We moved into a new house (built in 1997) about 3 years ago. The issue we were having was with leaks inside the chimney. The chimney is a brick facade with a wooden substructure for a gas insert with a long (20 ft) metal flue. Services for this type of thing are hard to find in my area, but eventually, we found a company that determined the chimney cover was the issue. It seems that the cover had a square hole for the round flue and was allowing water to drip into the chimney. I don't know how long it was like this, but the interior of the chimney, which is exposed in the attic, had lots of signs of water intrusion. The chimney company replaced the cover and cap. This will be important later.
After Helene, we had some trim blow off the front of our house. We called for an estimate from a roofer and, since the piece of trim was aluminum and small, they offered to replace it for free in return for a sign in the yard to advertise. This will be important later as well.
Fast forward a few years, and I noticed that boxes of Christmas decorations next to the chimney showed signs of water dripping on them. I waited until the next storm and went up to the attic to find the roofing connected to the side of the chimney leaking from top to bottom. The chimney sits at the side (not the bottom) of the rafter on the downward slope of our steep roof. I called a few roofers for estimates and finally arrived at using the same guys that did the trim replacement. They had a fair price that was in line with the other roofers (app $1500) and I really wanted to help them since they did the trim work.
They came out in January when the temps were about 30 degrees, removed the shingles around the chimney, replaced the ice/water barrier, replaced the flashing, and reshingled the roof. The new flashing has a diverter at the top to move water away from the side of the chimney. For the first few rainstorms, we saw that we had leaks again, but worse than before. The roofer thought that maybe the shingles had not adhered due to being below 40 degrees. They sent their guys out and found that the chimney flue cap, which sits on top of the flue and flush with the cover, was at an angle. This was not the case when the chimney work was done 3 years ago, so we believe that the winds, and maybe the trim piece during Helene, hit it. Roofer's crew found no water behind the flashing and said the flue cap was likely the cause of the leak. The roofers came into the house and noted the prior leaks in the chimney as proof (I was out of town). I called and spoke to the roofer and told him that we'd get the flue fixed first, but also that those leaks in the chimney have been there for years.
We had the chimney company come back out and fix the flue cap. A few weeks later, during a hard rain, we had two small leaks. Much better than before, but still leaks. We called the chimney service and the roofer. The roofer did not respond, but the chimney service came back out. The latest storm had been the day before, and when the chimney service climbed inside the chimney, they could see no leaks on the wooden substructure. He went up to the roof and validated that the cover was tight, and then applied sealant along the roof and the flashing. He was pretty perplexed about where the leak could be, but said he could not find a problem with the chimney.
We called the roofer back to let them know what the chimney service had said and performed, no response. A few weeks later, we had 2 pretty good rainstorms over a few hours with no leaks. All seemed good. Then, a few weeks later, we had a downpour for a few hours and found two small leaks in the roof next to the chimney. We sent the roofer a text with photos and details on the leak (where it occurred, the circumstances) and repeated that the chimney was dry. No response.
TLDR
We've had roofers and chimney services working to fix a leak that is either coming from the chimney and streaming into the rafter/decking or leaking from the roof. Chimney service has been out several times and signed off on the chimney issues are covered. The roofer has stopped responding to our calls, however, admitted early on that putting shingles down in 30-degree temps was not in line with the shingle requirements of temps over 40.
Do we have recourse with the roofer? Should we start again with another company? On principle, I want these guys to offer a refund, but they are not responding.
After Helene, we had some trim blow off the front of our house. We called for an estimate from a roofer and, since the piece of trim was aluminum and small, they offered to replace it for free in return for a sign in the yard to advertise. This will be important later as well.
Fast forward a few years, and I noticed that boxes of Christmas decorations next to the chimney showed signs of water dripping on them. I waited until the next storm and went up to the attic to find the roofing connected to the side of the chimney leaking from top to bottom. The chimney sits at the side (not the bottom) of the rafter on the downward slope of our steep roof. I called a few roofers for estimates and finally arrived at using the same guys that did the trim replacement. They had a fair price that was in line with the other roofers (app $1500) and I really wanted to help them since they did the trim work.
They came out in January when the temps were about 30 degrees, removed the shingles around the chimney, replaced the ice/water barrier, replaced the flashing, and reshingled the roof. The new flashing has a diverter at the top to move water away from the side of the chimney. For the first few rainstorms, we saw that we had leaks again, but worse than before. The roofer thought that maybe the shingles had not adhered due to being below 40 degrees. They sent their guys out and found that the chimney flue cap, which sits on top of the flue and flush with the cover, was at an angle. This was not the case when the chimney work was done 3 years ago, so we believe that the winds, and maybe the trim piece during Helene, hit it. Roofer's crew found no water behind the flashing and said the flue cap was likely the cause of the leak. The roofers came into the house and noted the prior leaks in the chimney as proof (I was out of town). I called and spoke to the roofer and told him that we'd get the flue fixed first, but also that those leaks in the chimney have been there for years.
We had the chimney company come back out and fix the flue cap. A few weeks later, during a hard rain, we had two small leaks. Much better than before, but still leaks. We called the chimney service and the roofer. The roofer did not respond, but the chimney service came back out. The latest storm had been the day before, and when the chimney service climbed inside the chimney, they could see no leaks on the wooden substructure. He went up to the roof and validated that the cover was tight, and then applied sealant along the roof and the flashing. He was pretty perplexed about where the leak could be, but said he could not find a problem with the chimney.
We called the roofer back to let them know what the chimney service had said and performed, no response. A few weeks later, we had 2 pretty good rainstorms over a few hours with no leaks. All seemed good. Then, a few weeks later, we had a downpour for a few hours and found two small leaks in the roof next to the chimney. We sent the roofer a text with photos and details on the leak (where it occurred, the circumstances) and repeated that the chimney was dry. No response.
TLDR
We've had roofers and chimney services working to fix a leak that is either coming from the chimney and streaming into the rafter/decking or leaking from the roof. Chimney service has been out several times and signed off on the chimney issues are covered. The roofer has stopped responding to our calls, however, admitted early on that putting shingles down in 30-degree temps was not in line with the shingle requirements of temps over 40.
Do we have recourse with the roofer? Should we start again with another company? On principle, I want these guys to offer a refund, but they are not responding.
Last edited:
