Is a cracked crown actually urgent?

It's the cheapest thing on the chimney to fix and the most expensive thing to ignore, because everything below it gets wet once it cracks. If you're going to do one repair this year, do that one.

Do you seal the chimney afterward?

When it's worth doing, yes, with a vapor-permeable masonry water repellent, never a film-forming sealer. Trapping moisture inside brick in Minnesota does more damage than leaving it alone.

Do I need a permit to have my chimney tuckpointed or the crown rebuilt?

Almost never. Minnesota Rule 1300.0120 exempts ordinary repairs from the permit process, and repointing joints or pouring a new crown is ordinary repair work. We aren't opening a wall, moving a beam, or altering a vent. Relining a flue is the one that changes the venting system, and that one does get a permit in most cities. We tell you which side of that line your job falls on before we start, in writing.

How fast can you get here from Little Falls?

We run the Highway 10 and Highway 65 corridors on purpose, so north metro work gets grouped into the same days rather than squeezed in one at a time. Call and we'll tell you the next day we're already going to be in your area. That's usually the fastest and cheapest way to get on the schedule.

Do you take on the masonry other chimney companies turn down?

That's most of what we do up here. Plenty of sweeps will clean and inspect all day and then sub out anything that needs a trowel above the roofline. We self-perform crown rebuilds, repointing, and top-half rebuilds, which means a sweep, a roofer or an inspector can hand us the masonry and keep their customer.

Crowns, repointing, and rebuilds are priced off what is actually up there, so we photograph the chimney and send a written number before anyone commits to anything. No trip charge to look at it.

Chimney Repair in Andover, MN

Andover built out through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Those chimneys are all arriving at the same repair at roughly the same time.

Call 320.414.0191 Request an Appointment

Free written estimate on any chimney we can see. We send photos of what we found on your roof, not a verbal guess.

The nice thing about a city that built out over a couple of decades is that it's predictable. The chimney on an Andover house is very likely either a brick stack from the earlier phase of building or a framed chase with a metal cover from the later one, and each fails in a way we can describe before we get there.

Brick: the crown, then the joints, then the brick

Minnesota freeze-thaw works top-down. The crown cracks, water gets into the joints below it, the joints erode, water gets into the brick, and the faces spall off. Every step of that's cheaper than the one after it. A poured crown with an overhang and a drip edge stops the sequence at the beginning.

Sided chase: the cover, then everything under it

A rusted chase cover puts water directly onto the flue pipe and into the framing of the chase. By the time it shows up on the ceiling, you're paying for framing and drywall as well as sheet metal. Stainless, cross-broken, with a proper drip edge, and it's done.

Grouped scheduling: we run the north metro on set days rather than one-off trips. Call and ask when we're next going to be in Andover. Getting on that day is usually the fastest and the cheapest way to do this.

No permit needed

Crowns, repointing, covers, flashing and above-the-roofline rebuilds are ordinary repairs under Minnesota Rule 1300.0120. If a job of yours does need a permit we'll say so before we quote it.

What we do up here

Chimney Crown Rebuilds

The concrete cap on top is the part that fails first in Minnesota. We tear the cracked crown off and pour a new one with a real overhang and a drip edge so water leaves the chimney instead of running down inside the brick.

Tuckpointing & Repointing

Freeze-thaw pulls the mortar out of the joints a little more every winter. We grind the failed joints out and repoint with mortar matched to the brick, so the chimney stops drinking water.

Above-the-Roofline Rebuilds

When the brick above the roof is spalling, leaning, or has open joints all the way through, we take the chimney down to sound masonry and rebuild it. Plenty of chimney companies sub this out. We self-perform it.

Flashing, Chase Covers & Waterproofing

Rusted-through chase covers, failed storm collars, tar-smeared flashing. We replace the metal, correct the flashing, and seal the masonry with a vapor-permeable water repellent.

Straight answers

Is a cracked crown actually urgent?: It's the cheapest thing on the chimney to fix and the most expensive thing to ignore, because everything below it gets wet once it cracks. If you're going to do one repair this year, do that one.
Do you seal the chimney afterward?: When it's worth doing, yes, with a vapor-permeable masonry water repellent, never a film-forming sealer. Trapping moisture inside brick in Minnesota does more damage than leaving it alone.
Do I need a permit to have my chimney tuckpointed or the crown rebuilt?: Almost never. Minnesota Rule 1300.0120 exempts ordinary repairs from the permit process, and repointing joints or pouring a new crown is ordinary repair work. We aren't opening a wall, moving a beam, or altering a vent. Relining a flue is the one that changes the venting system, and that one does get a permit in most cities. We tell you which side of that line your job falls on before we start, in writing.
How fast can you get here from Little Falls?: We run the Highway 10 and Highway 65 corridors on purpose, so north metro work gets grouped into the same days rather than squeezed in one at a time. Call and we'll tell you the next day we're already going to be in your area. That's usually the fastest and cheapest way to get on the schedule.
Do you take on the masonry other chimney companies turn down?: That's most of what we do up here. Plenty of sweeps will clean and inspect all day and then sub out anything that needs a trowel above the roofline. We self-perform crown rebuilds, repointing, and top-half rebuilds, which means a sweep, a roofer or an inspector can hand us the masonry and keep their customer.
What does it cost?: Crowns, repointing, and rebuilds are priced off what is actually up there, so we photograph the chimney and send a written number before anyone commits to anything. No trip charge to look at it.

Get a number on it

Call or text 320.414.0191, or send us the address and a photo of the chimney and we'll tell you what we're looking at.