Home › Chimney Repair

Chimney repair that actually fixes it.

Leaks, crumbling crowns, spalling brick, failing mortar — we diagnose the real cause, fix it with proper masonry, and tell you honestly when a patch is enough and when it isn't.
✓ 30+ years in Central MA✓ Free estimates✓ ★★★★★ on Google
Stone chimney built by JB Mohler in Groton, MA

If the top of the chimney is cracked, loose, or letting water underneath, see our dedicated page on chimney crown repair for how we decide between repairing a sound crown and rebuilding a failed one.

If the mortar joints are washed out but the brick or stone is still sound, our chimney repointing page explains when repointing is enough and when partial rebuilding is the better repair.

Chimney problems rarely start where they show up

A stain on the ceiling might be a cracked crown, a failed flashing joint, worn-out mortar, an open flue — or a few of those working together. Swap out the one piece you can see without tracing where the water actually gets in, and the leak comes right back.

So before we quote a repair, we read the whole chimney: the crown and cap, the mortar joints, the flashing where it meets the roof, the flue, and the roofline around it. Sometimes the fix is simple. Sometimes the chimney has to be opened up to reach damage that never showed on the outside. Either way, we'll tell you which one you've got.

The work

Chimney repairs we handle

Most of these start the same way: water getting in where it shouldn't. Caught early, they're small jobs. Left alone, they aren't.
Leaking chimneys
We trace where the water actually enters — crown, flashing, cap, mortar or flue — instead of sealing the spot where the stain shows up inside. Seal the symptom and it's back next season; fix the path and it's done.
Crowns & caps
A cracked or mortar-smeared crown lets water straight into the chimney. We tear off the failed material and pour a proper sloped crown with an overhang that sheds water past the brick — not a skim coat that cracks in two winters.
Repointing
Loose, crumbling joints ground out to the right depth and repointed with mortar matched to the original, in hardness and in color. Match it wrong and you trap water or crack the brick. We match it right.
Spalling brick
Freeze-thaw pops the face off soft brick, and once water's behind it the damage moves deeper into the stack. We cut out the failed brick and replace it before it spreads.
Partial & full rebuilds
When the damage runs past the surface, patching over it just buys a year. We take the chimney down to sound masonry and rebuild from there in brick or stone, built to last decades, not seasons.
Inspections
A straight read on where the chimney actually stands: what's urgent, what can wait a season, and what doesn't need touching. No upsell to work you don't need.
Straight talk

Why some chimney repairs don't last

Plenty of chimneys get 'fixed' twice. Usually it's one of these.
The leak gets sealed, not the cause
A bead of caulk or a coat of sealant can stop water for a season without touching the failed crown, flashing or mortar behind it. The water just finds its way back.
Hard mortar on soft masonry
Modern high-cement mortar is harder than old brick and stone. Point an old chimney with it and it traps moisture and works the softer masonry apart — the joint outlives the brick around it.
The damage gets covered, not removed
Coatings and surface patches hide decay instead of taking it out. The chimney looks fixed while water keeps moving through it underneath.
The chimney gets treated as separate parts
Crown, cap, flue, flashing and masonry all shed water onto each other. Fix one and ignore the rest and you've just moved the problem. A repair that holds accounts for the whole assembly.

“Jeff and his team should be mentors to other contractors on how to conduct business… complete reconstruction of my two chimneys. Truly professional, accommodating, along with perfection beyond my belief.”

Mark Holland · Google Review
On the job

Sometimes the real damage is inside

What shows on the outside can be the small part of the problem. When a chimney needs it, we open it up, pull out the unstable masonry, and rebuild from solid material, so the repair fixes the structure underneath instead of disguising it.

Chimney opened up mid-rebuild, exposing the flue liner inside the brick stack
Open-heart surgery — the inside of a chimney, mid-rebuild
The process

How it works

1
We come take a look
We come out and look at the actual job on site — what you've got, what you're after — instead of guessing from the driveway.
2
You get a free written estimate
What we'd do, how, and what it costs, in writing. If there's a simpler way to get you there, we'll tell you.
3
We do the work — properly
Owner on site, jobsite left clean, and work built to last, not just to get through the season.
We repair chimneys across Central Massachusetts. Towns we work in include:
BoltonHarvardSterlingGrotonLeominsterMarlboroughHoldenPrincetonAll of Central MA →
Related services
Chimney Crown Repair→Fireplace & Chimney Construction→Historic Restoration→Masonry Repointing→
A straightforward place to start

Send a photo.
Get a straight answer.

No site visit needed to get started. A phone picture and your town is enough for us to tell you what’s wrong, what we’d do, and roughly what it costs.
(978) 365-6800
Reply within one business day · Free, no pressure
JB Mohler Masonry
Homeowner's photo of a chimney leaking through the ceiling
Hi — chimney's leaking into the family room after big storms. Bolton. What are we looking at?
That's a failed crown — see the cracking at the top? Contained fix if we get it before winter. Rough range: a day of work, not a rebuild. Want us to come confirm? — Jeff
Replied next business day
(978) 365-6800