EXPERT CHIMNEY CARE. HONEST PRICING. DONE RIGHT.
EmergencyRecent work
Real photographs from real Apex jobs — before, during, and after where we have them. Every photo here is ours.
Drag to compare
The same opening finished, with a stove set in it and the hearth tile clear.
Before: A fireplace opening masked with painter's tape and its sooty firebrick exposed, and the same opening finished with a stove standing in itBeforeAfterProblem: The chimney top showed a deteriorated crown surface and a loose, weathered cap assembly.
Finished: The finished chimney has a continuous crown around the flue and a fitted screened cap.
Problem: The opening was cleared and the firebox exposed while the work area was protected.
Finished: The finished opening has a dark firebox, an arranged log set, and a clear hearth.
Problem: Open and weathered mortar joints were visible across the shoulder and face of the tall stack.
Finished: The finished view shows continuous repaired joints and a clean masonry face from the shoulder upward.
Problem: The crown had split and broken away at the edge, leaving the upper brick and mortar open to the weather.
Fix: The crown is continuous around the screened cap again, with fresh mortar closing the top of the stack.
Problem: The crown surface had separated from the upper masonry, with the edge loose enough to lift away by hand.
Fix: The upper stack was rebuilt and parged into one continuous exterior surface above the roofline.
Before-work video
Loose crown edge lifting away
Existing crown and upper masonry
Problem: The old crown was broken and separated across the top of the stack beneath the existing hood, leaving open gaps above the upper bricks.
Fix: The crown was rebuilt around two metal flues, each finished with a metal cap.
Problem: The job called for a fitted cover over the flue opening rather than leaving the top exposed.
Fix: A screened metal cap now covers the flue and sheds rain clear of the chimney top.
Problem: Multiple bricks across the broad chimney face needed individual masonry repairs.
Fix: The repaired face is back to continuous brick courses beneath the finished crown.
Problem: The crown had broken up where it meets the flue tile, so rain sat in the cracks instead of running off the edge.
Fix: The crown surface is unbroken again, sloped away from the tile and carried out over the brick.
Problem: The old chase top had rusted. Once that happens, water sits on the chase instead of running off it.
Fix: New cover fitted over the chase and the flue capped — the rust it replaced is still showing underneath.
Problem: A flue that needs relining has to be done in one continuous run, top to bottom.
Fix: The chase opened at the roof and a single length of stainless flex liner fed down it.
Problem: A corbelled smoke chamber leaves ledges and gaps that catch smoke on the way up the flue.
Fix: The sloping face parged flat and smooth, with the floor sheeted over while the work was done.
Problem: A top-sealing damper has to be operated from inside the firebox, which means a fixed anchor for the chain.
Fix: The bracket bolted into the firebrick at the side wall, with the chain and tension spring hanging clear of the opening.
Problem: Soot builds up on every face of a firebox that gets used.
Fix: Brick and hearth cleared down, with the terracotta tile at the front left clean.
Problem: The crown slab has broken into separate pieces and lifted, and the top courses of brick underneath are spalling and washed out.
Fix: This is the condition a crown rebuild starts from — water has been getting into the masonry rather than running off it.
Problem: Where a chimney has been relined, the crown has to be rebuilt around the top of the liner without leaving a gap at the collar.
Fix: Fresh crown carried out over the brick, with the stainless top plate collared and sealed where the liner comes through.
Problem: A chimney with two flues needs one crown that sheds water off both, and a cap on each.
Fix: New crown across the full top of the stack, sloped to the edge, with a cap fitted over each flue.
Problem: An open flue takes rain, leaves and animals straight down into the chimney.
Fix: A mesh cap over each flue, seated on the finished crown.
Problem: The cap is what keeps water and animals out once the crown underneath it is sound.
Fix: Heavy mesh cap fitted over the flue on a crown carried out past the brick face.
Problem: Where the chimney meets the roof is the most common place for water to get into the house.
Fix: New flashing run up the brick and out over the shingles, then sealed along every edge.
Problem: Flashing has to turn the corner of the stack without a break, or the corner is where it leaks.
Fix: The seal carried continuously around the angle where two roof planes meet the brick.
Problem: A stack sitting on a ridge has water coming at it from both slopes at once.
Fix: Flashing dressed into the shingles on both sides and sealed against the brick.
Problem: Broken chimney
Fix: Fix Chimney
Call and tell us what you're seeing. We can point you to relevant examples in this gallery and explain what to look for.
Call (614) 290-2656