Moisture by fireplace door - brick chimney? Hi, over the cold snowy winter, I saw there are...
Hi, over the cold snowy winter, I saw there are moisture grades by my fireplace. I put my hand inside the fireplace and feel moisture/water drops where the outside brick wall connects to inside fireplace wall.
I have roof replaced last winter and checked the flashing. They said everything around the chimney are moral.
Since the moisture showed inside the house on the first floor and no moisture on the 2nd floor wall where chimney connects, I assume it is something on the first floor. I checked outside and found my brick chimney have dark hose down marks outside from mid 2nd floor nouns down specially around the area when it expand - my had brick layer when the chimney widen around the fireplace. I assume the layer cause river to store on it and penetrate inside.
What can I do to trademark it myself? What kind of sealant? Do I entail to fill the band with bricks to formulate it smooth? Should I seal inside? Could outside aluminum siding an issue? Thanks!
Answers: Almost noticeably you need tuck pointing, which involves removing a portion of the outer morter between bricks and installing unusual morter.
A temp fix is any waterproofing liquid, usually comes contained by gallon rectangular cans, and can be spread on near either a pump mitt sprayer or with a roller. However, it will not later a long time.
Tuckpointing is a time consuming, labor intensive job, but powerfully worth the effort and cost because as the morter continues to erode, your leak will also, and the compound that holds the existing morter will basically leach out and you can seize some crumbling of bricks, since what you have disappeared is sand. I have see some people do tuckpointing themselves, but they are much slower than pros, and the post is messier.
Mortar between the bricks (outside) may need to be repointed and also inspect the flashing where on earth it meets the roof and/or the side wall. Call within a competent roofer first and then a mason if the roof say it's a masonry issue.