Chimney is an important part inside your house. Especially for the end of the year. You need a chimney as a funnel for the smoke from your fireplace.
Chimney - just like your roof - is located at the top of the property. It is exposed by weather, animals, and other elements such as snow, bricks, leaves, small debris, etc.
Until one day you may need to rebuild chimneys. Rebuilding your chimneys will be based on various needs. From safety, function, and aesthetic.
Whatever the reason is, you would like to know how much it costs. And here is some consideration for you.
When You Need to Rebuild Your Chimney?
If the rebuilding is based on aesthetics or some new touch for the house, you can do that kind of work anytime you feel right. For instance you want to sell your property, the new chimneys can upgrade the selling price.
New chimneys can give a more fresh ambience from your house. Not only that, the new chimneys can give extra safety. So it increases the house value for the next owner.
But there are more urgent reasons when you need to rebuild.
Since it is placed outside, sometimes cracks can slowly damage the structure. If you neglect it, you’ll never know when it will break. You don’t want to experience this kind of thing!
To make sure you must check the structure on a regular basis. Is there cracks, damage, or any structural disintegrity.
When you find there are some signs of chimney cracks or worse like structural damage, this is the exact time when you need to rebuild it.
What Kind of Rebuild You Must Do
Rebuilding one part of your house will bring some factors and a variety of different workloads.
And here are some ideas of the rebuilding scale you need to consider.
- Partial Rebuilding
Partial rebuilding is one work you need to do if there are small cracks, a little piece of bricks went missing or small damage.
The budget you would like to prepare is from $600 up to $1,000 on average.
- Roofline Rebuild
If you manage to find some damage in the mortar joints, deterioration at the chimneys that looks quite significant, or vertical cracks, then you need to do roofline rebuilding.
In this kind of work the whole stack needs to be torn down. After that the roofline will be rebuilt from the roofline up.
For this kind of work you need to prepare the budget from $1,000 up to $3,500.
- Total Replacement
If the structural damage occurs below and also above the roofline, and you can see your chimneys starting to lean, then this is the right time to do total replacement.
The cost of total replacement starts between $4,000 up to $15,000.
Average Cost To Rebuild Chimneys
It is always an advantage to know how much does the average cost to build and rebuild some parts of your house.
Let’s find out how much is the average cost to rebuild chimneys.
In the USA, the average national cost is $2,200. Keep in mind this is an average number. It can differ depending on where you live, the labor cost, tax, and the stock of materials needed are available.
The minimum cost to rebuild chimneys you can expect is $600.
While the maximum cost you need to prepare is $15,000.
So if we take this number we can find the average range of the cost from $1,000 up to $5,000.
Single or Double Flue?
Chimneys have their own measures according to the property. Usually there are single or double flue you can find. How many flues do you have in your property?
If you have a single flue, then the average cost you may need to prepare is from $100 up to $300 per linear foot.
For houses that have double flue chimneys, the average cost to rebuild it is around $200 up to $400 per linear foot.
When you start to rebuild chimneys, usually the deterioration only happens at the outer bricks. On the other hand, before you must rebuild it, it is better to build a good quality chimney.
So you don’t need to pay extra money on a short term basis. Make sure the contractor you hire can give you the best advice from which materials are the best and they also know exactly the job needed.
This will cost you less on the long term basis.
Chimney Repair
If your chimney only has minor damage, you should consider repairing it first. The main materials used are bricks, so when you find that only these parts are damaged, here are some options.
A cracked brick on your chimneys will cost $20 up to $30 per brick to replace with the new one.
The other alternative is repointing the chimneys.
If the mortar joints are damaged but the whole structure is still secure enough, you should consider repointing it.
The cost is around $20 up to $50 per row or $500 up to $2,500.
Can You DIY?
Sorry but for safety reasons, the answer is NO.
Why?
Chimneys are not only placed at the top of your house, but it is also connected to your fireplace.
Even if you have experience in repairing roofs on your own, if you want to do even minor changes to the chimneys, you must double check all over again.
Because chimneys must meet the building code and measures.
It must have the right height, the right materials, strong components which are needed to support the structure, and so many more safety measures.
So we need to strongly urge you to find a good consultant or contractor from the first day you decide to rebuild chimneys.
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Chimney is an important part of your property. It's strongly needed especially during winter to channel smoke from your fireplace. So you and your family can keep safe and healthy inside. The most important thing is you can be warm inside your own house.
If you need to rebuild, repair, or any change of your chimney, ask professional help to do the job.
The average cost to rebuild a chimney is $2,200. With $600 at the low end and $15,000 at the high end.
You can contact us freely and we will give you a reasonable cost estimation to do the job based on your needs.
Feel free to contact us anytime!
