My fireplace is the kind with a metal box and a sided chimney. Can that even be repaired?

Yes, and usually for much less than you've been told. The parts that fail on those, the chase cover, storm collar, flashing, and the top of the flue pipe, are all replaceable from the roof. We only recommend replacing an appliance when the firebox itself is genuinely done.

There is a water stain by my fireplace. Is that the roof or the chimney?

On a Blaine house built in the last thirty years it's the chimney far more often than the roof. We get on the chimney, photograph the cover, collar and flashing, and show you where the water is actually entering before anyone tears off shingles.

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 Blaine, MN

Blaine has two completely different chimney problems, and they need two different trucks. We show up for both.

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.

Blaine went from about 39,000 people in 1990 to more than 70,000 by 2020, and most of that arrived as subdivisions. Lakes of Radisson alone put roughly 3,000 homes on 1,100 acres. That building wave means a very large share of Blaine chimneys aren't brick at all. They're a framed chase with siding on it, a factory-built firebox inside, and a sheet metal chase cover on top.

The 1990s and 2000s chase covers are failing right now

That flat metal lid on top of a sided chimney chase is the whole waterproofing system. On a lot of these houses it was builder-grade galvanized steel, installed flat with no cross break, and it has now been holding standing water and snow for twenty-five to thirty winters. When it rusts through, water doesn't stop at the chase. It runs down the flue pipe, rots the framing inside the chase, ruins the firebox, and shows up as a stain on the drywall next to the fireplace.

Homeowners usually get told the whole fireplace needs replacing. Often it does not. A stainless chase cover with a real cross break and a proper drip edge, a new storm collar, and corrected flashing solves it for a fraction of that, and it lasts the life of the house.

Look for this: rust streaks running down the siding from the top of the chimney chase, or a dark stain on the ceiling near the fireplace. Both mean the cover has already given up.

The older side of town is real masonry

West and south toward Northtown, along Central Avenue and into the older Spring Lake Park and Mounds View edges, the chimneys are brick and they're old enough to have lost their mortar. Minnesota's freeze-thaw cycle is brutal on the section above the roofline, because that part gets wet from every direction and never gets the benefit of heat from the house. The crown cracks, water gets into the joints, it freezes, and the brick faces pop off.

We rebuild those from sound masonry up, repoint what is worth saving, and pour a crown with an overhang and a drip edge so the water leaves the structure instead of running back into it.

Permits in Blaine

Blaine's building inspections office doesn't list masonry repair in its permit-required work, and Minnesota Rule 1300.0120 exempts ordinary repairs from permitting. Crown rebuilds, repointing, chase covers, and flashing corrections are ordinary repairs. That means we can be on your roof this week instead of waiting on a plan review. If your job actually does need a permit, and relining a flue is the usual one, we'll tell you that up front rather than discovering it halfway through.

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

My fireplace is the kind with a metal box and a sided chimney. Can that even be repaired?: Yes, and usually for much less than you've been told. The parts that fail on those, the chase cover, storm collar, flashing, and the top of the flue pipe, are all replaceable from the roof. We only recommend replacing an appliance when the firebox itself is genuinely done.
There is a water stain by my fireplace. Is that the roof or the chimney?: On a Blaine house built in the last thirty years it's the chimney far more often than the roof. We get on the chimney, photograph the cover, collar and flashing, and show you where the water is actually entering before anyone tears off shingles.
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.