Romulus, Wayne County
Chimney repair in Romulus
What breaks on a Romulus chimney depends on which part of the city you're in. On the houses built in the 2000s it's usually the metal chase and its cover. On the older houses near downtown it's the crown and the brick.
Two kinds of chimney
Romulus built fast in the middle of the 2000s. The city issued 245 permits for new houses in 2004, and more than 150 a year in 2005 and 2006. A lot of those houses have a factory-built fireplace with a metal flue running up inside a wood-framed box, called a chase, that sticks up through the roof like a chimney. The top of the chase is a sheet-metal cover.
After twenty years, that cover rusts or sags in the middle. Water pools on it and works its way into the wood framing underneath. The chase in the photo is further along: paint peeling off the sides and roofing cement smeared around the base where someone tried to stop a leak.
The houses near downtown, where the village was laid out in 1871, have brick chimneys. There the trouble is the crown on top and the mortar in the last few feet above the roof.
Starting prices
These are the prices most Romulus repair quotes start from. Your written quote has the exact number.
- A stainless chase cover for one flue starts at $1,000 plus $1 per square inch.
- If the wood frame under the cover has rotted, rebuilding it runs $895 to $2,349.
- Flashing repair or replacement runs $595 to $3,495.
- Crown repair starts at $1,000 plus $1 per square inch. A full crown rebuild starts at $1,500 plus $1 per square inch.
- Tuckpointing runs $595 to $4,995, depending on how much of the chimney needs new mortar.
Why we check the wood first
On a chase, the cover is the part you can see from the driveway, but the damage that costs money is under it. Before we price a new cover, we press on the framing at the top and look for soft spots. If the wood is solid, a new stainless cover made with a slope so water runs off is usually the whole job. If it's soft, we tell you, because a new cover screwed into rotten framing won't stay put.
How a repair gets quoted
We look at the whole chimney or chase, along with the spot that's leaking. You get photos of what we found and a written price. If a smaller fix would hold for a while, we tell you what it covers and what it leaves alone. Nothing starts until you say yes. If you'd like someone to look before you decide anything, start with a chimney inspection for $49.
Questions
Water drips into the fireplace of our 2005 Romulus house. Is it the chase cover?
Often it is. On houses from those years, a rusted or sagging chase cover lets water sit on top and run down along the metal flue into the firebox. A loose storm collar around the flue pipe or worn flashing at the roof can do the same thing. We check all three on one visit and show you photos of where the water gets in before we quote.
Do I need a permit for chimney work in Romulus?
It depends on the repair. Before the job, we check with the City of Romulus whether your work needs a permit. The written quote says whether it does, and when it does, the permit cost is already in the price, so there's no separate bill for it later.
Chimney repair near Romulus
Chimney repair in Romulus
Pick a day and a 3-hour arrival window online. If you'd rather talk it through, call (248) 266-9991.