Burning with a crumbing crown

[ikessky]

Well, I brushed the liner today and realized that the chimney crown is crumbling away to nothing. The four corners have already fallen off and it virtually has no over hang any more. It looks like it was made with mortar and some gravel. The exposed areas are very loose and crumbly. Maybe I'm a worry-wart, but am I OK to keep burning for this season? There are probably only two months left. The top plate around the liner is still well sealed and the liner is in the clay flue. I thought maybe it would be better to keep burning since it would keep that area drier and keep snow/rain off of it.

 

[ansehnlich1]

If you're talking about a masonry chimney, and the brick/or block is sound, and it's just the sloped cap that is deteriorated, and you have a stainless liner inside a terracota liner, I say burn that baby and plan on redoing the cap come warm weather!

 

[ikessky]

You got it. I think I'll bend up some roofing tin/flashing tomorrow morning and put it over the crown just so it sheds water and then I'll replace the cap in the spring/early summer and tuck point the rest of the chimney.

 

[cmonSTART]

Ya, do what you can to make it shed water and worry about it when the nice weather comes.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Take the high temp caulk up there with ya and do a temporary patch job.

It doesn't normally get too hot at that point of the chimney and I think your idea of sealing it up with some tin is a good one.

 

[ikessky]

I bent up some tin this AM and made a little crown cover. Used up most of a tube of high temp silicone also. Hopefully that will keep any more liquid off the crumbling crown.