If you are a homeowner it’s good to be aware of maintenance issues in the home. While not all property owners have construction experience, it is still possible to look out for warning signs that indicate the home is falling into disrepair. Let’s take one feature of a home, the chimney. How can you tell if it requires maintenance?
To start with, has anything happened on the property that could have damaged the chimney? For example, a chimney can incur damage if large objects fall on it such as tree limbs or scaffolding, etc. Then there are natural disasters like earthquakes, even small ones can cause damage. Changes in weather also play a role by eroding brick and mortar over time.
There are a few visual checks you can make to determine the condition of a chimney. Stand away from the house so that you can see the entire chimney, does it appear to be listing or leaning at all? Does the chimney look like it is separating away from the rest of the house? Now look at the chimney’s footings, are they showing any signs of deterioration? Another test you can do is to scrape the mortar of the chimney with a screwdriver, does it crumble away easily? If you answer yes to any of these questions then the chimney needs some repairs.
Other parts of a chimney are not so easy to check which would require a professional inspection. If you are worried about the state of your chimney, please don’t hesitate to contact us for more advice.
