Chimney sweep, inspection and repair in Orchard Lake

From summer houses to lake homes

Orchard Lake was a resort long before it was a city. The Orchard Lake Hotel drew Detroit visitors in the 1800s, and the trolley brought more of them in the early 1900s. The village incorporated in 1928 and became a city in 1964. The city's master plan describes how the houses changed: first cabins, cottages and second homes, then houses made over for year-round living, then larger houses, with older ones torn down or remodeled and some lots combined.

A few families, the Wards among them, owned much of the land around the lakes early on, and the master plan credits them with keeping out the small-lot cottage building that happened around other lakes. Lots here tend to be large, and the city has zoned to keep them that way. Public water and sewer came in the 1990s, and the plan notes that it sped up the rebuilding, especially on the lakefront.

Fieldstone chimneys

If your house has a fieldstone chimney, like the one in the photo, it wears differently from brick. Fieldstone is rounded and uneven, so the mortar joints are wider and deeper. When those joints crack, water can get deep into the chimney instead of staying near the face.

The top of a stone chimney takes the most weather. The cap slab, the mortar around each pot and the joints just under the cap are the first places we look. Flashing is harder on stone too, because it has to be cut into uneven joints instead of a straight brick course. If you have a stain on the ceiling next to the chimney, our guide to chimney flashing leaks explains what to look for.

Walkout lots

On a lot that slopes down to the water, a house with a walkout lower level can have a chimney on the lake side that's a full story taller than it looks from the street. If that's your house, mention it when you book. We plan the ladder and roof access around it, and set up staging when the job needs it.

Stone chimney repair

We repoint fieldstone with a mortar that matches the color and the width of the joints already there, so the repair doesn't stand out from the lake. If a pot is loose or the cap slab has cracked, we reset the pot and repair or rebuild the top. A flue with a pot takes a cap sized to fit it. More on the joints themselves is on our masonry repair and tuckpointing page.

Getting to you

We come into Orchard Lake Village on Orchard Lake Road, Commerce Road, Pontiac Trail and Old Orchard Trail, and pair visits with jobs in Keego Harbor and West Bloomfield. Book online and pick a 3-hour arrival window, or call for same-day availability when the schedule allows.