Who To Call For a Chimney Leak: Roofer, Mason or Chimney Company?

It depends which component failed, which is exactly why diagnosing first matters. Flashing sits at the boundary and either trade can do it. Crown and cap work is chimney work. Where it is uncertain, the chimney company is the better first call.

Commonly because the repair addressed a component that was not the source. A new flashing under a cracked crown leaves the crown still letting water in. The commonest way this problem costs people twice.

Common, not normal. Close to every chimney leak traces to a missing or failed cap, a cracked crown or failed flashing, and all three are repairable. A chimney that leaks is telling you one of those has gone.

Because wind-driven rain reaches surfaces that vertical rain does not, so a face or a joint that stays dry in ordinary weather gets wet in a storm. A useful clue and it commonly narrows the source to one side of the stack.

They can narrow it considerably from where the water appears inside, and confirming it needs the roof. The crown in particular is invisible from the ground because you are looking at it edge-on from below.

The standard history. Tar over failed flashing is a coating across a joint that needs a mechanical overlap; it is rigid where the joint moves and it fails within a few seasons. It also has to come off before a proper repair.

Not as a first move and not with a film-forming sealer. Applied over masonry that is already taking water, it traps moisture inside where it still freezes. Repair first, then a breathable repellent if it is appropriate.

Then it may not be a leak at all. It may be condensation inside an oversized or unlined flue, where exhaust cools against cold masonry. That behaves completely differently and no exterior repair will touch it.

Not urgent like a fire, and not something to leave for a year. Water in masonry does incremental damage on every freeze-thaw cycle, and this climate supplies a great many of those between November and April.

Gradual water damage is commonly excluded while sudden damage from a defined event may not be. The distinction insurers draw is between wear and an event, so inspection documentation matters. Ask them directly, not assuming.

It should name the component at fault and the reason. A quote covering all three without identifying which one failed is not a diagnosis. It is how a homeowner ends up buying a crown when the flashing was the culprit.

A controlled hose test done from a safe position can help isolate a face, and it is useful information. It also needs somebody inside watching, patience, and not being on a roof. Describe what you find instead of trying to fix it.