The chimney exterior can be made up of a number of substrates including brick stone wood siding vinyl siding or stucco.
Vinyl siding chimney leak.
How to prevent water from flowing under vinyl siding.
In this video this old house general contractor tom silva shows how to prevent water from leaking in behind vinyl siding.
Although vinyl is impervious to water when installed as directed by the manufacturer vinyl siding as a whole is not completely watertight.
If an installer uses a material such as incorrectly this only exacerbates the problem.
This article describes the causes of all types of leaks in building siding and wall coverings.
While stone and brick chimneys sit on a mortar bed wood vinyl sided and stucco chimneys are installed over a framed opening.
Check to be sure weep holes are open along bottom of window openings.
Occasionally however it is found on chimneys installed on top of wood furring strips that provide a 1 inch clearance between the chimney and the siding.
The chimney crown is the cement part on top of the chimney.
Water leaks at soffit or eave overhang penetrations for chimneys that permits water to leak at the roof surface then pass behind the siding if the chimney is not properly flashed.
2 many chimney leaks are from cracks in the chimney crown.
Vinyl siding is generally not recommended for exterior chimney siding because of the heat that the chimney produces.
Vinyl siding is designed to allow the material underneath it to breathe.
Brick and stone chimneys if installed properly can last the better part of a lifetime.
The bricks go up around the tile flue liners but at the top you need something to stop the rain and snow from just falling in around the tiles.
Vinyl is a potentially leaky material and water trapped behind siding leads to decay and mold.
Because of its design and application it provides a supplemental rain screen that enhances the water resistive barrier system by reducing the amount of water that reaches the underlying water resistive barrier.
My photo above of ice below some courses of vinyl siding traces a moisture problem traced to improper installation of a through wall vent for a direct vent heating.
You can see that the very purpose of the chimney crown is to keep rain out.
Using detailed examples and photos of leaky building siding siding stains ice or other leak clues for vinyl siding we illustrate the installation mistakes or subsequent siding damage that can cause troublesome even dangerous leaks into a building wall or wall.
Inspect the area above the leak including both indoors and out.
