Detroit, Wayne County
Chimney repair in Detroit
On Detroit's northwest side, the oldest chimneys we work on are on the brick houses of Rosedale Park, built mostly from the late 1920s into the early 1940s. After eighty to a hundred winters, the top of the chimney has usually been patched more than once.
Where we work in Detroit
We only take repair work on Detroit's northwest and west side, in the neighborhoods listed on our Detroit page. We don't cover the rest of the city. Rosedale Park, off Grand River by the Southfield Freeway, has some of the oldest brick in that area.
Rosedale Park brick
The Rosedale Park Land Development Company platted the neighborhood in 1916, but only about 15 houses went up by the end of World War I. Building picked up after Detroit annexed the area in 1926 and brought in water and sewer, slowed in the Depression, and came back after 1934, when the Federal Housing Administration made mortgages easier to get. Most of the houses are brick, in Tudor, colonial, bungalow and Dutch colonial styles, often built from pattern books.
On those chimneys the trouble usually starts at the top. The crown cracks and lets water into the last few courses of brick. Freeze and thaw open the joints. Somebody spreads tar over it to stop a leak, and the tar holds water against the brick until the faces break off, like the chimney in the photo.
Rosedale Park is a city historic district. For exterior work there, we check what the city's Historic District Commission needs and put it on the quote.
Starting prices
These are where repairs on these older chimneys usually start. The written quote has your exact price.
- Tuckpointing: $595 to $4,995
- Replacing 1 to 15 damaged bricks: $850 plus $75 a brick
- Crown rebuild: from $1,500 plus $1 per square inch of crown
- Flashing repair or replacement: $595 to $3,495
- Lift or scaffolding when a ladder isn't safe on a tall two-story chimney: $1,249 extra
How it works
We look at the whole chimney first, including the part you noticed, and take photos. We match mortar color and brick as closely as we can on these older houses. You get the price in writing, and nothing starts until you approve it. If you'd like us to look first, a chimney inspection in Detroit is $49.
Questions
Our Rosedale Park chimney has tar all over the top. Can it be cleaned off and repointed?
Sometimes. If the brick under the tar is still hard, we strip the tar, cut out the old mortar and repoint. If the brick has gone soft or broken apart under the tar, like the chimney in the photo, the top section has to be taken down to sound brick and relaid with a new crown. We show you which one you're looking at before we quote.
Do you repair chimneys anywhere else in Detroit?
No. We only work on the northwest and west side: Rosedale Park, North Rosedale Park, Brightmoor, Old Redford and Warrendale, plus the blocks near Redford and Dearborn Heights. We don't cover the rest of the city. If you're near the edge of that area, call and ask before you book.
Chimney repair in Detroit
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.