Chattanooga TN Chimney Tuckpointing

Chimney Solutions of Chattanooga provides chimney mortar tuckpointing services in the Greater Chattanooga area along with Northwest Georgia from Rome GA to Rossville GA. Other communities in our service area include Walden TN, Soddy-Daisy TN, Calhoun GA, and LaFayette GA.

Mortar is literally the glue that holds your chimney together. With no mortar, the chimney would tumble apart in the first strong wind. With defective mortar, the same thing can happen, although it might take a little longer.

What Is Tuckpointing?

Tuckpointing, also called “repointing,” is a process wherein old, deteriorated mortar between your chimney’s bricks is scraped out and replaced with a fresh new compound.

When performed by trained masons, tuckpointing will add many years of life to your chimney structure.

Why Does Mortar Crumble?

There can be many reasons, including old age. We work on a lot of age-related chimney problems in older homes throughout Chattanooga and neighboring communities.

Like bricks, mortar is porous and absorbs water. But unlike bricks, mortar is not super-strong and usually shows signs of decay long before a chimney’s bricks do.

Water penetration, as well as lightning strikes, severe hail storms, normal house-settling and other events, can negatively affect a chimney’s mortar. Tuckpointing is the way to resolve this issue.

What if Only a Few Areas of Mortar Are Damaged?

A few areas, or a lot of areas – in the long run, it’s all the same. Any compromise in your Chattanooga chimney’s masonry can lead to big trouble, often sooner than later.

Crumbled mortar anywhere in the system means an area that can no longer bear the weight of the bricks above it. When this happens, nearby areas of the masonry become overstressed as they try to “shoulder the load.” And when that happens, incremental damage throughout the system is likely to show up.

The result can be a chimney that leans to one side or collapses entirely.

Looking for Related Problems

When we do a tuckpointing job, we’re also going to look for related or unrelated damage within your chimney system and its components. When mortar is crumbling, often there are issues with nearby bricks. This might include cracking or some minor looseness, both of which could lead to future water leaks.

Whether or not issues are happening with parts of their chimney’s masonry, we encourage all Chattanooga homeowners to schedule annual chimney safety inspections. This is the only way to learn of issues early and be able to get them fixed before big, expensive repair projects are required.

If you feel comfortable getting up on your roof, it can be beneficial for you to perform your own visual inspection of your Chattanooga chimney every six months or so. Look for:

• Crumbling mortar
• Damaged bricks
• Cracks in the crown at the top of your chimney
• Compromises to the chimney cap, flue cover or chase top
• Warped or rusted chimney flashing that seals the gap between the roof and chimney
• Anything else that looks “odd”

If you see trouble, call us right away!

Tuckpointing Service in Chattanooga

We’re here year-round to help keep your chimney safe and efficient. Call us for chimney tuckpointing, masonry repair, component repair, chimney relining, chimney sweeping and licensed inspections. Speak with a chimney expert at 423-551-9912 or contact us online.