TOPIC: Chimney defect

My neighbor asked me to look at his chimney. Has had previous repair, but is getting worse. Look at the pics. I think that the chimney foundation is sinking and causing the chimney to fall away. Also look at the soffit, the gap between the gutter gets smaller at the chimney, it appears that the soffit is holding the chimney up. The crack at the wall/chimney joint go all the way up to the soffit. When you stand back and look at the fascia line you can see a bow. I also noticed that facing the chimney and looking up, the chimney above the roof is offset to the right about 1/2inch. The pic of the back yard shows that the grading from the other house runs towards his house. I think that there is erosion occurring under the pad. Should I tell him to have a chimney sweep check it out? A structural engineer? Or a mason/bricklayer? Anyone know how this would be corrected and maybe cost?

I told him I think it needs to be demo'd and rebuilt. More pics in the next post

more pics

Mike

I would tell your neighbor to hire a structural engineer.

Definitely not a sweep.


There are some chimney professionals qualified to provide an estimate on the  proper repairs.

Cost to correct can vary significantly and would advise to get 3 estimates.

Looks like soffit and gutter are keeping the chimney from falling.

Yeah, you have to see it up close, it is holding it up.

I agree with David, structural engineer would be the best bet.

You could have that repaired by what is called pressure grouting. They do this in FL a lot because of the sand. Someone will come in with a macheine and force concrete by pumping it under the slab and jacking it back up. Even if you don't move the chimney it will stabalize it.