Chimney repair · What drives the price
What Chimney Repair Costs in Minnesota
Every chimney is different, so the real number comes from yours. Here's what goes into it.
Every repair starts with an inspection, and you get pictures and a written report of what we find.
We work weekdays, 9 to 5. Pick any time on the form and Kari will call you to set the exact one.
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.
Start with the inspection
Every repair starts with an inspection, so we know what's actually up there before anybody quotes anything. Call Kari at 320.414.0191 and she'll give you the price for yours and a time. Not sure how many flues you have? Count the separate openings on top. Each appliance venting into the chimney gets its own.
Why we quote masonry from photos
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 looks fine 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 smallest 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.
Got pictures of your chimney? Email them to info@elementhearthandhome.com with your name and number, and Kari will take it from there.
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.
Read moreTuckpointing & 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.
Read moreAbove-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.
Read moreFlashing, 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?
It depends on how many flues you have. Call Kari at 320.414.0191 and she'll give you the price for yours and a time.
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 much smaller job than rebuilding once brick faces have spalled and courses have to come down. Then materials, because older soft brick needs a softer mortar matched to it.
Should I repair it now or wait?
Now, and it isn't close. Water damage in a chimney compounds every winter. A cracked crown caught early is the smallest repair on the structure. The same chimney two or three winters later is a rebuild, and a rebuild is a much bigger job. That gap is the single biggest thing you control.
How do I get a number on a repair?
Call Kari at 320.414.0191. We get on the roof, photograph all four faces and the crown, and send you the pictures with a written number.
Get your number
Call Kari at 320.414.0191, or email a photo of your chimney to info@elementhearthandhome.com with your name and number.
A written number on your chimney. We send photos of what we found on your roof, not a verbal guess.
Where we work
The north metro, town by town. Tap yours.
Tell us what you're seeing.
Call and describe it, or book an inspection online. We'll tell you what we think it is and what it takes to fix it.
We work weekdays, 9 to 5. Pick any time on the form and Kari will call you to set the exact one.
Got pictures of your chimney? Email them to info@elementhearthandhome.com with your name and number, and Kari will take it from there.