Mortar sanding out of the joints or cracks in the brick? We repair your chimney and explain both ways to go before you choose.
Chimney repair in Rancho Cucamonga usually means repointing, where we restore the outside of worn mortar joints, and patching isolated cracks, so the brick stays tight and water stays out. San Bernardino County encourages that kind of work as regular chimney upkeep.
Most calls start the same way. Mortar is sanding out of the joints, there's a crack near the roofline, or the chimney took a knock in a quake and you're not sure what that means. The price turns on how much mortar is worn, how tall the chimney is, how easy the roof is to work from and which repair you choose, but mostly on how deep the damage goes, because cracking that runs down into the firebox is a much bigger job than a crown and a few joints. The schedule turns on whether the city wants a permit for your job and on what we find once the old mortar is out. You'll get your own figure in the written estimate after I've seen the chimney.
California's state licensing board counts fire brick for refractory work, the heat-proof brick that lines a firebox, as masonry work, along with clay brick and stone, so the firebox and the chimney above it are the work we do every day. I'd rather you understand your chimney before you spend money on it, so I'll show you what I see and tell you why it matters.
Here's who does what from your first call to the finished chimney, so nothing comes as a surprise.
I've run this business since 2023, and I still come out myself to look at your chimney with you, from the crown down to the firebox, and answer whatever you want to ask. You get a written estimate that puts the upkeep path and the sturdier path side by side, with what each one does for your house.
Once you say yes, we check what Rancho Cucamonga asks for on your kind of chimney job, and when a permit is needed we handle the application and line up the inspections. If your home may be a designated historic property, we'll ask you to confirm that with the city's planning office first.
We're licensed and insured. I run the job on site with our crew, an experienced mason leads the brick work, and when it's done we walk the finished chimney with you before we leave.
On every chimney I lay out two paths and explain what each one does for you, so you can choose. Simple upkeep means we repoint the worn joints and patch isolated cracks, which keeps the chimney tight and dry for everyday use. A sturdier repair is aimed at shaking, and it starts with how far down the damage goes, because San Bernardino County's guidance says that when earthquake damage reaches below the shoulder of the firebox, where it narrows into the chimney, the whole firebox and chimney get replaced with light-frame construction, a framed chimney instead of brick, above the foundation. So cracking that stops high usually means a partial repair, and cracking that runs low means a replacement. If anyone suggests a steel brace run down to the roof surface, the county advises against it, since those braces are thought to have helped chimneys fail in past quakes, and any brace has to be carefully engineered, so it's fair to ask how one was designed.
A chimney is often the first place worn masonry shows, so we look at the rest of the house too. If the walls have the same tired mortar, tuckpointing renews those joints, and if bricks are cracked or flaking on their faces, brick repair replaces them so the new chimney work isn't tied into failing brick.
Once you've picked a path, the work follows the same order on most chimneys, and I'll tell you before we go on if something we find changes the plan.
Chimneys are usually very sooty and dusty inside, so we cover the hearth and the floor around it before we touch anything. We'll ask you to move or cover nearby furniture and rugs too.
We look over the crown, the joints and every crack, following them down toward the firebox, because how far they reach decides which repair makes sense. If it's worse than it looked at the estimate, I stop and talk it through with you.
We grind the soft mortar out of the joints down to sound material and pack in fresh mortar, then tool it so the joints shed water. Isolated cracks get patched in the same pass.
We wash the mortar haze off the brick, haul away the old mortar and debris, and clear the roof and hearth. The new joints are then left to set before the fireplace sees heavy use.
Tell us about your chimney and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look at it with you and send a free written estimate, with no pressure and no obligation.
(909) 360-4010Not by much. San Bernardino County's guidance says repointing or patching cracks alone does little to cut the chance of damage in a future quake, so it keeps the chimney tidy and dry but doesn't make it safer. If safety is what you're after, plan for more than surface work, and that's the second path I'll lay out at the estimate.
The county recommends against it, even though some building codes may allow it. A like-for-like rebuild does little to lower the risk of damage in the next quake or the risk to anyone near the chimney, so I'd point you toward a sturdier repair instead.
You apply online, because the city's Building and Safety Department runs its permit process 100% online, not over the counter. We check whether your chimney job needs one before we start, and when it does, we file it and set up the inspections for you.
Across the US, chimney cap, crown repair and waterproofing work usually runs about $550 to $2,300 per job. That's a national figure for that kind of work, not our price, and repointing a whole chimney or a repair aimed at earthquakes is a different job. Your own number comes in the written estimate once I've seen the chimney.
San Bernardino County's assessment teams found damaged brick chimneys after the Trona Earthquakes, and the county says older, unreinforced chimneys with worn mortar are the most at risk. Even a chimney built to modern standards can take serious damage, so your house's age matters, but it isn't the whole story.
We're based in Rancho Cucamonga and do the same chimney work across the cities around it, including Upland, Ontario, Fontana, Chino and more. A lot of what we see is older brick with mortar gone sandy at the top, where sun and weather hit hardest. If your city isn't listed, ask us.
Call (909) 360-4010 or use our contact form, and have your home's age, whether you use the fireplace and any recent quake damage handy, since those three things tell me which path to look at first.
If you've got a question about your chimney before you're ready for an estimate, ask, and I'll walk you through it.
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