Chimney repair in Isanti & Cambridge, MN

Exposure is the whole story

Wind-driven rain gets into any open joint, and a hard freeze that night makes it bigger. Do that hundreds of times and the joints are gone. Do it hundreds more and the brick faces come off. The part above the roof goes first every time, because it's the only part the house doesn't help.

Caught early, it's a small job

Caught early, it's a repoint and a new crown. Caught late, the top has to come down and be rebuilt. The difference is usually two or three winters. And old brick needs old-style mortar. Repointing it with modern high-strength mortar breaks the brick, because the joint stops being the part that wears.

Isanti: a quarter of it is brand new

About 26% of Isanti's homes went up in 2010 or later, the highest share of any town on our north metro pages. A new chimney shouldn't need repair, but it should get an inspection before its first real burning season and every year after. That's how you find out whether the cap, the flashing and the crown were done right while it's still a small thing.

Cambridge: an old town with a new edge

Cambridge is split almost down the middle. 46% of its homes went up before 1990, including about 295 before 1940, and a fifth went up in 2010 or later. The old brick near downtown and the new builds on the edge of town fail in different places, and an inspection starts with knowing which one you have.

Right next to the weather station

Cambridge has a NOAA station half a mile from town, and Isanti is about four and a half miles from it. Over the last six complete winters it averaged 86 days where the temperature crossed freezing both ways in one day. Those are the days that open up a crack, one freeze at a time.

The coldest nights on our list

That same station averaged 34 nights a winter at zero or colder, the most of any station we matched to a north metro town. Deep cold on its own doesn't break a chimney. Deep cold on a chimney that's already wet does, because water in a joint that freezes hard enough, often enough, pushes the brick apart.

A shorter season, not an easier one

The first freeze usually comes around October 14 there and the last one around May 1. That's a slightly shorter frost season than Andover's, with more deep-cold nights packed into it.

Chimney inspection in Isanti and Cambridge

For a newer Isanti build, we check that the crown sheds water, the flashing is tucked in, the cap is fastened and the flue is clean and whole. For older Cambridge brick, it's the crown, the joints above the roofline, the brick faces and the clay tiles inside. Every flue gets the camera.

What turns up on brick

In the brick-chimney repair scopes we've written, 189 of 234 included the crown, 162 included rebuilding brick above the roof, and 76 included tuckpointing. Water getting in was written into 55 of them. That's the pattern freeze-thaw leaves behind, and it's why the top of the chimney is where we look hardest.

After the inspection

You get the report and the pictures by email. If something needs fixing, you get a written number for it, and nothing starts until you say go. If there's more than one thing, we'll tell you which part matters first and which ones can wait.

Chimney sweep in Isanti and Cambridge

We inspect first and sweep what needs it. If the camera finds more than an eighth of an inch of buildup in a flue, that flue gets swept on the same visit. If it's under that, it stays as it is and the report says so.

New house, new fireplace

If you're new to a real wood fireplace, ask us anything while we're there: how to build the fire, what wood to burn, when to close the damper. Dry, seasoned wood and a fire that gets enough air keep buildup down better than anything.