Painting Your Chimney

It’s not a good idea to paint your chimney. It might add some color to the outside of your house, but chimney paint causes moisture in the chimney, which can damage the bricks, the chimney, and maybe even the walls inside your house.

Painting Chimneys Made of Brick
In the last ten years, painted chimneys have become more common. This is partly due to the rise in DIY and home improvement shows. Even though a lot of homeowners choose to paint their chimneys, you should be aware of the risks and other options.

Why wetness is bad for bricks
Painting a chimney can damage the bricks and cause them to fall apart over time. You might think that painting a chimney will protect it, but it actually does the opposite. When you paint your chimney, the pores inside the bricks are sealed. When a chimney is painted, moisture can’t get out of the pores of the bricks. This lets water into the chimney, which can cause serious problems.

Why painting your chimney could cause water damage
When water gets into a chimney, it can damage the mortar between the bricks. When enough mortar falls apart, it can threaten the stability of a painted chimney. When water gets trapped inside a brick chimney, it can sometimes crumble or, in the worst cases, fall down.

A chimney that has been painted could also cause problems inside your house. If your painted chimney doesn’t have any mortar, it’s easier for water to get inside. This water inside can cause mold to grow, walls to peel, and walls to get stains.

How do I keep my chimney safe?
There are a lot of ways to keep a chimney in good shape. The best advice from the Chimney Safety Institute of America is to spend money on regular maintenance. The group suggests hiring a CSIA-certified chimney sweep once a year to make sure the chimney is safe, clean, and has the right clearances.

Another top tip for keeping rain, sleet, and snow out of chimneys is to make sure they are waterproof. One method is to use sealants. They stop almost all water from getting into the bricks of the chimney. You will need to use a sealant that lets air, smoke, and gases from the chimney escape.

Another idea is to use chimney caps. They will stop water from getting into the chimney flue and breaking things inside. But a cap won’t stop water from getting into bricks if the chimney is painted. Even if you don’t paint the chimney, you can still add color. You can hire companies that stain bricks to protect the bricks and chimney. The stain won’t seal the pores in the bricks or let water into the chimney.

If you want to buy a house with a painted chimney, you should know that several layers of paint could hide bricks that are weak or falling apart. If you try to pressure wash or wire wash the chimney, be careful or you might end up with a pile of broken bricks.

When it’s cold outside, the water inside the bricks of a chimney is an even bigger problem. Whenever it freezes and thaws naturally, the bricks inside the painted chimney will expand and contract, causing the bricks to wear out. This makes them more likely to break down or get worse.

Even chimneys that aren’t painted grow and shrink when it freezes and thaws. But if the bricks aren’t painted, water can’t soak into them. This keeps the chimney from getting wet as it ages. Problems can also be hidden by the paint on a chimney. Broken bricks might only be held together by the paint.

All these reminders are best practiced when you are also assured of having a reliable company at your side. Contact Local Chimney Sweep Cleaning today for Chimney Cleaning Clipper Mills and repairing.

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