Brick, especially older brick or brick that has never been treated with water repellent has a tendency to crack or flake off as a result of freeze thaw damage and general wear and tear. Although preventative maintenance can be performed routinely over the years to preserve the life of your masonry, cracks will occur despite the most thorough preventative measures.Things may appear perfectly fine one season, and the very next you may begin to see pieces of brick cracking off of your chimney and landing on the roof or the ground surrounding the chimney. This is what is known as spalling, and is a red flag signaling repair has become necessary. A lot of spalling and cracking is a direct result of water damage. Any masonry repair completed absolutely must be waterproofed, seeing that water damage is the number one cause of chimney damage, period.
Because the chimney is suspended so high above the roof line, they are extremely susceptible to damage from the elements. Making these cracks look less noticeable is an area of expertise perfected over our time in business. We use specialized tools to gently manipulate the crack area to be worked on. We will never beat on your wall with a sledge hammer as some other companies deem appropriate!
Sculpting mortar into these cracks and applying the proper stain is all a part of the process, but the key is really applying a water repellent to seal the effects of the repair and seal life into your bricks.
When it comes to protecting your chimney from spalling, cracking and deterioration, chimney waterproofing must be done with a quality water repellent such as Chimney Save Solvent Based Water Repellent. This is a water repellent that I send out with the guys in the field when handling these types of repairs. It has a relatively low cost and incomparable protection for your brick.