Why will you not put a price on a crown rebuild?

Because it would be a guess and you would be right to distrust it. Two crowns on the same street can be a four-hour job and a two-day job depending on how far the damage has gone, how tall the stack is, and whether the brick under the crown is still sound. We photograph yours and give you the real number in writing.

What makes one chimney repair cost more than another?

Height and access first, because a tall stack on a steep pitch is a staging job before it's a masonry job. Then how far the damage has travelled: repointing open joints is a fraction of what it costs once brick faces have spalled and courses have to come down. Then materials, because older soft brick needs a softer mortar matched to it.

Is it cheaper to repair now or wait?

Now, and it isn't close. Water damage in a chimney compounds every winter. A cracked crown caught early is the cheapest repair on the structure. The same chimney two or three winters later is a rebuild, and a rebuild is several times the price. That gap is the single biggest thing you control.

Do you charge for the estimate?

No. We come out, get on the roof, photograph all four faces and the crown, and send you the pictures with a written number. No trip charge to look at it.

What Chimney Repair Costs in Minnesota

Honest pricing means telling you which numbers we can publish and which ones would be a guess.

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.

Most chimney pricing online is a national average, which is useless to you, because the number that matters is the one for the chimney on your roof. Here is what we can tell you honestly before we've seen it.

What we publish, because it doesn't vary

Inspection pricing is per flue and it's the same for everyone: $235 for a one-flue chimney, $225 per flue on a two-flue chimney, and $215 per flue on a three-flue chimney. Not sure how many flues you have? Count the separate openings on top. Each appliance venting into the chimney gets its own.

What we won't put a number on, and why

Crown rebuilds, tuckpointing and above-the-roofline rebuilds get quoted off photographs of your actual chimney, because the same repair on two houses can differ by several times. Anyone who gives you a firm masonry price over the phone without seeing it's either padding it heavily or about to change it once they get up there.

What actually drives the price

How far the damage has gone. Open mortar joints repoint. Spalled brick faces and shifted courses do not, and that section has to come down and go back up. This is the biggest single factor and it's the one that gets worse while you wait.
Height and access. A chimney standing well clear of the ridge on a steep pitch needs staging before anyone lays a trowel. That's time, and time is most of the cost.
What the chimney is made of. Older soft brick needs a softer mortar matched to it. Using modern high-strength mortar on old brick is cheaper today and destroys the chimney within a few years.
Whether the venting is involved. A new flue liner is permitted and inspected, and we pull the permit and meet the inspector. Masonry repair usually is not.

The number that should worry you isn't the quote, it's the delay. A cracked crown is the cheapest repair on a chimney. The same chimney after two or three more winters is a rebuild. Nothing else on your house degrades on that curve.

How to get your real number today

Zoom your phone camera at the top of your chimney and send us the picture. We can usually tell you from that whether you're looking at a repoint, a crown, or a rebuild, before anyone drives anywhere.

The work we price this way

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

How much does a chimney inspection cost?: Our inspection pricing is published and it's priced per flue: $235 for a one-flue chimney, $225 per flue on a two-flue chimney, and $215 per flue on a three-flue chimney. That's the number before anyone talks about repairs, and it's the same whether we find nothing or find plenty.
Why will you not put a price on a crown rebuild?: Because it would be a guess and you would be right to distrust it. Two crowns on the same street can be a four-hour job and a two-day job depending on how far the damage has gone, how tall the stack is, and whether the brick under the crown is still sound. We photograph yours and give you the real number in writing.
What makes one chimney repair cost more than another?: Height and access first, because a tall stack on a steep pitch is a staging job before it's a masonry job. Then how far the damage has travelled: repointing open joints is a fraction of what it costs once brick faces have spalled and courses have to come down. Then materials, because older soft brick needs a softer mortar matched to it.
Is it cheaper to repair now or wait?: Now, and it isn't close. Water damage in a chimney compounds every winter. A cracked crown caught early is the cheapest repair on the structure. The same chimney two or three winters later is a rebuild, and a rebuild is several times the price. That gap is the single biggest thing you control.
Do you charge for the estimate?: No. We come out, get on the roof, photograph all four faces and the crown, and send you the pictures with a written number. No trip charge to look at it.

Get your number

Call or text 320.414.0191 with a photo of your chimney.