Chimney Sweep and Masonry in East Flatbush
The chimney on an East Flatbush two-family vents your boiler and water heater every day of the heating season. Our Crown Heights crew keeps that flue lined, capped and dry.
Does a brick two-family in East Flatbush need a chimney sweep if it has no fireplace?
It needs an annual inspection rather than a sweep. The chimney on these houses vents the boiler and water heater, and the risks are a blocked or broken flue, not creosote. We check the clay flue tile for cracks, look for condensation damage from a gas conversion, confirm the cap is keeping birds and rain out, and clear debris. Dryer vents are a separate check at the same visit.
The Working Chimney of an East Flatbush Two-Family
East Flatbush is attached brick two-families from the 1920s and 30s, semi-detached rows, and detached frame Capes, most with flat or low-slope built-up roofs that are now well past their design life. The chimney on these houses was built to vent a coal or oil boiler and a water heater. Some have a decorative fireplace on the parlor floor, but the flue that matters is the one running from the basement.
That flue was usually lined with clay flue tile and topped with nothing more than a mortar wash for a crown. Ninety-odd winters of freeze-thaw have cracked most of those washes, and once water gets in behind the top courses the brick faces start spalling. On a flat roof that holds water after a storm, the base of the stack stays wet for days, and the flashing is the first thing to give.
Oil-to-gas conversions added a second problem. A gas boiler, or a water heater left alone when the boiler was replaced with a sidewall-vented unit, sends cool wet exhaust up a flue sized for a much hotter appliance. The condensation eats the flue tile joints from the inside. Water stains on the chimney breast or a rusted damper in the decorative fireplace are often the first sign.
The Services That Keep East Flatbush Flues Safe
A stainless steel flue liner sized to the actual appliances is the single most valuable repair on these houses, and the one most often skipped during a boiler swap. We size it to the combined input of the boiler and water heater, insulate it, and terminate it with a cap that stops rain and birds. The inspection that comes first tells you whether you need it or whether the clay flue tile is still sound.
Above the roof, we recast crowns in place with a real overhang, replace spalled brick with reclaimed brick that matches, and reflash the base of the stack with copper flashing and lead counter-flashing cut into the mortar joints so the built-up roof can be tied in properly. Dryer vent cleaning rounds out most visits, since long basement dryer runs are common here.
- Annual boiler and water heater flue inspections with camera scans
- Stainless steel flue liners for gas conversions and orphaned water heater flues
- Cast-in-place crowns to replace cracked mortar washes
- Copper flashing and lead counter-flashing at the roofline
- Dryer vent cleaning for basement and first-floor laundry runs
Chimney Leak Repair
Water near a fireplace has four possible sources, and sealing the wrong one wastes money. We trace the actual path on Crown Heights rowhouses and pre-war buildings, then fix that path with the right material.
Learn more →Chimney Crown Repair
The crown is the slab that seals the top of the chimney around the flues, and on most Crown Heights stacks it is a thin mortar wash that cracked years ago. We rebuild crowns as reinforced cast-in-place slabs with an overhang and drip edge, so water sheds away from the brick.
Learn more →Chimney Tuckpointing
Mortar joints are the sacrificial part of a chimney: they are meant to wear before the brick does. We grind out failed joints on Crown Heights stacks and repoint them in a lime-rich Type N mortar that matches the original in strength and color.
Learn more →Chimney Flashing Repair
Flashing is the metal that bridges the chimney and the roof, and it fails quietly under layers of tar. We cut out the old work, install new base flashing in copper or aluminum, and let counter-flashing into the brick joints so the seal does not depend on caulk.
Learn more →Chimney Sweep
A proper sweep removes soot and creosote from the firebox to the flue cap and ends with a camera look at what is left behind. Our crew works Crown Heights rowhouses, pre-war co-ops and frame houses with the same drop-cloth discipline.
Learn more →Chimney Inspection
Buying a rowhouse, converting a boiler, or just unsure what is behind the firebox? We run NFPA 211 Level 1 and Level 2 inspections with a flue camera and give you a written report you can hand to a buyer, a co-op board or an insurer.
Learn more →
Representative Work in East Flatbush
- Project type
- Crown recast and copper flashing
- Area
- Attached brick two-family with a built-up flat roof, East Flatbush
- Problem
- The second-floor tenant reported a brown stain spreading across the ceiling near the chimney breast after every heavy rain. On the roof, the mortar-wash crown had split into pieces, the top three courses were spalling on the weather side, and the flashing was a layer of roof cement that had pulled away from the brick.
- Solution
- We removed the loose mortar wash and the roof cement, rebuilt the spalled courses with reclaimed brick to match, and recast the crown in place with a slope and a drip edge that carries water clear of the brick. New copper flashing was set at the base and lead counter-flashing was let into raked mortar joints, giving the roofer a clean metal edge to seal the built-up membrane against. The stain stopped growing after the next storm.
- Materials
Reaching East Flatbush From Crown Heights
East Flatbush sits directly south of Crown Heights, so your house is a short drive for a crew that spends its days on the limestone rows and pre-war buildings of Crown Heights. We can usually schedule within the week, and two-family owners who also own a rental a few blocks away often book both in one visit.
Flatbush lies to the west and Brownsville to the east, and both are on our regular route, along with Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant to the north.
Part of our Areas We Serve Around Crown Heights service area.
Frequently Asked Questions
My boiler was replaced with a high-efficiency unit that vents out the side wall. Is the chimney now unused?
Probably not. In most East Flatbush two-families the water heater still vents up the old chimney, and it is now alone in a flue sized for the boiler too. That is called an orphaned flue, and the water heater's small, cool exhaust condenses heavily inside it. The fix is a stainless steel flue liner sized for the water heater alone. If nothing vents up the chimney anymore, it should be capped and inspected so it stops taking water.
Is the decorative fireplace in my parlor safe to use?
Not until someone looks inside the flue. Many of these fireplaces were built as ornament, with shallow fireboxes and flues that may be blocked, shared with the boiler flue, or lined with cracked clay flue tile. A camera inspection tells us whether the flue is separate and intact. If it is, a stainless steel flue liner and a cap can make it usable for gas logs or occasional wood fires. If it is not, we will tell you that directly.
Why does my chimney leak when the roof was just redone?
A new built-up roof is only as good as what it is sealed against. If the roofer flashed to a stack with a cracked crown and open mortar joints, water goes in through the top and the brick and comes out below the roofline. Roof cement around the base is not flashing and lasts a few seasons at best. The permanent fix is a recast crown, sound joints, and copper flashing with lead counter-flashing cut into the brick.
What does a chimney inspection on a two-family cover?
We start in the basement at the boiler and water heater connections, checking the connector pipes, the cleanout and the base of the flue. Then we run a camera up the flue to look at every clay flue tile joint. On the roof we check the crown, the top courses, the cap and the flashing, and we look at the dryer vent termination while we are there. You get photos of anything we flag and a plain-language explanation of what needs doing now versus later.
How often should the dryer vent be cleaned in these houses?
Once a year for a family that does laundry regularly, more often if the dryer sits in the basement with a long run to the exterior wall. Basement laundry is standard in East Flatbush two-families, and those long runs with elbows trap lint fast. Clothes taking two cycles to dry, a hot dryer cabinet, or lint around the exterior hood are all signs the run is restricted. We clean the full length, not just the hood.
Can you work on a semi-detached house where the chimney is on the shared wall?
Yes. Semi-detached rows in East Flatbush often have the two houses' chimneys built side by side on the party wall or as one combined stack with separate flues. We identify which flue serves which house before any work starts and only touch what belongs to you unless both owners have agreed to a shared repair. Where a crown or flashing repair spans both halves, we are glad to coordinate with your neighbor.
Get Your East Flatbush Flue Checked
Call Crown Heights Chimney Sweep at (347) 555-0188 or send the form. Tell us what heats the house and whether the fireplace is in use so we can plan the visit.