Chimney Flashing Repair in Hamilton, NJ
Hamilton Chimney Repair rebuilds chimney flashing in Hamilton and the surrounding Mercer County towns. The roof-to-masonry joint is the second most common leak path on a chimney, and it is the one most often patched instead of repaired.
Flashing is a layered assembly, not a sealant. Step flashing woven into the shingle courses, counter-flashing let into a ground-out mortar joint over the top of it, and on wide chimneys a cricket to split the water before it ever reaches the back wall.
What failed flashing looks like
Black tar around the base
Roof cement on masonry is a symptom. It shrinks, cracks, and pulls away from the brick, and it usually means the metal underneath was never replaced.
Caulk instead of a cut joint
Counter-flashing that is surface-mounted and caulked to the brick face relies on a bead of sealant to stay watertight. Cut into the joint and pointed, it does not.
Debris piled behind the stack
A wide chimney on a sloped roof with no cricket dams up leaves and ice on the up-slope side. Standing water there will find any lap in the metal.
How flashing gets rebuilt in Hamilton
- Lift the surrounding shingle courses and strip the old metal and cement back to the deck.
- Fit new step flashing, woven course by course up both slopes.
- Grind a reglet in the mortar joint, set the counter-flashing into it, and point it solid.
- Build a cricket where the chimney width and roof pitch call for one.
- Re-lay the shingles over the steps and water-test the whole joint.
Metal, laps, and the cricket
Aluminium or copper depending on what is already on the roof and what the masonry will tolerate, and never dissimilar metals in contact. Laps run with the water, counter-flashing gets a hemmed edge into a ground reglet, and the joint is pointed rather than caulked. Crickets are framed and metal-clad, sized to the stack, not improvised out of sealant.
What flashing repair costs in Hamilton
The variables are chimney width, roof pitch and covering, whether a cricket is needed, and whether the surrounding shingles can be lifted and re-laid or have gone brittle. Slate and tile roofs cost more to open and close than asphalt. You get the price in writing with the metal named before anything is stripped.
Flashing work by town
Hamilton, Trenton, Princeton, Ewing, Lawrence Township, Robbinsville, Bordentown, Hightstown, East Windsor, Allentown, Pennington, Hopewell, Yardley, Levittown.