Chimney Care Company's Blog
How Cold Weather Can Damage Your Chimney’s Masonry
Winter weather can be rough, and it can be especially rough on your masonry chimney. Snow, sleet, ice and freezing temperatures can all damage your chimney during the winter months, and it’s important that you are aware of the signs of winter chimney damage so you can stay on top of needed repairs.
The Freeze-Thaw Cycle and Your Chimney’s Masonry
Cold weather can damage your chimney’s masonry much like it damages the roadways and causes potholes each winter. Water penetrates your masonry’s porous surfaces. Once trapped inside, that moisture freezes and expands, causing your chimney’s masonry to crack and crumble.
That cracking and crumbling can have a major, negative impact on your chimney and your home. First and foremost, it can cause your chimney to look unsightly, harming your home’s aesthetics. Secondly, cracks and weaknesses in your chimney’s masonry can allow water to gain entry into the chimney’s interior or into your home’s structure, which can cause serious damage to walls, ceilings, your fireplace or heating stove, and your chimney flue. Finally, if left unchecked and allowed to progress, the cracking and crumbling of your chimney’s masonry can cause the chimney structure itself to become weakened and even fail.
Spotting Cold Weather Damage
It is important to be on the lookout for winter chimney damage so that you can have any damage addressed as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration. Some signs of freeze-thaw and winter water damage include:
- Crumbling mortar
- Spalling, or the popping off of pieces of chimney bricks
- Cracking or crumbing of the chimney crown
- Staining on walls or ceilings around the chimney
- Crumbling pieces of chimney flue tiles found inside the firebox
- Rusting of the chimney damper, fireplace grate or fireplace doors.
If you notice any of these signs of chimney masonry damage, it is important to call in chimney professionals to have your chimney inspected and repaired. When you ignore winter chimney damage, it only get worse over time.
Preventing Cold Weather Masonry Damage
To prevent winter masonry damage, your primary goal should be protecting your chimney from water and moisture. A chimney cap prevents water from running down your chimney flue and doing damage; make sure that your chimney cap is in place and in good repair. Your chimney’s crown deflects water away from the chimney flue and should provide some protection to the exterior sides of your chimney. During your annual chimney inspection, make sure you ask your sweep if your chimney crown has been properly constructed and is free from damage. Finally, chimney waterproofing provides a protective barrier for your chimney’s masonry that seals out water to prevent freeze-thaw damage.
If winter’s cold weather has been hard on your chimney’s masonry, call the chimney experts at The Chimney Care Co. We can evaluate wintertime chimney damage and restore your chimney’s look and function.
Why you should review your chimney sweep
We live in an era of online reviews. Before most people make a purchasing or hiring decision — whether it’s deciding which restaurant to go to or which contractor to hire — they research the business to see what others have said about the business online. An online review can greatly hurt or help a business’s success.
What you might not realize is that when you provide a review of your chimney sweep, you benefit more than just the company; you help your neighbors and even yourself.
How reviews help the business
It is pretty clear that a well-reviewed business likely will do better than one with bad reviews. If you have a positive experience with your chimney sweep, you absolutely should provide them with a good online review! Providing your chimney sweep with a positive online review is a great way to support a small, local business and to thank your chimney sweep for their exemplary service.
How reviews help your neighbor
As we have observed, most people now research businesses online before they make hiring or purchasing decision. Your online review can help you neighbor to make a good decision. An honest review can help steer your neighbors to the right company, saving them from the hassle or dealing with poor service or from wasting their money all together. Additionally, your review can help your neighbor make an educated purchasing decision that they feel confident with.
How reviews help you
You might not realize it, but leaving online reviews of your chimney sweep can help you, too! Potential customers aren’t the only ones who read online reviews; the companies that are reviewed read those reviews as well. A smart company will learn from and react to those reviews. A good online review will detail honestly what you did and did not like about your chimney service. Your chimney sweep will read your honest feedback and work to improve what you did not like, which means you will see better service the next time you are in the market for chimney services.
Keep in mind that there are a few guidelines involved in writing a good online review that helps your neighbor, the business and you. Never write a review while you are upset about the service, as others will see that anger and question the fairness of your review, and the business likely will be less willing to help you resolve the issue you are upset about. Second, make describe the service in detail. Include pertinent details that will give others a clear picture of your service. Finally, make sure your review is free of grammatical and spelling errors, as well as typos. Others are less likely to take your review seriously if it is riddled with obvious mistakes.
Leaving an online review for your chimney sweep won’t take you very long, and your efforts will be appreciated by your neighbors and your chimney sweep — and hopefully, you will be rewarded with even better service in the future!