Chimney and fireplace symptoms
There is a water stain on the ceiling next to the chimney every time it rains
A ceiling stain beside a Portland chimney that grows with each rain often means failed flashing at the roof joint, then a cracked crown or soaked brick. If water also reaches the firebox, light no fires until it is checked.
Updated
What to do right now
Put a bucket under any drip, and if water is near a light fixture or an outlet, switch that circuit off at the panel. Photograph the stain with a coin for scale, then again after the next storm; growth between the photos separates a live leak from an old one. Spreading during the rain means a direct path; a day later means water working through brick.
Likely causes, most common first
Where water gets past a chimney and into a ceiling, with the likeliest entry point first.
- Most common
Flashing or counter flashing has separated from the brick
The sign: A stain at the uphill or side edge of the chimney that darkens during the rain, and a tar line or caulk bead where the chimney meets the roof.
The fix: New step flashing is woven into the shingles and counter flashing is let into the mortar joints, replacing the tar someone used last time. Chimney Flashing and Leak Repair, from $399
- Common
The crown is cracked and feeding water down inside the stack
The sign: Stains that show up a day after the rain, on the chimney breast upstairs or in the attic, with rust or a damp smoke shelf at the firebox.
The fix: A flexible crown coat for hairline cracks, or a new overhanging crown poured when the old one has broken up. Chimney Crown Repair, from $349
- Common
Brick and mortar on the weather face are soaking through
The sign: A wide, soft-edged damp patch on an exterior wall chimney after a wet week, often with white salts or green growth outside.
The fix: Open joints are repointed first, then the weather faces get a breathable repellent once the masonry has dried. Chimney Waterproofing, from $349
- Less common
No cricket behind a wide chimney
The sign: A leak at the uphill side of a broad chimney on a pitched roof, where needles pile against the brick and water pools in a downpour.
The fix: A small peaked cricket is framed and flashed on the uphill side so water splits around the chimney instead of standing against it. Chimney Flashing and Leak Repair, from $399
- Less common
The flue is condensing from the inside
The sign: A stain on the chimney breast with no roof leak above it, often after a furnace upgrade left only a water heater on a big old flue.
The fix: A camera run confirms a wet, flaking flue, and a correctly sized liner for the water heater stops the condensation at the source. Chimney Inspection, from $129
Two minutes of safe checks
Four things to check from inside the house and the yard that often name the entry point.
- Mark the edge of the stain in pencil during a storm and look again an hour after it stops; growth during the rain means a direct path like flashing, growth the next day means water moving through brick.
- Place the stain against the chimney: the uphill side points to flashing or a missing cricket, the whole width of the chimney breast points to the crown or soaked brick.
- From the yard, look at the roof joint: a neat metal step pattern tucked into the mortar is flashing doing its job, a smear of black roofing tar is a patch that has probably failed.
- Look at the gutters below the chimney after a storm; gray grit from a breaking-up crown or red flakes of brick face say the top of the stack is failing.
Why the chimney joint is a weak spot on a Portland roof
A chimney is a brick column punched through the roof, and the joint around it depends on flashing laid into both shingles and mortar. Everything else on the roof sheds water in one direction; the chimney has four sides for water to run against.
The airport normals put measurable rain on about 157 days a year, most of it in the five months when the brick rarely gets a chance to dry. A tar patch that would last years in a dry climate fails much sooner here.
The east wind out of the Gorge drives rain sideways into the east face of chimneys in Troutdale, Fairview and Gresham, finding counter flashing that a vertical rain would never test. On a shaded north face anywhere in the metro, moss holds water against the mortar until the joint goes.
When a chimney leak needs a call this week
Some leaks can wait for a dry window; these cannot.
- Water is dripping from a light fixture, a smoke alarm or near an outlet; turn that circuit off at the panel and treat it as a same-week repair.
- The ceiling is bulging or soft; a pocket of water in drywall can come down on its own, so keep people out from under it and get the leak stopped first.
- Water shows in the firebox as well as on the ceiling; the crown or cap has failed, and the damper and smoke shelf are rusting while you wait.
What fixing a leak around the chimney involves
We find the water before we sell the repair, and the repair matches the finding.
Trace the water
We look at the stain from inside, then from the roof, then with a hose test on a dry day, wetting one part of the chimney at a time while someone watches inside. The source is confirmed before anything is replaced.
Reflash the joint
Old tar and caulk come off, step flashing goes under the shingles course by course, counter flashing is set into a mortar joint and sealed, and a cricket is built where a wide chimney needs one.
Fix what is above
If the hose test puts the water at the top, the crown is coated or rebuilt with an overhang and a drip edge, and a cap goes over an open flue.
Dry and protect the brick
Open joints are repointed, and once the masonry has dried the faces that take the weather are treated so rain stays on the surface. You get photos of the joint before and after, with the posted price up front.
Leak around the chimney: common questions
Is the water leaking around my chimney coming from the roof or the chimney itself?
Either, and the timing of the stain is the clue. Water that appears during the rain at one edge of the chimney is the roof joint, meaning flashing. Water that appears hours later across the chimney breast came down inside the brick from a cracked crown or soaked masonry. A hose test on a dry day settles it.
Can I stop a leak around the chimney with roofing tar or caulk?
Only for a while; tar on a chimney joint is a temporary patch. Tar sits on top of the joint and splits when metal and brick move at different rates in heat and cold. Flashing works because it is layered under the shingles and into the mortar, so water never meets a seam it can enter.
Why does the chimney only leak when it rains hard or the wind blows?
Because the gap is small. Light rain runs off before it finds the open seam; a downpour overwhelms the flashing lap, and wind-driven rain, which the Gorge east wind delivers to east Portland, pushes water uphill under counter flashing that holds in a vertical rain. Those leaks are real and get wider each winter.
Who fixes a leak around a chimney, a roofer or a chimney company?
A chimney company for the crown, the brick, the flue and the flashing, since counter flashing is set into our mortar joints. We flash chimneys as part of the leak repair for that reason. If the hose test shows shingles or a valley leaking away from the chimney, we tell you so and a roofer takes that part.
Will water leaking around the chimney damage the house if I wait until summer?
Yes, because wet framing and drywall beside a chimney rarely dry out between storms from November to March. A small stain in October can be rot by spring, and the smoke shelf and damper rust in the meantime. Flashing and crown work fit into a dry window in any month, so there is no reason to wait for July.
Related pages
Areas we cover for this
Calls about leak around the chimney come in from Parkrose and Argay Terrace, Sherwood, Woodlawn and every other part of the metro we serve.
Ready to book a sweep?
Call with what the fireplace is doing, or text a photo of the opening and one of the chimney top, and we will name the service and its posted price before we come out.