Part 1: Why is My Chimney Chase Cover Leaking?
July 19, 2023
Are you starting to notice a leak inside your home near your chimney chase? The first thought that most people have is the roof must be leaking. After you have had a roofer come out and re-do the flashing around the chimney, the leak is still happening. This must mean the chimney is leaking. The majority of the time when a chimney is leaking, it is caused by the chimney chase cover.
Improper installation is often the biggest reason why the chimney cover is leaking. Here are some examples of improper installation of chimney chase covers. None of these examples were due to deterioration of the chimney. They were all leaking as a result of bad workmanship.
This first chimney chase cover we are going to look at doesn't appear to have anything wrong with it at first glance. However, when we take a closer look at the smaller B-Vent pipe, we notice there is not a vertical collar for that hole protruding from the chase cover.
Take a look at the larger hole. Notice that there is a vertical collar, or lip, that is preventing any water from running down inside the hole. The raised collar is part of the cover, so it is impossible for water to run down the hole of the cover.
Looking back at the smaller pipe, we notice that the original installer took a one-hole chase cover and simply hand cut a flat hole for the smaller pipe. There is a storm collar installed on the pipe, but that will never be water tight because of how this hole was cut. To make matters worse for this homeowner, it appears this storm collar was never siliconed to the pipe or to the chase cover. This chimney has been leaking for years.What Needs to be Done to Fix My Chimney Leak?
Unfortunately, we see this situation very often when customers come to us to help troubleshoot their leaking chimney issues. Most of the time, there are years worth of roof tar applied around the pipe. Patching the flue pipe or adding another coat of silicone or roof tar is not the answer. Doing this will only be a Band-Aid and you will eventually have the leak again. If your chimney chase cover looks anything like these example photos, the chimney cover should be replaced immediately with a custom two-hole stainless steel chimney chase cover.
Article Series: Why Is My Chimney Leaking?
Click here to move on to Part Two of the "Why Is My Chimney Leaking" Series! If this article did not solve your issue, we have three more troubleshooting articles for you to review.
Here are a few helpful links for the chase covers:
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