Some chimneys are beyond patching. AM Chimney Sweep rebuilds and repairs chimneys in Plainfield, and also provides cleaning and inspection. This page is about the tall, slender stacks found on the city’s older houses, and how to tell whether one needs repointing, a partial rebuild or a full one.
Plainfield’s older houses
Census Bureau estimates put more than a third of Plainfield’s homes as built before 1940. The City has a Historic Preservation Commission, and its first four historic districts, Crescent Area, Hillside, North Avenue and Van Wyck Brooks, were in place by 1981. Houses of that period commonly have steep roofs and chimneys to match: narrow, high above the roofline, and often finished with decorative stepped brickwork at the top.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 five-year estimates; City of Plainfield Historic Preservation Commission.
Why tall chimneys fail
- Leverage. The higher a chimney stands above the roof, the more the wind works on it. Every gust rocks the stack slightly at the roofline.
- Mortar loss. A century of weather erodes the joints. With less mortar bearing the load, bricks begin to shift.
- Water from the top. A failed crown lets water into the core, where freezing forces the brickwork apart from inside.
- The decorative top. Projecting courses catch water and are the first to loosen.
- Old alterations. Chimneys that were shortened, capped with concrete or repointed with hard cement decades ago often crack at the line where old work meets new.
Warning signs, from the sidewalk
- A visible lean or a bow in the stack
- A bulge, where one section is wider than the rest
- Stair-step cracks running through the joints
- Bricks missing or sitting out of line near the top
- A gap where the flashing has pulled away from the chimney
- Brick fragments on the roof or the ground
A leaning chimney with loose brick at the top is a hazard to anyone below it. Keep people clear of the area beneath and have it assessed promptly.
Repoint, partial rebuild or full rebuild?
Repoint
If the chimney is plumb and the bricks are sound, with only the mortar worn, repointing restores it.
Rebuild from the roofline up
This is the most common rebuild. The section above the roof takes nearly all the weather, so it fails long before the part inside the house. The stack is taken down to the roofline or to the first solid course, and rebuilt from there.
Full rebuild
Needed only when the damage continues down through the attic or the chimney has moved at its base.
How a rebuild is done
- The roof around the chimney is protected and the old stack is dismantled by hand, course by course
- Sound bricks are cleaned and set aside for reuse where possible; new brick is chosen to match
- The flue is inspected from above while it is open, and lined or repaired if needed
- The stack is relaid to the original height and pattern, including any stepped courses at the top
- New flashing is installed at the roof
- A new crown and a cap finish the top
If your house is in a historic district
Work that changes the outside of a building in one of Plainfield’s historic districts may need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission. We recommend checking with the City before any chimney is altered, shortened or removed. Rebuilding a chimney to match what was there is the approach most consistent with preservation, and it is how we prefer to work in any case.
While the chimney is open
A rebuild is the easiest time to correct what is inside. Many chimneys of this age have flues with failed tile or no liner. A camera inspection beforehand tells you whether to include a liner in the same job.
Questions
Can the chimney just be taken down?
Only if nothing vents through it. A boiler, furnace or water heater connected to that chimney needs it, or needs another approved way to vent, first.
Can it be shortened instead?
A chimney needs a minimum height above the roof to draft and to keep sparks clear. Shortening below that creates new problems.
Arrange an assessment in Plainfield
Call (862) 225-6529 or contact us online. We photograph the chimney from the roof and explain what we find, and the cost, before any work begins. For a real example, read our chimney repair and rebuild case study from Trenton, or see more in Our Work. General chimney repair and cleaning are available too.