Coryell, Bell, and Lampasas counties Chimney Sweep, Chimney Cleaning, Chimney Repair, Chimney Caps, Energy Saving Products | Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps

CHIMNEY REPAIR

Repairs

Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps take total care of your chimney system from the top to bottom. Think about this…You are playing with fire. You are building a fire in your home. So your chimney and fireplace need to stay in tip top working condition in order to keep you safe. We've been keeping central Texas homes safe since 1980!!!

Chimney Crown

Chimneys are vulnerable to all sorts of things. Water is the primary foe of chimneys and they must be protected. The uppermost portion of the chimney is called the crown. Masons use left over mortar to make the crown. When the mortar dries it begins to crack often very soon after it is poured. Those cracks let water in to the chimney structure and it makes its way to the smoke shelf behind the damper where it mixes with an accumulation of fly ash and creosote. This combination forms acids such as lye which eats through the smoke shelf and into the firebox as the mortar fails between the fire brick. Unfortunately by the time damage is noted below, replacement of the chimney crown is usually badly needed. Cement is not the proper material heat, cold, dry, and wet cycles because it dries too hard and brittle and will not stand up to the rigors of flexing inflicted by the weather. It takes a special material to endure the weather extremes. We have been using the proper material to repair crowns for the past 15 years without any problems.
Crowns will last only five to seven years until cracks occur and jeopardize the entire chimney and fireplace system.

To see pictures of our completed work click here


Here is a picture of a crown poured by a local chimney "professional" using ordinary cement which is cheap but is the improper material. Note the huge cracks that appeared after only one year.	We repaired the crown with the proper material and gave the homeowner a 15 year warranty. The proper material will give the homeowner long lasting results. We have returned to homes where we did the repairs a number of years ago and found the repairs were holding up extremely well.

Chimney Waterproofing

Bricks are not waterproof. They are porous and will soak up water like a sponge. The water travels through the brick as water vapor and can become trapped. If a rain comes in winter, many times the water will freeze while in the brick. This results in the face of the brick popping off or "spalling".

Then the brick really becomes porous and your chimney is in danger of failing. Learn more about the problem here spalling bricks.

Ordinary water sealers cause more damage than they prevent as they stop up the pores of the brick and trap water inside. When we apply ChimneySaver to a chimney it allows any water vapor inside the bricks to escape and then prevents anything from getting in. Protect your chimney by letting us apply ChimneySaver.

Damper Repair

Water from an uncapped chimney or a faulty crown will usually cause damper problems. In metal firebox fireplaces the rainwater can totally destroy the fireplace. Look at what damage rain does to a metal firebox…

There used to be a damper here but as the rest of the fireplace, it rusted out many years ago at this vacation home. This condition was caused by two factors, first no rain cap on the chimney and second, sever cracks in the crown.
Rust can freeze the damper either open or closed making them difficult if not impossible to operate. We can repair the problem with a replacement damper;

However it is less expensive and more energy to abandon the faulty damper and let us install a top sealing damper.

Chimney Throat Parge

For a masonry chimney to allow smoke to move freely up and out the top the most chimney throats need to be parged. Rarely is that the case we find. Usually the bricks are left rough and stepped down forming the throat. That means the bricks are set ½" offset to allow for the curve of the throat. This gives creosote great places to collect and build up. We parge the throat using Chamber Tech 2000 to insulate, add structural strength and shape the smoke chamber for efficient flow of smoke and gases.
SMOKE CHAMBERS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Many masonry fireplaces are in need of help. Time, heat, moisture and acid attack have taken their toll on the complete system, not to mention poor design during construction. Chimneys can be relined and fireboxes can easily be repaired, but until the development of CHAMBER-TECH 2000 the smoke chamber between the firebox and chimney has often been neglected.
The smoke chamber is so important to the proper performance and safe burning of a fireplace. Often masons would leave this area corbeled and rough which would cause turbulent draft. Cleaning and maintenance would also be difficult. Combustible building materials are often too close and risk overheating.
CHAMBER-TECH 2000 is the answer to those rough, deteriorated, uninsulated and improperly formed smoke chambers. CHAMBER-TECH 2000 will insulate, reducing conduction to combustible materials, add needed structural strength and at the same time shape the smoke chamber for efficient flow of smoke and gasses. Cleaning and maintenance will become much easier in the future.
CHAMBER-TECH 2000 is the cost effective solution to fireplace smoke chamber problems.

BEFORE	AFTER

Trouble

Turbulence/Very Inefficient
Uninsulated/Much Heat Loss
Heat Transfers to Combustibles
Area Weakened From Use and Time
Needs Structural Strength
Builds us Creosote Faster
Hard to Clean
Benefits of
Fluent Efficient Flow of Smoke/Combustion By-Products
Smooth Surface/Less Friction/No Turbulence
Insulated/Increased Efficiency/Less Heat Transfer
Structural Strength Added
Less Creosote Build-Up
Easier to Clean & Maintain
Cost Effective Compared To Alternatives

Firebox Repair

When damage does occur in the firebox we repair it in the proper manner using the proper materials. Ordinary cement will not hold up to the rigors of the high heat a fireplace suffers. Refractory cement and mortar is the only material that will stand up to the demands involved. Proper preparation of the fireplace is key to any repairs. We have been doing this for almost 30 years and we see our repairs still holding up every week. Using the proper material and knowing how to properly do the repair is essential and that is why you call us.
Here is a dangerous example of a prefab fireplace in need of repair.

The firebrick is protecting the thin sheet metal wall of the fireplace. If left like this the fires built in it can burn and reach the wooden framing members which are placed right next to the fireplace. You can imagine the result if that were to happen.
In order to get the proper size and shape, we pour them ourselves using the proper materials for long lasting protection.

In short we are your total fireplace and chimney specialists. Call us at Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps at 254-547-6087.

Coryell, Bell, and Lampasas counties Chimney Sweep, Chimney Cleaning, Chimney Repair, Chimney Caps, Energy Saving Products | Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps

Call us today at 254-547-6087 or fill out our online contact form.