Chimney Sweep & Repair in South Windsor, CT
Chimney sweeping, leak repair and masonry work for South Windsor, from the historic houses along Main Street to the neighborhoods built on old farmland since the 1950s.
Sunday to Friday
A Class Chimney cleans, inspects and repairs chimneys throughout South Windsor. If water is showing up around your chimney, the cause is usually the flashing, the crown or a missing cricket, and we find which one before pricing a fix. There is no charge for the visit or the written estimate, so phone us or ask for a callback.
Two South Windsors: historic Main Street and the postwar town
South Windsor’s oldest houses line Main Street, which runs near the Connecticut River from the East Windsor line down to the East Hartford line. The East Windsor Hill and Windsor Farms historic districts sit along this road, and the local historic district on upper Main Street includes Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival and Italianate houses from about 1700 to 1910, gambrel-roofed cottages among them.
The rest of the town looks very different. South Windsor was farmland, much of it tobacco, until the middle of the 20th century, and its population grew about sixfold between 1950 and 2000. Most homes date from those decades: colonials, raised ranches, split-levels and contemporaries spread over the old fields, from Wapping to the East Hartford line.
Older chimneys on Main Street have the problems that come with age: soft brick, worn mortar and fireplaces that were never lined. Many of those houses have more than one chimney, and each can be in very different shape. The newer houses have their own pattern, and it usually involves water at the roof line.
Why newer chimneys leak at the roof
Where a chimney passes through the roof, the joint is only as good as the flashing around it. On many houses the original flashing was later patched with caulk or roofing cement, which dries out and cracks after a few seasons in the sun and cold.
Wide chimneys add a second problem. On the uphill side of a wide chimney, water and snow pile up against the brick with nowhere to go. A cricket, a small peaked roof section built behind the chimney, splits that flow and sends it around the sides. Not every wide chimney got one when the house was built.
Ice is the other culprit. When snow melts on a warm roof and refreezes behind the chimney or at the cold eaves, the trapped water can back up under shingles and flashing that would shed ordinary rain without trouble.
See chimney cricket installation for how a cricket is framed and flashed, and chimney flashing and leak repair for the flashing itself.
Chimney symptom checker
Tick what you have noticed and see what it usually means.
Track down a chimney leak before you call
Noting these details helps pinpoint the source and keeps you from paying for the wrong fix. Write the answers down, or take photos, so you can share them with the technician.
- Does the leak show up in every rain, or only in wind-driven storms from one direction?
- Does it appear after snow melts or ice builds up on the roof?
- Is the stain on a ceiling next to the chimney, or on the fireplace wall itself?
- Is there water in the firebox or on the damper?
- From the ground, with binoculars, can you see rust or smeared caulk at the flashing?
- Is the chimney wide, and does it sit below a long stretch of roof?
- Was the roof replaced recently, and was the chimney flashing replaced with it?
- Is there a skylight, vent pipe or roof valley near the chimney that could be the real source?
Recent work: a partial chimney rebuild
The same chimney, during and after the work. The damaged top courses come down with the roof covered in tarps, then the top is rebuilt and finished with a new crown.
Repairs around South Windsor chimneys
Flashing
Step flashing woven into the shingles and counter flashing cut into the mortar joints, not caulk. About $400 to $1,500 as a ballpark.
Crickets
Built behind wide chimneys to divert water and snow, then flashed and shingled to match the roof. Priced in writing after we measure.
Roof decking around the chimney
A long-running leak can rot the sheathing and framing next to the chimney. We repair that as part of our roofing and water protection work.
Crown and cap
Crown repair or sealing is about $200 to $1,200, and a stainless cap about $150 to $600, both as ballparks.
Main Street’s historic chimneys
Older chimneys get mortar matched to the original and repairs that respect the house. See historic chimney restoration.
From your first call to a dry ceiling
A leak call with us usually goes like this.
- Describe the leakCall or use the callback form, and tell us when the water appears and where you see it.
- $59 inspection visitA technician checks the chimney, flashing and roof around it, plus the attic when it is accessible.
- Evidence, not guessesPhotos and drone shots show what we found. If the source is not obvious, we say so and explain how we would narrow it down.
- A written priceEach repair is priced on paper before work is scheduled, with the likely source fixed first.
- Repair and clean-upWe protect the yard and the rooms we work in, and clean up when the job is done.
Scheduling in South Windsor
Call (203) 779-6787 between 7 AM and 8 PM Sunday through Thursday, or before 2:30 PM on Friday, or request a callback. Photos of the stain, taken during or just after a storm, are useful to have ready for the visit. We also serve East Hartford, Vernon, Manchester and Windsor across the river.
Prefer we call you?
Three quick taps and a real person from A Class Chimney calls you back to set up a $59 on-site inspection.
- $59 on-site visit and written estimate
- Photos of everything we find
- A written price before any work starts
- Licensed and insured in Connecticut
Sunday to Friday
What do you need?
When?
Where should we call you?
Free, no obligation. Privacy
South Windsor chimney questions
Chimney help in South Windsor
$59 on-site visit, photos of what we find and a written price before any work. Licensed and insured in Connecticut.