Author – Marge Padgitt
Have your masonry or manufactured chimney inspected by a professional chimney sweep after storm damage by tornado, lightning, hail, microburst, hurricane, or high wind.
Signs of storm damage to a masonry chimney may include brick pieces or full bricks lying on the ground or on the roof, fresh cracks in the chimney, or blown out sections of the chimney. Lighting usually strikes chimneys at the top and travels down, then exits at some point which can be found in the exterior or interior.
There can be massive interior damage by a lightning strike that is not visible from the exterior. Hail damage usually results in brick or stone face damage and damage to chimney covers. In the case of a microburst or tornado the chimney can actually be lifted up and moved to another location inches away. If this happens, the chimney needs to be torn down and rebuilt.
Manufactured chimneys and fireplaces should be inspected after a storm for blown out sections, damage to the cover, metal chase top, wood chase, metal chimney, and fireplace.
Metal chimneys can become warped, buckled, or detached after a lighting strike or high winds.
~ Marge Padgitt
2 thoughts on “Chimney Repair – Storm Damage”
Can a chimney be pushed from a home because of high winds like we experienced on August 10th
A chimney is an interesting thing. In a fire, often times the only part of the home or structure remaining is the chimney. Yet, sometimes, even the chimney has been destroyed; not necessarily by the fire itself, but by other factors involved, even those necessary to extinguish the fire.
The same sort of thing can happen with a chimney in a violent wind storm. Remember, a properly installed chimney should maintain a certain amount of clearance from combustibles – like the house itself. Thus, there is no reason that a violent wind cannot topple a chimney.
Earthquakes are also known to cause great damage to chimneys as those in earthquake-prone areas will attest.