New Cap or not?

[forya]

During a driving rain/nor'easter kind. I get some water behind my accentra insert. I have never noticed it going down the 4" liner, but it seems to drip around it, down the original chimney. I had a chimney guy come out to look at it this week, and he recommends re-flashing, and putting a 4" cap on the liner, and sealing off the old pipe around it. The estimated cost is $400. That seems a bit much for a few drops of water behind my insert, or is it worth it in the long run?

 

[smwilliamson]

$400 seems a but steep for a $65 storm cap. Though you may need some pointing of the chimney or a new top plate and cap. Can you break out the labor and material? Can you shoot me a picture of the existing cap?

Leaking around the outside would point to a top plate or fitting issue. Water in the stove would denote the cap itself. You might get out of this one for a tube of silicone.

Water can be tricky.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

Wind driven rain can make water go places it wouldn't normally go and sure doesn't seem like a $400. problem to fix. I would take a close look at the cap area, seal any suspect areas with high temp silicone and test with a garden hose before paying anyone to fix.

 

[Fsappo]

You can put a $500 stainless steel flashing and a $100 rain cap and pay $300 labor and it wont keep horizontal rain from coming in.

 

[CJ-SR4ever]

You definately dont want your Accentra Insert to be exposed to any water / moisture. That can cause you a lot more problems down the road. Definately a good idea to make sure it is sealed up on the chimney as good as it can be. You may want to consider packing around the pipe with some non backing fiberglass insulation at the top of the chimney and down below where the pipe goes thru the damper. That may improve the issue.

 

[Fsappo]

Great Success!

 

[forya]

I can't get up to the top of the chimney now (back injury), but I was told they kept the original cap on the chimney. They just ran the liner up and left it end inside the old chimney, and left the cap on there. The cap that was in place is open at the top and covered on the sides. there are baffles inside it, but they don't stop the water from getting in. The tin flashing is sort of concave allowing water to pool around the cap. I think that I should get it fixed, as I'm looking at surgery and probably won't be able to do much all summer. I just don't know if $400 is worth it.