Sometimes people ask me if there is such a thing as a "Masonry Emergency." The answer is yes; I get several calls a year where a client has an emergency situation. Most of these involve aging chimneys with stones falling, endangering the inhabitants and the roof. Most recently, I was contacted by an individual who had large river stones falling from his chimney and damaging the metal roof below. It was pretty disturbing for them to hear stones hitting the roof when they were inside the house (not to mention the chance of being hit by a fallen stone), and the family was planning a retreat over Thanksgiving and needed the project completed by then. The extreme part of the job was the scaffolding needed to make the repairs. We had to erect three sets of scaffold, 2 of which were on top of the metal roof.
This is an example the damage we saw on the chimney. We could grab a stone and 3 more would come off with it. You can see why I call it an "emergency."
The crew steps back to survey our work. We spent most a day building 3 scaffolds with 2 hoists.
To prevent future damage, we extended the flue and built a form to pour an overhanging steel reinforced cement cap.
Here is the finished cap- it should protect the chimney from freeze damage for 30 years and beyond. The owner climbed up and took a peek and said he really likes the look of the cap.
After we finished taking down the scaffold and cleaning the roof, we had to fit everything on my truck. Thanks to years of practice, we were able to get it all in one trip.
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