Chimney Crown Repair & Rebuilding
The chimney crown that sits at the very top of your chimney is a critical component. When it becomes cracked or deteriorated, it can allow water into the chimney system and lead to major damage and dangerous operating conditions.
Oliver Twist Chimney & Fireplace of Huntington Beach, CA, specializes in chimney crown repair and rebuilding projects. For more than 30 years, we’ve been helping our Southern California customers keep their chimneys safe and efficient. Here’s how we can help you.
A Little About the Chimney Crown
A properly built chimney crown will be made of quality concrete and designed to allow rain water to run off it rather than pool on its surfaces. The crown covers the entire top of the chimney, minus the flue opening which is protected by a chimney cap.
Chimney crowns are made to block rain and keep your interior chimney dry. Without a crown, a chimney would be subject to massive water (and debris) intrusion.
Many problems with crowns happen because of either poor-quality materials or sloppy workmanship in the building process.
How Chimney Crowns Become Damaged
Along with issues with the materials and workmanship, crowns can suffer damage from:
- Old age
- Lightning strikes
- Fierce hail storms
- Earthquakes
Early signs of damage include small cracks in the concrete structure and possibly some chipping. Long-term damage is easy to identify when major sections of the crown are falling apart.
When a crown lets water run into the chimney system, it can harm the interior masonry, chimney liner, fireplace damper and firebox. Water damage can spread and affect walls, ceilings, flooring and other parts of your home. Water can also start a dangerous mold growth.
Crown Repair
Minor chimney crown damage can often be repaired by filling in cracks with a compound designed for this purpose. This can be a long-term or short-term fix, depending on the cause of the damage.
Crown Rebuilding
If damage to a chimney crown is significant, we usually recommend that the entire chimney crown be rebuilt.
We don’t always know exactly how the original crown was constructed, but we know that when we build a new one, it will be done with exceptional workmanship and the finest materials available.
Crown Sealing
It’s a good idea to have your chimney crown professionally sealed, even if there’s no damage. When damage has occurred and we’ve resolved it, we suggest having the crown sealed to prevent future problems.
We use two sealant products: CrownSeal and CrownCoat. These applications create a powerful water barrier while allowing the concrete to “breathe” and not build up excess moisture.
Chimney Crown Inspections
The first step to any crown project is an inspection, which will tell us the condition of the crown and if any collateral damage has occurred.
After inspecting your crown, we’ll explain to you exactly what we found and recommend the best way to resolve the problem.
Call for a Safe, Efficient Chimney
You may have seen our brightly painted service vehicles traveling along the SoCal coast from Marina Del Rey south to San Clemente and inland from Irvine to Downey, CA. If so, we’ve been on our way to solve problems for another valued customer. You can be one of these customers by calling (714) 843-9944 or reaching out with our simple contact form.
Oliver Twist serves Huntington Beach CA, Long Beach CA, Torrance CA, Anaheim CA, Santa Ana CA, Inglewood CA, Manhattan Beach CA, Redondo Beach CA, Hermosa Beach CA and many more SoCal communities.