CHIMNEY REPAIR · BERGEN COUNTY, NJ
Chimney Repair in Bergen County, NJ
Most chimney leaks in Bergen County start where the chimney meets the roof, and that joint is roofing work as much as masonry work. Top Roof LLC is a GAF Certified Contractor based at 4 W Palisade Ave in Englewood, and we repair the parts of a chimney that live above the roofline: step and counter flashing, crowns, caps, repointing and brick repair, and partial or full rebuilds when the masonry is past saving.
- NJ Home Improvement Contractor Registration #13VH11535000, licensed and insured
- 15+ years and 5,000+ projects, serving all of Bergen County
- 5.0 stars from 115 Google reviews
- 20-year workmanship warranty on roof replacement and siding
WHY CHIMNEYS LEAK
Where chimney leaks really come from
A stain on the ceiling along the chimney wall, a damp patch in the attic beside the stack, a drip that only shows up in a hard rain: these are the calls we get most. The part of a chimney above the roof takes the worst of the weather, and four parts do most of the failing.
- Flashing. Where the chimney meets the roof there are two layers of metal. Step flashing is woven into the shingle courses along the sides. Counter flashing is set into the mortar joints above it and folds down over the step flashing, so water running down the brick is thrown back onto the roof. When the counter flashing works loose, or was buried under roof cement instead of replaced, water runs behind it. This is the most common chimney leak we find in Bergen County.
- Crown. The crown is the slab on top of the brick that sheds water away from the flue. A hairline crack lets water into the courses underneath, where it freezes and widens the crack. Thin mortar-wash crowns with no overhang go first.
- Cap. With no cap, rain and snow drop straight down the flue and soak the brick from the inside out.
- Mortar joints and brick. Mortar is softer than brick on purpose. It absorbs water, the water freezes, and the joint crumbles back from the face. Once the joints recede, bricks spall, which means the face flakes off, and eventually the top courses loosen and the chimney can lean.
The stain inside is rarely directly under the entry point. Water runs down the chimney, along the deck and down a rafter before it comes through, so the leak can start a few feet uphill of where you would expect. If the source turns out to be elsewhere on the roof, our roof repair crew is the same crew.
WHAT WE REPAIR
Chimney repair services across Bergen County
We handle the chimney work that sits at or above the roofline, and the same crew does the roof side and the masonry side.
Chimney flashing repair
We strip the shingles around the base of the chimney, remove the old metal and any roof cement, and replace torn underlayment before new flashing goes in. New step flashing is woven into each shingle course along the sides, with an apron at the front and a back pan behind. New counter flashing is cut into the mortar joints, folded down over the step flashing and sealed. On a stucco chimney the counter flashing is set into the stucco instead. On a wide chimney we add a cricket behind it, a small peaked saddle that splits the water instead of letting it pile up against the back. Then the shingles go back in, woven into the existing courses so the repair does not read as a patch.
Chimney crown repair and replacement
Minor cracks in an otherwise solid crown can be sealed with a flexible crown coating. When the crown is crumbling, undersized or has no overhang, we remove it and pour a new concrete crown that overhangs the brick with a drip edge, so water falls clear of the face.
Chimney caps
We install stainless steel caps sized to the flue. A cap keeps rain, snow, leaves and animals out of the chimney and is one of the simplest ways to protect the brickwork beneath it. We fit caps as part of a crown or flashing job or on their own.
Repointing and brick repair
Repointing, sometimes called tuckpointing, means grinding the failed mortar out of the joints to a sound depth and packing in new mortar. We replace spalled or cracked bricks individually and match brick and mortar color as closely as the market allows, so the repair does not look striped from the street.
Partial and full rebuilds above the roofline
When the brick is spalled across whole faces, the top courses are loose, or the chimney has started to lean, repointing will not hold. We take the chimney down to sound brick, or to the roofline if that is where sound brick starts, and rebuild it course by course with a new crown, new cap and new flashing at the base. It is the most work, and it is the point at which the chimney stops being a yearly repair.
HOW WE FIND IT
How we find the source before we write a price
A written price is only worth something if it is for the right problem. The sight we see most often on a chimney call is a thick bead of roof cement along the base of the brick, which means someone chased the leak with a caulk gun instead of replacing the flashing. Cement cracks within a season or two and the leak returns. So before we quote, we do three things.
- Get on the roof and look at all four parts. Flashing, crown, cap and mortar, plus the shingles and deck around the chimney, and the underside of the deck from the attic where we can get in.
- Open it up when the answer is hidden. What is happening at a chimney joint is under the shingles, and the only reliable way to judge it is to lift them. On a Closter rental property, bent flashing and torn underlayment with bare deck showing through were not visible until the shingles came off.
- Photograph what we find. You get the pictures with the estimate, including the parts you cannot see from the ground.
We also look at the roof the chimney sits in. New flashing on a roof near the end of its life is money spent twice, because it comes out again when the roof is replaced. If that is your situation we tell you and give you a separate figure for a roof replacement so you can compare.
REPAIR OR REBUILD
Repair, repoint or rebuild: how we decide
Nobody wants to pay for a rebuild when repointing would do, and nobody wants to repoint a chimney that is coming apart. We look at the stack from the roof, not the driveway, and tell you which one it is.
Repair or repoint makes sense when
- The leak is at the flashing and the brick above it is sound
- The crown is cracked but the courses under it are dry and tight
- A handful of bricks are spalled and the rest of the face is intact
- Mortar joints have receded but the bricks are still firmly bedded and the chimney is plumb
A partial or full rebuild is the honest answer when
- Brick faces are flaking off across whole sides of the chimney
- The top courses move when pushed, or the chimney visibly leans
- Mortar has failed so deep that new mortar would have nothing to bond to
- The same chimney has been patched more than once and still leaks
Either way you get the same thing: photos of what we found, a written scope, and where both options are reasonable, a figure for each.
REAL JOBS
A chimney repair we did in Closter, NJ
Chimney and roof repair in Closter, NJ
A targeted repair around a stucco chimney on a rental property, completed in September 2026. Skylights sit right beside the chimney, so the work had to stay tight in a busy section of roof. Once the shingles around the base came off, the underlayment was wrinkled and torn, the deck was exposed in places, and the old flashing at the base was bent and patched over. We laid new underlayment, snapped chalk lines, cut the shingles back in a stepped pattern and wove new shingles into the old courses so the repaired section sheds water the same way as the rest of the roof. The work was finished at the chimney base where the new shingles meet the stucco, and the debris was bagged on the roof.
The owner, Peter C., left a 5-star Google review afterward. The project page shows photos from each stage: opened up, during and finished. More finished work, including roof replacements and a flat-roof drain repair in Hackensack, is on our projects page, and all 115 reviews are on our testimonials page.
HOW A JOB RUNS
Chimney repair in five steps
- Call or book online. Call (201) 989-0999 or pick a time online. Tell us what you are seeing, and whether the chimney sits beside skylights, vents or a wall so we can plan around them.
- On-site look. We get on the roof, check the flashing, crown, cap and mortar up close, look at the shingles and deck around the chimney, and photograph everything.
- Written scope and estimate. You get a written, itemized estimate with the photos, the materials and the work in plain language, plus the workmanship guarantee that applies. If both a repair and a rebuild are on the table, you get both.
- The work. Flashing jobs mean opening the roof at the chimney base and closing it back up with new metal, underlayment and shingles. Repointing and crown work happen from the roof. A rebuild takes the chimney down to sound brick and puts it back up with a new crown, cap and flashing. Debris stays bagged on the roof or in the dumpster, not in your flower beds.
- Cleanup and photos. We run a magnet over the ground for nails and send you photos of the finished work.
If the chimney sits next to a skylight, as it did in Closter, we handle skylight repair and installation on the same visit. If the gutters below it are overflowing, see gutter installation and replacement. Our full list is on the services page.
WARRANTY AND ESTIMATES
Written scope, workmanship guarantee and a free estimate
Free on-site estimates. Every chimney repair starts with a free visit and a written estimate, never a verbal price from the driveway. Book an estimate online or call (201) 989-0999.
Workmanship guarantee. Chimney work from Top Roof comes with a written scope and a workmanship guarantee that is stated in your estimate, so you know what is covered before you sign. Our 20-year workmanship warranty applies to roof replacement and siding, and we would rather say that plainly than let you assume it covers a repair.
Financing. For larger jobs such as a full rebuild, financing is available through Wisetack, subject to credit approval. Ask when you book.
Credentials. Top Roof LLC holds New Jersey Home Improvement Contractor registration #13VH11535000, is a GAF Certified Contractor, and is rated 5.0 stars on Google across 115 reviews. Where the roof around the chimney is replaced, we install GAF Timberline HDZ or Owens Corning Duration shingles.
We work from Englewood across Bergen County, from Fort Lee and Englewood Cliffs to Tenafly, Cresskill, Closter, Teaneck, Hackensack and the towns in between. Read more about us as a roofing contractor in Bergen County, NJ. Thinking about the whole roof? Our new roof cost page explains how to get a price range by email for a residential shingle roof.
Recent Chimney Projects
Latest chimney job: chimney and roof repair in Closter, NJ. We opened the roof at a stucco chimney base, replaced the torn underlayment and tied new shingles back in, with photos from each stage.
QUESTIONS WE GET
Chimney repair questions from Bergen County homeowners
You usually cannot tell from inside the house, because water travels before it shows. A stain near the chimney after steady rain, and visible roof cement or bent metal where the chimney meets the shingles, usually point to flashing. Damp brick in the attic, white mineral staining on the chimney face or crumbling mortar on the roof point to the masonry or the crown. We check all of it on the same visit and show you photos of the actual source before we quote anything.
Often, yes. On the Closter job we worked only on the section around the chimney: shingles stripped at the base, new underlayment, new shingles woven back into the existing courses. Whether that is the right call depends on the condition of the rest of the roof. If the shingles are near the end of their life, new flashing will have to come out again when the roof is replaced, and we would rather tell you that now.
Repointing replaces the mortar between bricks that are still sound. We grind the old joints out to a solid depth and pack in new mortar while the bricks stay in place. A rebuild takes the chimney apart down to good brick, sometimes all the way to the roofline, and lays it back up with new brick where needed, a new crown, a new cap and new flashing. Once the faces are spalling across whole sides or the top courses have loosened, repointing has nothing to hold on to.
Not always. A solid crown with a few hairline cracks can be sealed with a flexible crown coating. A crown that is crumbling, has large cracks or was built as a thin mortar wash with no overhang should be removed and replaced with a poured concrete crown that overhangs the brick with a drip edge. Crown damage and failing mortar joints often turn up together, because a cracked crown feeds water straight into the courses below it.
We match brick and mortar color as closely as the current market allows. On a newer chimney the repair is usually hard to pick out. On an older chimney the new mortar will look lighter at first and tones down over the first year or so. A full rebuild above the roofline uses one consistent brick, so the question only comes up where new brick meets old.
No. The 20-year workmanship warranty applies to roof replacement and siding. Chimney repair and rebuilding come with a written scope and a workmanship guarantee that is stated on your estimate, so you can read the terms before any work starts.
Book a free on-site estimate at toproofnj.com/schedule-estimate or call (201) 989-0999. We get on the roof, photograph the chimney and the roof around it, and leave you a written, itemized estimate. Financing is available through Wisetack, subject to credit approval, and we can include the details with your written proposal.
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
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- (201) 989-0999
- info@toproofnj.com
- Serving Bergen County
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