I had a new roof put on in 2010 and had no problems… recently I've noticed that I'm getting water in my house. Its coming down along side where my chimney is and making large bubbles in my walls. We had the roofer come out thinking something was wrong with the flashing. He informed us that everything looked good up on the roof and maybe the water was due to condensation, and the bricks soaking up the rains and therefore coming in. He told us to just scrap the wall but today we had rain and my wall looks worse. I hate to scrap and repair my wall and it continue. Can someone please tell me what it sounds like it could be. I have a cap on the chimney. The roofer did recommend "sealing the brick". I'm lost as to where to go next with this issues.
What could be causing this leak near the chimney
chimneyleak
Related Solutions
Sure sounds like your chimney is a good candidate for a re pointing job. This involves removing all loose and damaged mortar, then pointing all the joints with a portland cement mortar. If you have never done this kind of work, read up on it. It can get quite involved if there are loose bricks etc. It may be a good idea to get a pro, so it will last awhile and not just fall out as soon as it dries. An alternative product for a quick temp fix can be found in a caulking tube. There are several products designed specifically for masonry and do a pretty good job in sealing small cracks. Remove as much loose mortar as you can to assure the masonry caulk sticks well.
We were able to find someone to do this. They removed part of the roof on the garage and built a ramp over the ply wood to toss down bricks. They removed it to below the roof of the chimney and patched the hole in the roof and reinstalled the metal panels. They also put siding on the house where the chimney was.
No mess in the living room and it was about a fifth of the price of a teardown and rebuild, approx. $2300. This is in New England, so price might vary. Also, the foundation for the chimney wasn't done right when built, which is why the rebuild price would have been so high.
Best Answer
Without pictures of the roof, and the problem, this is very hard to diagnose accurately but here are a few common things it could be.
1) The Roof could be leaking from somewhere near-by. A rusty nail head could pop through a shingle etc.. You mention the roof is fairly new, this is unlikely.
2) The leak could be from in side the chimney if it isnt capped.. have you had the inside inspected / do you burn the fireplace?
3) There could be structural damage to the fireplace. Ridge cap could be installed in correctly, there could be a problem with the fascia boards.
I live in the pacific northwest, and have never once heard of someone having to seal their brick fireplace. While its possible, I belive this to also be a waste of your time. Unless this is a unicorn problem, I belive this problem could be solved with finding the leak, but I would need pictures, or to see it in person to make a better judgement.