Chimney Crown Repair in New Smyrna Beach, FL

The chimney crown is the concrete or mortar wash that covers the top of the chimney structure and directs water away from the flue tile and the brick below. In New Smyrna Beach's climate, crowns age faster than the national average: the heat, the humidity, the salt air, and the repeated soaking from summer rains all work together to open hairline cracks into larger fractures over time. Once a crown is compromised, every rain event drives water into the masonry and down toward the interior of the home.

Chimney Crown Repair: What the Work Looks Like

The kind of chimney crown repair work we handle for New Smyrna Beach homeowners — swipe to see more.

Why New Smyrna Beach Homes Need Chimney Crown Repair

On the older beach cottages here, we frequently see crowns that were never built with proper overhang — the concrete barely extends past the brick, so water runs directly down the outside of the chimney rather than being thrown clear. On some homes the original crown was a thin mortar wash that has long since crumbled. On newer construction the crown is usually formed concrete, but the expansion and contraction cycles in Volusia County's climate create cracks that should be caught and sealed before they become full separations.

Small cracks in an otherwise sound crown can be addressed with a flexible, waterproof crown sealant applied to clean, prepared surfaces — this extends the crown's useful life significantly. Where the crown has deteriorated past the point of sealing, we form and pour a new one built to the correct dimensions, with sufficient overhang and the right slope to shed water efficiently. We do not patch over a bad substrate; the old material comes off before the new goes on.

Homeowners in New Smyrna Beach often don't know the condition of their crown until they look at photographs from an inspection — it's not something you can see clearly from the ground. If your chimney has been in service for ten or more years without a documented crown repair, it is worth having it examined. A functioning crown costs very little to maintain compared to the masonry and interior repairs that follow once water has been tracking through a cracked one for several seasons.

Signs You Need Chimney Crown Repair

• Visible cracks in the concrete slab at the top of the chimney
• Pieces of the crown or concrete debris at the base of the chimney
• Water stains inside the chimney or on the ceiling below it
• Spalling or flaking brick just below the crown

How It Works