Chimney Leaking? Here's Where The Water Is Actually Getting In
Water in the firebox, a stain on the ceiling, a musty smell after rain. Four things cause almost every chimney leak, and they are not equally expensive to fix.
Four things cause almost all of it
Working out which one you have is the whole job. Guessing is how people pay for repairs they never needed.
An open flue takes hundreds of gallons of rain a year straight down into the smoke chamber. If you hear dripping inside the firebox during rain, look here first. It is also the cheapest fix on this page.
The concrete slab on top. It should slope, overhang the brick and have a drip edge — most builder crowns have none of those. Hairline cracks can be sealed; a crumbling crown needs rebuilding.
Where the chimney meets the roof. If the stain is on the ceiling near the chimney rather than inside the firebox, this is the usual culprit. Tar smeared over old flashing is a patch, not a repair.
Brick is porous. Once mortar joints fail, the whole stack drinks. This is the one people seal over without fixing — which traps the water inside and makes the freeze-thaw damage worse.
What your particular version means
Photographed, not guessed
When it happens, what it looks like, what changed. That alone narrows it down a long way.
Top to bottom, on camera. You see the actual cause on a screen rather than taking our word for it.
A written quote for the real fix, and an honest answer if the problem is not a chimney problem at all.
Six commitments, on every single job
The chimney trade has an upsell problem. These are the rules we hold ourselves to — read them, then hold us to them.
The number we quote is the number you pay. Our price never goes up once the technician is at your door.
You see what we see — every finding photographed, before and after. No trust-me diagnoses.
We tell you when your chimney is fine. Technicians are never paid to sell you repairs you don't need.
More than 25 years in the chimney trade. Around 10 Perfect Chimney technicians who live here — never a call centre, never a temp crew, never a subcontractor in an unmarked van.
Monday to Friday 7am–8pm and Saturday 9am–6pm. A real person answers — never a call centre, never an answering service.
Fully licensed and insured for every job we take, from a $99 sweep to a full masonry rebuild.
Rated 5.0 by nearly a thousand homeowners
Over 1,000 jobs completed across the Portland metro, rated 5.0 on Google and reviewed on Thumbtack, Yelp, Facebook and Nextdoor. Every figure here is one you can open and check yourself.
"Really nice guys, and really great work! 10/10 recommend."
GOOGLE REVIEW"Tim and Nate were wonderful. Will call for future maintenance!"
GOOGLE REVIEW"Great communication from start to finish. Our project and chimney cleaning were completed quickly."
GOOGLE REVIEW · CLEANING"We contacted Perfect Chimney to clean a gas fireplace flue. They were very responsive…"
YELP REVIEW · GAS FIREPLACEQuestions we get on this one
Why does my chimney only leak in heavy rain?
Wind-driven rain gets into gaps that vertical rain never reaches — typically at the flashing or a hairline crown crack. Very common in the Pacific Northwest, and it is why a leak can hide for years.
Can I just waterproof the whole chimney?
Not before finding the source. Sealing over a real leak traps moisture inside the masonry, and the next freeze does far more damage than the water alone would have. Find it, fix it, then seal.
Is a chimney leak urgent?
Water entering at the roof line rots sheathing and framing you cannot see, and it does it quietly. It is not a same-night emergency, but it should not wait for spring.
How much does it cost to fix?
It ranges from a cap to a full crown rebuild. You get photographs of the actual entry point and one written price before anything starts.
What usually fixes it
Thirty cities across Oregon & SW Washington
From Longview down to Salem. We are mobile — no storefront, no showroom markup, no trip fees. Same crew and same published pricing everywhere we work.
Request your estimate
Honest, upfront pricing. We reply fast — usually within the hour during the day.
