Friday, August 24, 2018: Chimney Update

Three weeks ago, when I returned from my trip to Iceland, I found I had lost the chimney cap on the southwest chimney. This is the second time this particular cap has been blown off. The first time was about seven years ago and they people who put it back on (Irish Construction) did some repair tuck pointing. It obviously was not a permanent repair as two bricks came down with the cap (narrowly missing my sunroom windows) and another brick appears to be sitting loose on top of the chimney.

Anyway, since then, I contacted two companies about repairs. One company (English Sweep) I have talked with before. The other company (St. Louis Chimney) was one I had not talked with until now. Both companies said they would send out an estimator. English Sweep set up an appointment for a couple of days after I called. St. Louis Chimney said they would have someone call to establish an appointment. The English Sweep guy came out and took a bunch of notes and photos. He warned me that they were very busy and it might be October before they could fit me into their schedule. However, he said since this is such a "small" job, he would talk with his boss and see what they could do. Several days later, I finally got an email saying they had decided they were too busy and would not make an offer. They did give me three other companies I might want to contact. They were:

• Galati & Sons Tuckpointing
• Mirelli Tuckpointing
• Gress Masonry

I called all three of these companies and they each seemed willing to come out and give me an estimate. All three companies seemed capable and said they could get to the job before I left town again in late September. They all provided me with estimates. The estimates were:

• $1,700.00: Mirelli who suggested removal of any loose rows of bricks at the top of the chimney before reinstalling the cap
• $2,950.00: Gress who suggested some kind of strap to secure the cap and included the cost of tuck pointing the entire chimney plus repair of the limestone sill which was damaged by the falling bricks. If I agreed to the tuck pointing, I would get a five year warranty
• $3,480.00: Galati who said they would reset any loose bricks, reinstall the cap and repair the window sill

I had almost forgotten about the St. Louis Chimney people when I got a call from Chris this past Monday asking if he could stop by and take a look at the job. Chris and friend came by and on Wednesday sent their estimate for $450.00. Their approach was to "re-install the current chimney cap by tap con screwing the cap to the sound masonry" to prevent future decapitations. The caveat placed on this estimate was that they would have to evaluate the condition of the chimney when they got up there and there may be some additional cost for tuck pointing. I immediately accepted their proposal (before they could withdraw it) and today called and talked to Chris. He said he would target doing the job on August 30 (next Thursday), but would get with me on August 29 to confirm.