Chimney Chase Covers Near Westhampton Beach

The Importance Of A Chimney Chase Cover?

The chase cover (or chase pan) is the square or rectangular piece of aluminum that’s secured to sit securely on top of the chimney chase, helping to keep water and other environmental factors out. The chase cover and chimney cap help keep the harmful factors — (including water, snow, leaves, debris and critters) — out of the fireplace and flue. Chimney chase covers are like a metal chimney crown. Chimney chase covers are commonly referred to as chase pans or chase tops. The chase aids in directing the smoke and burning embers away from your home’s roof to impede a house fire. Chimney chase covers come in multiple materials.

Aluminum is a softer metal and might not hold up as well against the bad conditions. Aluminum is incredibly reliable, especially if a homeowner live in an area that sees a ton of widespread weather. However, the downside to stainless steel is that a steel chimney chase cover is expensive. Galvanized steel will most certainly be the budget option. So, the chimney chase cover may be a reliable short-term solution, but maybe not for the long-term. While stainless steel is the strongest material a homeowner can choose, copper is considered the most high-quality.

Do I Need My Chimney Chase Cover Repaired Or Replaced?

Having a chimney essentially means having a hole in the roof of a home. While water certainly doesn’t mix well with fire, a chase cover goes far beyond simply keeping your home’s roaring fireplace going. Continuous leaks of water from rain and snow, plus other factors, can eventually cause structural damage. Although chimney chase covers are practical, preventative tools – chimney chase covers don’t last forever.

If your chase is destroyed or has taken significant wear and tear, then the chimney chase cover needs to be replaced. Corrosion and rust could lead to leaks and holes in your home’s cover. Eventually, you may take on significant trouble and leaks that will only lead to more internal chimney issues. So how may you know when a homeowner need to replace a chimney chase? Professionals should come out to your home once a year to do a thorough check of achimney structure. An inspector will be able to easily tell if your home’s chimney chase cover needs to be replaced. Another sign that the owner need a new cover is finding water on the floor of your home’s fireplace. If a homeowner see any sign of water in a fireplace, you should call a chimney inspector right away to prohibits any further leaks.

Chimney Chase Issues To Look For

If a homeowner have a wood-framed chimney chase, you most certainly need a chimney chase cover. If an owner have a framed chimney chase, the owner need a chimney chase cover. If you should catch it soon enough, you can avoid any additional upscale repairs.

The top of the cover should have cross breaks – which can shed all the water off the top of the chimney. If the owner can see rust stains running down the siding of the chimney, it is likely caused by an old chase cover. The chimney is a prevalent structure to be evaluated and inspected by a home inspector during the selling process of any home. If the chimney cover is in poor shape, the home inspector will include the chimney chase cover on the inspection report.

Chimney Problems

It’s important for homeowners to not only understand the difference between a chimney crown, chase cover and chimney cap, but how chimney chase covers help protect their home and chimney. And when any of these components are missing or fail, the risk of chimney problems grows.

The chimney crown is the top level of the chimney. These influences may cause cracks to develop on the crown allowing water to leak behind the bricks inside the chimney. While the crown seals most of the chimney, the flue is still exposed. So having a crown alone is not enough to keep all water and debris out of the chimney.

The structural housing between the roof line and the chimney crown is the chase. Since aluminum chase covers are more prone to rusting than stainless steel, especially in coastal areas with high levels of salinity in the air, chimney chase covers need to be inspected regularly. The chimney cap acts like an umbrella to help impede snow, rain, water, birds, animals and debris from getting inside the flue. Most homeowners will consider the chimney cap to be an indispensable safety device.

This should cause the masonry to decay and also rust important metal components like the damper and smoke shelf leading to more expensive repairs. Also, small birds, squirrels, raccoons and other little critters are attracted to exposed chimneys for cover against predators. This prohibits the escape of detrimental fumes from a burning fireplace exposing occupants in a home to toxic, high levels of smoke and carbon monoxide. The force of a downdraft from an exposed flue may blast open fireplace doors pushing smoke, soot and ash into the room. Homeowners are urged to have their chimney cap, chimney crown and chase cover inspected yearly.

The Chimney Cover Repair Experts

While you will certainly continue to learn, it’s best to contact a chimney sweep with any questions or concerns a homeowner might have. If you’re in the Long Island area, schedule an appointment with Expressway or give Westhampton Beach’s local roofing experts a call to address your chimney needs.

Our pros ask that a homeowner be careful whom the owner hire(s)! Homeowners should only allow possibly damaged chimney to be worked on by a knowledgeable CSIA Certified Chimney contractor who can provide an owner with the proper service and suitable parts for the system. Not all chase covers are created equally! Water and other buildup left to cluster on a chase cover will result in rusting, sagging and warping of the cover, rendering the chimney chase cover ineffective and leaving the chimney vulnerable to intrusion of water, animals and other environmental conditions. Give Expressway Roofing & Chimney a call and let us handle all of your home’s chimney needs.

CHIMNEY CHASE COVER INQUIRIES