check chimneys and flues for blockages, corrosion and disconnections35; more than 400 Americans a year die of CO poisoning — from any fuel-burning source, fires excluded.34 And a chimney fire, at roughly 2,000°F, can crack tiles and collapse a liner outright.41
The fix — reline in stainless steel sized to the appliance — after a camera look, not a guessThe cascade
What waiting on chimney repair actually costs.
Every job below starts the same way: water past the crown, the cap or a joint. The only variable is how long it ran.
Maintenance — the part you choose
Consequence — the part you don't
The honest version: on a chimney the escalation is repair-to-rebuild. A cap replacement, a crown repair and a day of tuckpointing are hundreds to low thousands. Once the top courses spall and the liner cracks, you're paying a crew to take the stack down to the roofline and lay it back up — and the standard policy form lists “deterioration” among its exclusions.5
How it works
Climb. Rebuild. Cap.
STEP 1 / FREE
Climb
A free chimney repair assessment from the roof, not the driveway. We check the crown, cap, joints, flashing and what we can see of the liner, explain what's urgent and what isn't, and quote it straight.
STEP 2
Rebuild
Failed mortar ground out and repointed, matched to the original. Spalled brick swapped for salvage. A crown too far gone comes off and gets poured fresh — sloped, drip edge, bond break. If the top courses are shot, it's a chimney rebuild: they come down to sound brick and go back up.
STEP 3
Cap
New cap. Flashing cut in and sealed. Chimney relining where it's needed. Water repellent goes on last — never over open joints, which the brick industry says to fix first.77 Roof swept, tarps up, backed in writing.
What a chimney repair job from the Pros includes
- Crown rebuilt or sealed
- Cap fitted, stainless
- Joints ground and repointed
- Brick replaced with matched salvage
- Flashing cut in and sealed
- Liner checked; relined if needed
- Repellent once the masonry's sound
- Cleanup daily, roof swept
Straight answers
Chimney repair questions, answered straight.
How much does chimney repair cost?
Depends which part. National cost guides put a cap at $190–$65043, crown repair at $150–$1,50044, flashing at $300–$1,80045 and tuckpointing the stack at $500–$2,500, about $1,200 on average.46 A stainless liner runs $900–$3,800.47
Rebuilds are the other tier: $1,000–$3,500 from the roofline up, $4,000–$15,000 for the whole chimney.11 Those are aggregator estimates, not quotes. Send a photo and you'll get a real number, free.
How often should a chimney be inspected?
Once a year, minimum. That's NFPA 211, the national chimney standard, and it applies whether you light fires or not — the standard's reasoning is that animals nest and things deteriorate either way.31 CPSC says the same annual heating inspection should check flues for blockages, corrosion and disconnections.35
When is the best time of year for chimney repair?
Before winter. Mortar needs to cure above freezing, so our season runs roughly April through November — and October is the rush. Water expands 9% when it freezes17, and O'Hare sees about 120 days a year at or below 32°F18 — every open crack you carry into December works all winter.
Found it in January? Call anyway. We can cap and tarp to stop the water and schedule the masonry for the first warm stretch.
Can I fix it myself, or can it wait?
Some of it can wait a season — a hairline in the crown, a cap that's rusty but still on. Open joints, a missing cap, a stain that's spreading or a stack that's leaning can't. The cheap fixes are only cheap while they're still the problem.
DIY: the trouble isn't the skill, it's that it's two stories up on a pitched roof. Sealing a crown or setting a cap is doable if you're comfortable up there. Chimney flashing repair, repointing and anything to do with the liner aren't weekend jobs. And don't reach for a bucket of clear sealer as the fix — the brick industry says water repellents don't belong on brick with open joints or cracks; fix the openings first.77
Is the leak from my roof or my chimney?
If the stain is on the ceiling or wall right next to the chimney and shows up after rain, start with the flashing — the metal where the brick meets the shingles. It's the classic leak that gets blamed on the roof. The National Park Service's maintenance advice is blunt: “re-secure loose flashing at the dormers, chimneys or parapets.”39
A stain that tracks the chimney's inside face, or a damp smoke shelf, points higher: the crown or an open flue. Either way, send a photo of the ceiling and one of the chimney from the yard — we can usually tell you which before anyone climbs.
Does my chimney need a liner?
If it vents anything — fireplace, furnace, water heater — it needs a sound one. The model residential code requires new masonry chimneys to be lined with a material suited to the appliance36; that isn't retroactive, but Cornell's extension service notes many masonry chimneys never got a proper liner.42
The other reason is carbon monoxide. A blocked, corroded or disconnected flue is on CPSC's annual-inspection list for exactly that reason.35 Illinois law already requires a CO alarm within 15 feet of every bedroom69 — the liner is what keeps it quiet.
Does homeowners insurance cover chimney repair?
Ask your agent — we're masons. But the standard policy form excludes “wear and tear, marring, deterioration” and “faulty, inadequate or defective… maintenance,”5 and State Farm's own site says homeowners insurance “typically does not provide coverage for damages due to lack of maintenance from wear and tear.”6 A crown that cracked over twenty winters reads like that.
Sudden events — a storm takes the stack, a chimney fire — are a different conversation, and one to have with your carrier. For everything gradual, plan on the bill being yours. Which is the argument for catching it while it's a cap and not a rebuild.
Free estimate
Show us your brick.
Send a photo of the chimney from the yard and one from a window if you can get it — the top courses and the crown are what we want to see. We'll tell you what we see, in plain English, and quote it straight. We do chimney repair across Elmhurst, Oak Park, Villa Park, Lombard, Hinsdale and the rest of Chicagoland.