Here’s Why a Collapsed Chimney Is a Danger to Your Home and Family

Water enters your home when the roof is damaged. When windows are broken, the elements come into your home as well. When the chimney collapses, what about the chimney? Will it collapse? What if there’s damage to the bricks? If you see something has gone awry, or you see that the chimney has collapsed, it’s imperative that you not waste time getting it fixed. Why? Because it puts the structural integrity of your home at risk.

If a chimney is not structurally sound, it will not function properly. That’s why it’s important to get chimney repair services in Toronto when there are signs of damage. When repairs are delayed, even worse problems can occur.

The Big Problem

The elements will destroy your house. Over time, even the strongest of raw materials break down. Rocks are susceptible to erosion, bricks are susceptible to extreme temperatures, and moisture can settle in. Rain, snow, sleet, and freezing-thawing cycles will cause cracks. These cracks can worsen over time, eventually leading to a collapsed chimney. Elements will destroy your house; you must do proper maintenance to make it last longer.

There’s a Real Danger

Water and chimneys don’t mix. When water gets into your chimney, it can do irreparable damage. It can lead to a collapse, a fire, or a brick wall that doesn’t function properly. The weight of the chimney can be affected by water damage, which puts its structural integrity at risk. There’s no telling where water penetration will lead. It could lead to a structural collapse, which would be devastating and could wreak havoc on your home.

The Consequences

Your home could suffer from a collapsed chimney. If you’re not careful and don’t do maintenance, a broken window or a collapsed chimney could lead to a collapsed roof. Your roof could suffer from water damage and be useless for keeping the weather out. Your roof would no longer be able to protect your home.

What’s more, a broken chimney or window could lead to a fire. With no proper protection from the elements, they could easily settle into your walls. They could get cozy in the insulation or even in the framing. If they settle in, they can be difficult to remove. They could also soon lead to a fire. Water and wood don’t mix, but they put your walls at risk.

The Causes

There are three main culprits for roof damage: water, wind, and ice. The roof is constantly exposed to the elements, and it could be damaged. It is exposed to the sun’s harsh rays and the beating of the rain, snow, and sleet. These things can wreak havoc on your roof.

When water is allowed to get into your home, it can cause your roof to sustain serious damage. Water is heavy. If it comes in contact with your roof, it will put a great deal of pressure on it. Water can also warp and crack your roof, which will cause leaks. That’s why it’s essential to fix your roof as soon as you spot a leak. If left alone, a leak can lead to a collapsed roof.

The same is true for a collapsed chimney. If you see that it is broken, take care of it as soon as possible. If you don’t fix the damage, it can lead to a collapsed chimney. A collapsed chimney can cause water to be able to enter your home. When water enters your home from the inside, the door will be the last place you look. Water can easily get into your house through the chimney if you don’t catch it.

How Can You Prevent It?

The best way to prevent chimney damage is to have your chimney inspected every year. We recommend that homeowners have their chimneys inspected twice a year, Once in the Spring and once in the Fall.

Conclusion

If your chimney is damaged, the elements can enter your home and cause havoc. If you don’t take a proactive stance and you don’t watch out for your chimney, it can lead to a collapsed chimney. When the chimney collapses, it will lead to water damage which, as you know, can be costly. If you notice any signs of problem, you should immediately call for chimney repair services in Toronto. Make sure that you only call a trusted professional to do the job.

Red Robin Masonry is a team of experts offering chimney repair services in Toronto. Contact our pros today so we can inspect your chimney and fix any problem you might be having!

What You Need to Know about Chimney Flue and Why It’s Needed

chimney repair toronto

What You Need to Know about Chimney Flue and Why It’s Needed

Your chimney is connected to your fireplace. It acts as a conduit for smoke and other contaminants so they can be released out of your home.

Any gas or wood-burning fireplace has its own chimney flue. A chimney flue is a vertical passage where the smoke, debris, and contaminants (produced by the fire you started in the firebox) escape into the chimney and out of your house.

In this article, we’ll discuss why chimney flues are vital components of both the chimney and the fireplace safety and maintenance.

Why Chimney Flues Are Essential

Here are some of the reasons why chimney flues are essential to your chimney and fireplace.

  1. Chimney Flues Prevent Chimney Fire

First, it’s because they prevent combustion from happening in your home and in any surrounding area. That unrecognised part of your fireplace can protect you and your family from sudden combustion while starting a fire.

When chimney flues are unlined, they will let smoke and other contaminants escape through the mortar and bricks. This will allow heat and smoke to turn into a chimney fire, passing through any combustible materials in your homes, such as drywall and wood studs, that can eventually cause a fire.

That’s why chimney flue liners are made up of solid and seamless surfaces that prevent the smoke in the flue and go directly out of the chimney.

What Is a Chimney Fire

As mentioned earlier, when chimney flues are unlined, it can cause smoke and heat to escape sideways and into the bricks and mortar. Because of this, it can create combustion that causes chimney fire.

And chimney fire is not something that anyone should take lightly. It’s a terrifying scenario that is hard to extinguish and handle.

When the chimney fire starts, it’ll begin with a sort of gunshots popping and can immediately progress into deep rumbling, similar to the sound of a running freight train. Because of this, your flue may break, which permits the fire to enter inside your home.

If this happens (we really hope not), the fire department recommends that you water down into the house from the top of your chimney so you can properly put off the fire, but unfortunately, it will result in flooding inside the house.

  1. Chimney Flues Allow the Passage of Gasses and Smoke

Chimney flues are created to prevent smoke and any gasses from going into the bricks and mortar. Flues are created smooth to help direct the smoke upward and outside your chimney faster.

  1. Chimney Flues Protect Your Chimney Materials

When you start a fire in your firebox, it also produces contaminants that are usually carried by smoke. Through steel and clay flues, they can protect the surrounding mortar and bricks from any acid, creosote, and other contaminants.

Conclusion

Chimney flues are important parts of your chimney and fireplace as they give passage to smoke and other contaminants out of the house. They help prevent chimney fires that can ultimately damage your home and threaten your family’s lives.

Red Robin Masonry is Toronto’s most trusted masonry company that provides brickwork, parging, stonework and chimney repair services in Markham! Request a quote today!

4 Important Factors That Affect Tuckpointing Costs

4 Important Factors That Affect Tuckpointing Costs

At the beginning of the pandemic, many homeowners were doing renovations themselves. It is not surprising because we had so much time in our hands. But does this empowerment mean that we should do all house rehabilitation jobs ourselves?

It does not necessarily equate to that. One of the jobs that we should leave in the capable hands of professionals is tuckpointing. Asking for help from masonry specialists will ensure that you will not incur additional costs. They can also guarantee that their output will last longer.

You might not agree to this because you think you can save on labor costs by doing the job yourself. But this belief is not necessarily correct. Here are some of the elements included in the pricing:

Location

One of the crucial elements to the price of tuckpointing is the location. Each area has a different price. The season also has an impact on the cost.

With this said, you must ask for estimates from different contractors. You should also get an appraisal of a project carried out during spring, summer, and fall. It will help determine which season will give you the most significant savings.

Size

The size of the project will have a massive impact on the price as well. Let us say you had several walls repaired. But you asked the contractor to do tuckpointing in a small portion. In this scenario, this project will not cost you that much.

On the other hand, if you ask the contractor to do tuckpointing for the entire house, it will significantly impact the project cost. Most of the time, the homeowner will have the tuckpointing done on the façade. This cost-cutting trick will improve your home’s curb appeal without breaking the bank.

If you plan to sell your home, you may also ask the contractor to do tuckpointing to fix crumbling mortar. The masonry specialist does not have to do tuckpointing for the entire wall. He might repair a small portion of the broken-down wall.

Necessity

Tuckpointing is relatively easy. However, if the contractor sees several problems on the wall, this will cause the project cost to go up. In other words, if the masonry specialists need to do more repair jobs on the wall, it will be more expensive on your end.

The cost will go even higher if you have not done any masonry repair job done in the past. But please take note that going the extra mile to ensure the stability of your home will eventually give you an excellent return on investment. More people are willing to pay more for your home.

Labor

Lastly, let us discuss the labor cost. Tuckpointing is a laborious process. Although the mason will use electrical equipment, he would still need to do some manual labor to ensure his work quality. If you want your entire house renovated with tuckpointing, it will equate to longer work hours. Thus, it will be more costly.

Conclusion

The World Wide Web made it possible for us to get information quickly. In less than a minute, you can find instructions on how to do masonry repair and tuckpointing. But this knowledge does not guarantee quality output.

If you want quality craftsmanship, you should turn to Red Robin Masonry. We offer different masonry services in Toronto. Call us now for more information.

How Ignoring Brick Damage Can Bring Harm to Your Building

Bricks may be a sturdy type of building material, but there are also cases where they may face damage. In the times that they do experience damage, it is important to immediately call for repair. Ignoring even the smallest of signs of brick damage could lead to a major disaster.

In this article, we talk about why you should not ignore any form of brick damage and how you should deal with it.

Damage to the Structure

Bricks are an important part of the structure of buildings and establishments. Having damaged bricks can result in bad structural damage, such as broken walls or curved buildings. This could also make walls collapse, which could be dangerous.

Once there are one or two bricks identified with damage, it is important to have an immediate response. If left as is, the financial costs of having the whole structure or even the entire building fixed will be more than what it would have cost just having small repairs done.

Collapse of Buildings

The entire building can also collapse with brick damage if the foundation of the building is experiencing some sort of brick damage. Not only will this cost a lot of money, but it will also end up harming people in the building.

Regular checkups on the foundation of the building should be done. It should not only be checked when there is noticeable damage. There will be times when the damage cannot be seen, so regular checkups are recommended.

Shorter Durability

A brick can last a long time with proper maintenance. However, not repairing it even with minor damages can easily turn into bigger damages. These damages can then result in the brick lasting a shorter amount of time than it should be.

Constantly having to replace a bigger amount of bricks than just conducting minor repairs will cost more. It is better to utilize the entire lifespan of the brick by having it checked regularly.

Aesthetic Damage

Not only will brick damage harm the structure of your building, but it will also affect its aesthetic value. Many buildings rely on the beauty of bricks to give them a classic and timeless look. However, brick damage could take away that beauty and make it horrendous-looking.

Crumbling bricks with cracks on them are unsightly and would turn away anyone who sees them. It will not only be seen as something horrific, but also many people may see it as a probable danger. Thankfully, a brick repair can help preserve this aesthetic that bricks have on buildings.

Dealing with Brick Damage

Regular checkups by professionals are the best way to check for brick damage. They may go unnoticeable by the naked eye or someone who is not a professional.

If you suspect brick damage or would just want someone to check to be sure, working with masonry businesses is a good idea. They are professionals who are trained to deal with bricks.

Conclusion

Brick damage is a bigger deal than what most people think. Even the smallest cracks in your brick walls can have disastrous results. It is better to deal with it early on. Otherwise, you risk dealing with structural damage, building collapse, and aesthetic damage. Make sure to keep your bricks in check to avoid any of these consequences.

If you are looking for brick repair services in Toronto, Red Robin Masonry can get the job done for you. We are Toronto’s most trusted masonry company, and we offer various services like brick repair, chimney work, and more. Contact us today for more information!