Chimney waterproofing that lets the brick breathe in Coral Gate

Waterproofing alongside masonry repairs

Waterproofing often follows other work, such as repointing, brick replacement or crown repair. Doing them as one project saves setting up access twice. But the treatment still has to wait for the repairs to cure and dry.

We plan the sequence so each step respects the one before it. The repairs are priced as their own items and the treatment as another. If you want to spread the cost, the repairs can go first and the treatment can follow on a later visit.

When the brick maker is known

Brick industry guidance suggests consulting the brick manufacturer before choosing a clear treatment. On an existing chimney, the maker is usually unknown, and the brick may have come from several sources over the years.

If you do know, from building papers or a stamp on spare bricks, tell us. It can help with the choice. If not, the test area does the same job in practice. It shows how this particular brick takes the product and how it looks afterward.

Deciding when to renew a treatment

Whether a treatment needs renewing is best judged by how the brick behaves, not by a fixed interval. If water still beads and runs off after rain, the treatment is still working. If the faces darken and hold water again, it is fading.

We can check this on a maintenance visit, sometimes by wetting a small area to see how it responds. If renewal makes sense, the same preparation applies, including any repairs. The written record from the first treatment tells us what product is already on the brick.

What a repellent will not do

It helps to be clear about the limits of a treatment before paying for one. A penetrating repellent is not a repair, and the list below covers what it leaves untouched.

Each of those needs its own repair. Our estimate lists them separately, so nobody expects the treatment to do a job it was not made for.

• Close cracks, open joints or gaps at the top
• Strengthen crumbling brick or soft mortar
• Stop rain falling down an open flue
• Fix water getting in at the roof junction