Pleasant Ridge, Oakland County
Chimney repair in Pleasant Ridge
Almost every Pleasant Ridge chimney is the one the house was built with, somewhere between 85 and 115 years ago, and it sits inside a National Register historic district. A repair here has to stop the water and look like it belongs.
The oldest chimneys on Ridge Road
By 1912, ten families had built along Ridge Road, the first street in Alfred Wilcox's plat west of Woodward. Those chimneys are past 110 years old, and most of the rest of the west side went up over the next twenty years. On a chimney that age, the crown may already have been replaced once, and the top courses may have been repointed with a mortar harder than the old brick. Hard mortar in soft brick is a problem. When the wall moves, the brick cracks instead of the joint, and the faces start to spall along the edges of the joints.
Big houses and small ones
On the east side, the biggest houses sit on the blocks closest to Woodward, and the smaller ones are farther out toward the railroad line. The chimney follows the house. A large Tudor near Woodward may have a wide chimney with two or three flues and stone trim set into the brick. A cottage near the tracks may have a single-flue chimney we can reach from a ladder. The repairs are similar. The time and the price aren't.
Starting prices
These are the prices we start from. The written quote has the number for your chimney.
- Crown repair from $1,000 plus $1 per square inch of crown; a crown rebuild from $1,500 plus $1 per square inch
- Flashing repair or replacement: $595 to $3,495
- Tuckpointing: $595 to $4,995
- Replacing 1 to 15 damaged bricks: $850 plus $75 a brick
On a tall chimney where a ladder isn't safe, a lift or scaffolding adds $1,249.
Matching it and quoting it
We repoint with a mortar softer than the brick, tinted to the color of the joints already there, and tooled to the same profile. When bricks have to be replaced, we look for brick close to the original in size and color. We check with the city before we quote and put any permit cost on the quote.
We look at the whole chimney first, then show you photos and give you the price in writing. Nothing starts until you approve it. If you'd rather start with a look, a chimney inspection in Pleasant Ridge is $49 and is credited toward the work.
Questions
Our house is in the Pleasant Ridge historic district. Does that change a chimney repair?
It changes how carefully the repair has to match. We match the brick, the mortar color and the joint profile so the work doesn't read as a patch from the street. For the paperwork, we check with the city before we quote, note on the quote whether a permit is needed, and include any permit cost.
The crown on our chimney is covered in lichen. Is that a problem?
The lichen itself isn't the issue. It grows where a surface stays damp, which tells you the crown holds water. We check underneath for cracks and soft spots. A crown that's still sound can be cleaned and sealed for $249 to $875. One that's cracked through needs a repair or a rebuild.
Chimney repair near Pleasant Ridge
Chimney repair in Pleasant Ridge
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.