Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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AfterOlympia Chimney Crown Repair: The Brentwood Owner’s Guide
If you have an Olympia Chimney system and the crown on top is cracked, spalled, or pulling away from the flue, we stock the materials to repair or rebuild it properly, and the typical installed cost in Brentwood runs $425 to $950 depending on whether we’re sealing hairline cracks or pouring a new crown from scratch. Most Olympia Chimney crown repairs here are done in a single visit, usually two to four hours on the roof. What usually tips an owner off is water staining on the ceiling near the chimney, or chunks of concrete showing up in the gutter after a storm. By the time that happens, the crown has been letting water into the chase and the mortar joints below it for a while. We see it on capes and colonials all over Brentwood, especially the ones near Brentwood State Park where the trees drop more debris than you’d expect. The good news is this is a known failure point on Olympia Chimney systems, and it’s one we fix often enough to have the process down cold.
Which Olympia Chimney Models This Applies To
Olympia Chimney makes a broad range of factory-built and masonry-compatible chimney systems, and the crown on each type fails a little differently. The most common ones we work on in Brentwood are their stainless steel air-insulated and insulated solid-pack chimney lines, which use a manufactured crown assembly that sits on top of the chase or the masonry shell. If you’ve got an Olympia system with a stainless flue pipe sticking up through a concrete or metal crown, this page applies to you. The quickest way to identify what you have is to look for the Olympia Chimney label on the pipe itself, usually near the top or on a firestop plate in the attic. If the label’s gone, measure the inner diameter of the flue: we most often see 6-inch and 8-inch Olympia systems in Brentwood homes, and the crown dimensions follow from that. One thing worth knowing before you order anything online: Olympia Chimney crowns are not universal. A crown built for their 6-inch air-insulated line will not seat correctly on an 8-inch solid-pack pipe, and mixing parts from different series creates a gap that water finds in a season. We’re an independent shop, not a division of Olympia Chimney, which means we’re free to tell you plainly whether an OEM part or a field-poured concrete crown with proper expansion joints is the better fix for your particular roof. On most Olympia systems we service, the answer is a custom-poured crown with a flexible crown coat, because that’s what actually survives Brentwood winters.
Signs Your Olympia Chimney Crown Repair Is Failing
- Water staining on the ceiling or wall near the chimney. The crown’s whole job is to shed water away from the flue and onto the roof. A crack in the crown lets water run down the outside of the flue pipe and into the chase, where it finds drywall and framing. By the time the stain shows, the leak has been active through several rainstorms.
- Concrete crumbs in the gutter or around the chimney base. Spalling happens when water soaks into the crown, freezes, and pops the surface apart. In Brentwood we get enough freeze-thaw cycles each winter to accelerate this on any crown that’s already porous or cracked. Those little concrete pebbles are the crown literally failing.
- Visible cracking or a crown that’s pulling away from the flue pipe. Factory crowns and hand-poured concrete both shrink as they cure, and older crowns develop a gap at the flue-to-crown joint. That gap doesn’t close itself. Caulk fails in a couple of years, which is why we don’t caulk crowns as a long-term fix.
- Rust staining on the flue pipe or crown surface. If you have a stainless Olympia flue and you’re seeing orange streaks on the crown below it, water is sitting there too long and picking up mineral content from the crown mix or a galvanized component. That rust line marks the spot where the crown slope isn’t doing its job.
- Musty smell in the firebox after rain. Water that gets past a failing crown doesn’t always show up as a ceiling stain right away. Sometimes it soaks into the masonry and evaporates back into the house as damp must. If the fireplace smells like a wet basement after a storm, the crown is the first thing we check.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
In Brentwood, a straight re-seal of a sound Olympia crown with minor surface cracks typically runs $425 to $550. A full tear-out and repour with proper concrete, expansion joints, and a flexible crown coat runs $650 to $950, depending on crown size, roof pitch, and whether the flue needs a new storm collar at the same time. We price the job before a single tool comes off the truck, and the number you hear on the phone is the number on the invoice. Every crown job includes removal of the old failing material down to a sound base, forming and pouring with the right mix for a freeze-thaw climate, a weather-lapped flue-to-crown joint, and a sweep of the roof area after we’ve packed up. The work is covered by our 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If it’s not right, one call brings us back. Wendell Pike has been doing this in Brentwood since the late 1990s, and the reason we still get calls is simple: the crown is still shedding water ten years later. Call (934) 935-3847 for an exact quote on your Olympia system. Estimates are free, and there’s no trip charge if you’re inside the county.
DIY or Call Us?
What you can safely do is take a look from the ground with a pair of binoculars, or from a ladder if the roof is walkable and you’re comfortable on it. You’re looking for a crack you could slide a nickel into, a visible gap at the flue, or a crown surface that’s pitted and flaking. What you should not do is climb onto a steep Brentwood roof with a bag of caulk and a putty knife. Falls from roof work put people in the ER every season, and caulking a failing crown buys you maybe one winter. The real failure with Olympia crowns is below the surface: the crown mix has broken down, the expansion joints are gone, or the slope is wrong from the original pour. That’s not a caulk job. We’d rather talk you out of a repair you don’t need than sell you one, so if you send us a photo we’ll give you a straight read. Call (934) 935-3847 and Wendell or one of his crew will look at it with you. If it needs doing, we’ll do it right. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you that too.
FAQs
A properly poured concrete crown on an Olympia Chimney system in Brentwood typically lasts 15 to 25 years, sometimes longer if it was mixed right and has good expansion joints. Factory metal crowns often fail sooner, in the 10 to 15 year range, because the seams and fasteners loosen with freeze-thaw cycling. The reason most crowns fail early is the mix was too wet when poured, or someone skipped the expansion joint at the flue. We use a mix formulated for freeze-thaw exposure and a flexible crown coat that moves with the chimney instead of cracking. If you’re not sure how old yours is, call (934) 935-3847 and we’ll look at it.
Yes, if the crown is mostly sound and the cracks are hairline, we can rout and fill them with a flexible crown sealant and coat the whole surface. That runs less than half the cost of a full repour. But if the crown is spalled, separated from the flue, or slopes toward the flue instead of away from it, a patch won’t hold. The honest answer depends on what we see. Send us a photo or call (934) 935-3847 and we’ll tell you which path makes sense for your chimney.
Most crown repairs on Olympia Chimney systems in Brentwood take two to four hours on site. A simple re-seal is usually done in under two. A full tear-out and repour needs time for the concrete to set enough to finish the surface, which is why we plan for the longer end on that job. We give you a real arrival window and call if anything changes. Contact us at (934) 935-3847 to schedule a time that works.
Yes. Our trucks carry the concrete mixes, flexible crown coats, and storm collars sized for the 6-inch and 8-inch Olympia Chimney systems we see most often in Brentwood. We also stock parts from DuraFlex, HeatShield, and Gelco. If your system takes something outside the common sizes, we order it and schedule the repair, so you’re not waiting on a part that shows up weeks later. Call (934) 935-3847 and we’ll confirm we have what your chimney needs before we schedule the visit.
Whether you’ve got a cracked crown on an Olympia Chimney system or you just want a straight opinion before spending money, call Top Hat Chimney at (934) 935-3847. Wendell and his crew have been serving Brentwood and the surrounding communities for over 29 years, and we give you a fair number before any work begins. Free estimates, no trip charge inside the county, and the 90-Day Done Right Promise in writing on every job. Ask anyone on your street.
Written by Wendell Pike, Owner, Top Hat Chimney at Top Hat Chimney, serving Brentwood and nearby areas.