If you haven’t noticed, Houston received a lot of rain last week. Actually some areas received nearly a season’s worth of rain in one night. Nine counties were flooded and declared to be in a state of disaster. According to the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, Northwest Houston and Southwest Houston received at least 12 inches of rain.

It’s no surprise that roofs take a beating when we get record rainfalls. Loose shingles and bent gutters seem to be the biggest offenders. But chimneys are also vulnerable to water damage and leaking. If you don’t have a chimney cap the rain can fall straight down your masonry chimney washing down unpleasant creosote deposits into your living room. Older chimneys sometimes have a cement chimney crown or cap to stop water from entering the home. The problem is that over time these chimney crowns crack allowing water to penetrate the chimney.

In some cases the chimney leaks from the inside out which leads to condensation causing the wallpaper to peel or the paint to run. In some cases the wall can also get damaged from excessive moisture. This occurs because the heat that is emitted from the fireplace has a very low temperature and contains moisture, soaking the bricks and keeping them moist all the time. In these cases a chimney liner will resolve the problem.

I have also seen misaligned chimney flashing which is the metal flap that joins the chimney to the roof. Over time, there are gaps that appear between the bricks and the roof and water will leak through that hole if it’s not sealed up. Sometimes all we have to do is seal the gaps with a specialized sealant. If the chimney flashing is rusted or eroded it would be better to replace all of the flashing

These are just some of the chimney issues that may occur when we experience heavy rainfall like the ones we just had. If you don’t have your chimney problems resolved it can end up costing you a lot more over time. As chimney professionals we can help fix these problems and others. For more than 15 years, Professional Chimney Services has been serving the Greater Houston area. Call us at 281.491.0433 today!