Chimney Repointing Seattle, WA

Chimney repointing is the renewal of worn-out mortar joints between the bricks or stone of a chimney. The old, crumbling mortar is ground or raked out to a set depth, the joints are cleaned, and fresh mortar is packed in and tooled to shed water. It is the standard fix for a chimney whose bricks are still sound but whose joints have eroded, cracked or washed out, and it is the main way to stop rain from soaking into the masonry before the bricks themselves start to fail.

This page covers repointing as a whole-chimney decision: how much of the stack actually needs work, and whether a full repoint or spot repointing makes sense. Our chimney tuckpointing page covers the related technique where a contrasting fillet is struck into the joint for a finer visual line; tuckpointing starts with the same grind-and-repack work but adds a decorative finishing step. Our chimney mortar repair page is for smaller, localized problems such as a few cracked joints or a loose cap bed, and our chimney brick repointing page goes deeper on the brick-specific side, including matching mortar to older soft brick.

James Chimney Sweep has served Seattle and the Puget Sound for more than 25 years. We are CSIA certified and licensed, bonded and insured in Washington, and we can tell you honestly whether your chimney needs repointing, how much of it, or whether something else is going on.

Timing & Safety

When repointing is necessary, and when it can wait

Repointing is necessary when the mortar has lost its ability to keep water out of the masonry. Once joints are recessed, cracked or crumbling, rain enters the brick, and in the Puget Sound that water rarely gets a chance to dry out before the next storm. Left alone, the bricks spall, the stack can lean, and the repair turns from repointing into a partial rebuild. If joints are soft enough to scratch out or you see mortar debris accumulating, it is time.

• Necessary: joints recessed or missing on any face, mortar that crumbles under light pressure, loose bricks near the top, water staining inside the home traced to the chimney.
• Recommended soon: widespread hairline cracking in the joints, moss rooted in the joints, efflorescence that keeps returning after cleaning.
• Optional for now: light surface weathering where the joints are still hard and flush, or a single shallow crack in an otherwise sound stack. This is usually a mortar repair rather than a repoint, and we will say so.

NFPA 211 recommends an annual chimney inspection. Catching soft joints during that inspection is the cheapest point at which to deal with them.

Safety considerations

Repointing is roof work on a structure that may already be weakened, so it is not a good candidate for DIY. Please do not climb onto the roof to check the joints yourself; we can assess them from the ground and from the roof with proper fall protection. A few more things worth knowing:

• Mortar that is too hard for old brick can do more harm than good, forcing moisture to exit through the brick face and causing it to flake. Matching the mix to the masonry matters.
• Loose bricks near the top of a stack can fall during a storm or during unskilled prying. If you notice shifted bricks, keep people and vehicles clear of the area below until it is assessed.
• If the chimney serves a gas appliance, the venting must remain intact. If you ever smell gas, leave the house and call the gas utility or 911. Gas lines and valves are only serviced by a qualified technician.
• Repointing the outside does not fix a damaged flue liner. If the inspection shows liner problems, we will tell you, since that affects whether the chimney is safe to use.

Seattle & Puget Sound conditions

Seattle and the Puget Sound are hard on mortar joints in a specific way. Our rain is not heavy but it is relentless, so joints stay damp for months at a stretch and moss takes root in any recess it finds, holding even more moisture against the masonry. A few hard freezes each winter then expand that trapped water and push the joints apart a little more each year. Chimneys near the Sound, in West Seattle, Tacoma and the island communities, also pick up salt from the air, which accelerates the breakdown of weaker mortar. The south and southwest faces that take the prevailing weather usually fail first, which is exactly why the full-versus-spot question comes up so often here: it is common for one side of a stack to need a complete repoint while the lee side is still fine. Timing matters too. New mortar cures best in dry, mild weather, so late spring through early fall is the preferred window, though we can work around our weather with protection when the job cannot wait.