Chimney repair in Huntsville AL - keeping water out of your house and your brick
Water stains by the chimney or mortar crumbling out of the joints? We stop the water first, then fix the mortar and brick so the repair holds.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What does chimney repair in Huntsville involve?
Chimney repair in Huntsville is mostly about stopping water. That means sealing the joint where the chimney meets your roof and replacing mortar that's worn out of the joints, so water stays out of your house and out of the brick.
Brick looks like it'll last forever, but masonry wears out, mostly at the mortar joints, and the fix is repointing, which means cutting out the worn mortar and packing in new. What usually drives that wear on a chimney is water getting into the brick, so the order of the repair matters as much as the repair itself. Your price turns on how much mortar has to come out, whether the flashing needs replacing, whether any brick has to be relaid and how hard the chimney is to reach. The schedule turns mostly on permits, and on historic district review if your house needs it, and your written estimate spells out what I found and what it'll take.
How can you tell your chimney needs repair?
Water stains near the chimney
A brown stain on the ceiling or wall beside the chimney usually means water is getting past the seal at the roof line or soaking through the brick itself. The longer it runs, the more wet framing and drywall you'll be paying to fix along with the chimney.
Mortar washing out of joints
If you can push a key into the joints or you're finding sand on the roof or the hearth, the mortar has worn down and water gets deeper into the chimney every time it rains. Caught early, that's a repointing job, but left alone the bricks start to come loose.
Loose or broken bricks up top
Bricks that wobble, crack or flake near the top of the chimney have usually been taking on water for years. By then part of the chimney may need to come down and be relaid, which costs more than fixing the joints would have.
How we do chimney repair
Most chimney trouble I see comes back to water, so we check the roof line and the drainage around the chimney before we touch the mortar. The brick industry's flashing guide calls for both base flashing and counter flashing where the chimney comes through the roof, the two layers of metal that seal that joint, so I look at whether both are there and still tight. Then we fix whatever's feeding water into the brick, cut out the worn mortar, pack in new and replace any brick too far gone to keep. Redoing joints without stopping the water just means redoing them again.
Chimney work often turns up the same wear on the rest of the house. If the joints on your walls look as tired as the ones on the chimney, tuckpointing handles the whole house at once, and a few damaged bricks on the house itself call for brick repair.
Repointing the joints
This suits a chimney whose brick is still sound but whose mortar is soft, sandy or sunk back from the face. A straight portland cement and sand mix is very hard and resists water, but it shrinks as it sets and moves a lot as temperatures change, so on older brick I'd rather use a mix that suits the brick than the hardest one available.
Flashing repair or replacement
This suits a chimney that leaks inside while the brick looks fine from the yard. The brick industry guide doesn't recommend galvanized steel for flashing and says to keep aluminum out of brick, because chemicals in fresh mortar attack it, so ask any mason which metal they plan to put up there.
Rebuilding the top courses
This suits a chimney with loose, cracked or missing brick above the roof line, where new mortar alone won't hold it together. We take the damaged brick down to sound masonry and relay it with new mortar.
Get a written estimate for your chimney
We reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, look at your chimney and send you a free written estimate, with no pressure and no obligation.
- Based in
- Huntsville, AL 35801
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call about your chimney
Here's how a chimney job goes with us, from your first call to the last look at the finished work.
Call or send us a note
Call (256) 417-4326 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. Mention any leaks inside or mortar you've found on the roof, so I know where to start looking.
I look the chimney over
I come out myself, look at the chimney, the flashing and the drainage around it, take photos and tell you what I see. Your written estimate lists what's wrong, what to fix first and what it costs, and if only the flashing needs work, that's all I'll price.
We clear permits, then work
If you go ahead, I check the permit and any historic district steps with the office that covers your address before work starts. Our crew lead then runs the job with our masons, fixing the water first and the mortar second.
We walk the finished chimney
When the work is done, I walk the finished job with you. We go over what we fixed, from the flashing down to the joints, so you know what to keep an eye on.
Why homeowners in Huntsville call us about their chimneys
The owner does every estimate
I come out and look at every job myself, and I sold brick, block and stone for years before I laid it, so I've seen which repairs fail and why. I'd rather lose a job than sell you work you don't need. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Mortar work since 2021
We've been in business since 2021, and mortar work on older brick homes is what we're best known for. Our crew lead runs every job on site with our masons, so the work on your roof follows the plan in your estimate.
What licensing means on bigger jobs
We're licensed and fully insured. Alabama's home builders licensure board counts anyone repairing a home for more than $10,000, labor and materials together, as a residential home builder unless the work falls outside its reach, so that line matters on a big chimney rebuild.
Call (256) 417-4326 or book a look at your chimney, and I'll tell you plainly what it needs and what it doesn't.
Chimney repair, permits and older brick in Huntsville
In Huntsville, the city's Inspection Office at City Hall issues building permits for alterations and repairs. I check with the office that covers your address before any work starts, and we handle the permit when the job needs one. If your house sits in one of the city's historic districts, any work that changes the outside of the house needs approval from the Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission or its staff before the city will issue that permit, so we get that review moving first.
Older brick homes are a big part of what we work on, and their chimneys usually tell the same story of water working into tired joints for years. We're based in Huntsville and work in the cities around it, and we see the same chimneys on jobs in Madison and Decatur, handled the same way, water first.
Questions about chimney repair in Huntsville
How much does chimney repair cost in Huntsville?
Chimney repair in Huntsville usually costs about $500 to $6,000 per project, which is the going range in the area, not a quote from us. Where yours lands depends on how much of the mortar, flashing and brick needs work. Your written estimate gives you your own number before anything starts.
What causes chimney mortar to wash out of the joints?
Water is the usual cause, and a leaking downspout can wash mortar right out of the joints. Repointing guidance for older masonry says to fix the downspout and any other drainage problems first, so the new mortar isn't sitting in the same water. If you own an older brick home, that order matters even more.
Do I need a permit to repair my chimney in Huntsville?
It can need one, since the city issues building permits for repairs, and we check that before work starts. Minor repairs that need no plan review can get a walk-in permit at the Inspection Office. If your job needs a permit, we handle it.
What changes for a chimney repair in a Huntsville historic district?
If the repair changes the outside of the house, you need historic approval, either a Certificate of Appropriateness or an Expedited Staff Review, before the city will issue a building permit. Expedited Staff Review applications can go in at any time without waiting on the full commission, and exterior routine repairs are on its list of eligible items. That's the route I look at first for a routine chimney repair.
Can I repair my own chimney in Alabama?
Yes, Alabama's home builder licensing law leaves you free to do this work on your own home or other property you own. That's the licensing side only, and the city's permit and historic review are separate questions.
How do I know which chimney repairs come before a new liner?
Check the liner maker's instructions, because at least one maker requires missing, loose or cracked masonry or mortar joints to be repaired before its liner goes in. Ask whoever is installing your liner what their maker calls for, so the masonry work gets done in the right order.
Related masonry work on the same house
Tuckpointing
When worn joints run across the walls of the house and not just the chimney, tuckpointing renews the mortar so water stops working into the brick.
Brick repair
Cracked, chipped or flaking bricks on walls, steps or porches can be cut out one at a time and replaced with the closest match we can find.
Service areas around our Huntsville base
Capstone Huntsville Concrete and Masonry is based in Huntsville, AL, and the 10 cities below have their own pages on our site, including Madison and Athens. If your city isn't listed, call and ask anyway.
Get your chimney looked at before it leaks
Have your address handy and tell us if you're in a historic district or seeing leaks, so I know what to look at and which review to start.