Repairing Wood Siding Chimney

Wood siding repair cost.

Repairing wood siding chimney.

The first three courses of siding 2 feet or so up from the ground and wood framed chimneys or chases that aren t protected by a roof overhang. Wood shingles are often used as siding material for chimneys continuing from the roof area. But without proper attention isolated areas can begin rotting in only a few years especially near the foundation. You are likely to set the house afire.

Wood is beautiful and often selected to achieve a certain traditional aesthetic. How to repair wood siding. The photos below show a few rotted chimneys i ve come across in the past few months. Framed chimney chases seem to be especially vulnerable and i ve repaired a lot of them over the years.

I am way too scared of a house fire to say based on e text that building wood hence combustible chimney to extend repair a brick chimney is safe and ok. The good news is that damage is usually limited to two areas. For example the house shown here was built just a few years before my crew and i began working on it but already the paint was peeling from the fiber cement clapboards and the corner boards had begun to rot see image 1. By the time the homeowners notice the siding is soft they ve got a real problem on their hands.

But the price of wood siding varies by wood type. For example cedar will be more expensive than plywood. The average cost of wood siding is 7 per square foot. Wood can also develop cracks that create additional water problems.

Installing siding on a chimney requires a layer of wood furring that serves as a base for the siding itself. However wood siding requires more maintenance than other materials. Replacement and resurfacing can be expensive which makes cladding a masonry chimney with siding an attractive option in some instances. Water splashes up from the ground frequently soaking the vulnerable bottom edges.

When rotted siding is found at a wood chimney chase the next step is to have some of the rotted siding removed to have the wall sheathing below the siding inspected for water damage. Wood however can have knots that fall out or develop holes that allow water to intrude on the internal structures of the chimney according to the maryland shingle website.