Skip to content
Chimney Flashing Repair in Indianapolis
Flashing is the weatherproofing at the joint where the roof meets the chimney. It is a small amount of metal covering a seam that never stops moving, because the roof deck and the chimney expand and contract at different rates. When that seam opens, water runs into the roof structure instead of off it, and it shows up inside the house long before anyone looks up.
Clean Sweep 317 has repaired and replaced chimney flashing across Indianapolis since 2014, on full masonry chimneys, on sided chases, and on factory built systems with brick veneer. Our technicians hold NFI certification and National Chimney Sweep Guild credentials on the chimney side of this work, including Accredited Certified Chimney Professional and Certified Chimney Reliner. The masonry and roof detailing is hands on experience built up since 2014. We are A+ accredited by the Better Business Bureau and average 4.9 stars across more than 795 Google reviews.
Call 317-643-1128 or request an appointment online.
Is Your Flashing Failing You? Call In Our Experts For Chimney Flashing Repair in Indianapolis
Flashing rarely announces itself. Symptoms turn up some distance from the failure, because water travels along framing before it drops.
- Staining on a ceiling or wall near the chimney, often several feet away
- A damp or musty smell in the firebox, worst after heavy rain
- Peeling paint or soft drywall on the chimney chase indoors
- Rust on the damper, the firebox, or a metal insert
- Visible gaps or lifted metal where flashing meets the chimney
- Tar or caulk smeared across the joint by a previous contractor
That last one matters more than it looks. Sealant smeared over a flashing joint is not a repair. It hides the failure, lets go within a season or two, and the water keeps coming in.
What Is Chimney Flashing? What Does It Do?
Flashing is a layered system rather than a single piece of metal, and each layer has a job.
Step Flashing
Individual pieces of metal bent into an L and woven course by course into the shingles running up the side of the chimney. Each piece laps the one below, so water is carried down and over the shingles rather than behind them.
Counter Flashing
The second layer, covering the vertical leg of the step flashing. Done correctly it is set into a reglet ground into the mortar joint and sealed, so the top edge finishes inside the chimney rather than on the face. Counter flashing that is surface mounted and caulked will let go, because the caulk is the only thing holding back water.
Kick Out Flashing
Where the bottom of the chimney meets a roof to wall junction or a gutter, a kick out piece throws water clear of the wall instead of letting it run behind the siding. It is a code requirement and one of the most commonly missing pieces.
A Cricket Behind the Chimney
On the up slope side, a chimney wider than thirty inches needs a small peaked structure behind it, called a cricket, to split the water around both sides. Without one the back of the chimney becomes a dam where water, ice, and debris collect. It is also a code requirement, and on wide chimneys it decides whether the flashing lasts.
How Do I Know if My Flashing Is Damaged?
Flashing gets blamed for plenty of leaks it did not cause. Homeowners here spend real money replacing flashing when the water was coming through a cracked crown, a missing cap, or an absorbent masonry face. Those are different repairs at different prices, so diagnosis comes first.
That is what our free water test is for. We run it as part of a free inspection for chimney leaks when a test is what it takes to pinpoint the source, rather than on every visit. We isolate the chimney section by section and introduce water in a controlled way, starting low and working up, until we find where it enters. Then you know which repair you are buying and why.
We also confirm whether both layers of flashing are present, whether the counter flashing is set into the mortar joint or just stuck to the face, whether a kick out exists where one is required, and whether the chimney needs a cricket it does not have.
How a Flashing Repair Is Actually Done
A proper flashing replacement is not a caulk job. On masonry it runs like this.
- Remove the old flashing with the shingles and underlayment around the chimney
- Install new underlayment, lapped several inches up the chimney
- Set new shingles with new step flashing woven in course by course
- Add kick out flashing where the chimney meets a gutter or wall
- Grind a reglet into the mortar joint, set the counter flashing into it, and seal it with a polyurethane sealant rated for that movement
- Build a cricket where chimney width calls for one
- Clean up, and leave you photographs of what was behind the old flashing
Cutting into mortar joints is masonry work, so joints along the flashing line that are already soft get repointed as part of the job rather than sealed over.
Sided Chimneys and Factory Built Chases
Not every chimney is masonry. A factory built chimney sits in a framed chase finished in vinyl, LP, fiber cement, EIFS, or brick veneer, and flashing there works differently.
On a sided chase the flashing sits behind the cladding, so reaching it means taking siding off. On a brick veneer chase the real weatherproofing is a through wall flashing system behind the brick: house wrap, a drip edge, end dams, and weep holes to let water back out. When that was left out during construction, which is common, work on the visible flashing line will not fix it. Brick courses have to come off, and we will say so first.
We flash and repair sided and veneered chimneys as well as full masonry ones, which is worth asking about, because plenty of companies handle only one type.
What Flashing Repair Costs in Indianapolis
Flashing is quoted after we see it, because access, roof pitch, chimney size, and the condition of the mortar joints move the number. These are the ranges most Indianapolis jobs land in.
| Work | Typical Indianapolis range |
|---|---|
| Chimney flashing repair or full replacement | $750 to $2,800+ |
| Repointing mortar joints along the flashing line | $700 to $2,000+ |
| Water test, included with our general inspection | Free |
These are educational ranges, not quotes. The figure climbs most on chimneys that are tall, steep to reach, wide enough to need a cricket, or clad in something that must come off first.
Chimney Flashing Questions From Indianapolis Homeowners
How long does chimney flashing last?
Aluminum and galvanized flashing installed with a roof will often reach the end of the shingles it was woven into. Copper and stainless last longer. What shortens any of them is constant movement at the joint and sealant used in place of a reglet. If your flashing is as old as a roof near replacement, plan on both together.
Can flashing be repaired, or does it all have to be replaced?
A single lifted piece, or a failed sealant line at the counter flashing, can be repaired. Once the step flashing is corroded, was never woven in properly, or is buried under roofing cement, replacement is the only fix that lasts.
Why is there water in my firebox after it rains?
Flashing is one of four likely sources. The others are a cracked crown, a missing or damaged cap, and an absorbent masonry face. The water test tells us which, usually in the same visit. Long running leaks can reach the liner, and where relining is the answer we install stainless steel liners, which carry a transferable lifetime warranty.
Do you work on chimneys in older Indianapolis neighborhoods?
Yes. Much of our flashing work is in the older housing stock around Meridian-Kessler, Broad Ripple, Meridian Hills, and Williams Creek, where chimneys are tall, mortar is soft, and the original flashing was often never let into the joint. Older mortar needs a matched mix rather than a modern high strength one, and we account for that before cutting into it.
Why Flashing Is a Chimney Job, Not a Roofing Job
Flashing sits on the roof, so roofers get called first. The trouble is that the chimney side of that joint is masonry, and the durable fix means grinding a reglet into a mortar joint and setting metal into it. A roofing crew will often seal the joint instead, which looks finished and holds about a season.
We work the whole assembly: the roof side, the chimney side, the mortar joints, and the crown and cap above them. Because the water test comes with the inspection, we can show you where water was getting in rather than guess. If the answer is a cap or a crown, that is what we will tell you.
Call 317-643-1128 or request an appointment online. We serve Indianapolis, Broad Ripple, Meridian-Kessler, Meridian Hills, Williams Creek, the Geist area, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield, Zionsville, and Brownsburg.
- 317-643-1128
- 5351 N Tacoma Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220
- 10 S 9th St, Suite 13 Noblesville, IN 46060